More to come from high-flying Magpies

 

To Newcastle, it meant more.

After a trophy drought that might have brought the game to extinction in a less fanatical city, you can’t blame the fans for milking the Carabao Cup success.

Whether it’s 70 years domestically or 56 on the international stage, we are talking entire lifetimes and a population that lives for football.

Many fans of a certain age said they could now “die happy!” The younger ones might live to have more fun.

For Newcastle, this could be an historic turning point.

The League Cup is the lowest in the major trophy pecking order, but its significance on this occasion cannot be underestimated.

It’s not just Liverpool who received a rude awakening with Sunday’s 2-1 result at Wembley.

The so-called Big Six – ranks already thinned by interlopers – have been put on notice: coming your way is another genuine heavyweight.

They have the swagger; they have the style and they have the cash.

How much cash will depend on Manchester City beating the 130 charges to turn the EPL into a survival of the richest.

Newcastle, you may remember, is the richest club in the world with £800 billion stashed under its desert mattress.

That’s how much its principal owner, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), is worth.

But they’ve been unable to get their hands on it due to the EPL’s draconian financial rules.

Last summer, as ludicrous as it seems, the Magpies, were forced into a fire sale of two youngsters to balance the books – or face a possible points deduction.

Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh were respectively snapped up by Nottingham Forest and Brighton whom they’ve since helped become rivals to Newcastle for European places.

An absurd situation, but the PIF’s treasure chest counted for nothing in these circumstances.

But just imagine if the rules are changed, the mattress can be lifted and the loot given to Eddie Howe…

This is why, when the idea of a Saudi bid was first mooted, Newcastle fans began to dream. Kylian Mbappe was even mentioned!

Then, after a tortuous negotiating process, the UK government grudgingly allowed it to go through.

The name that was still fresh in the memory in 2021 was Jamal Khashoggi, the journalist whose brutal murder three years earlier, had caused such outrage.

His was the name that no one dared mention in the celebrations this past week, which were rightly allowed to pass without anyone dragging elephants into the room.

Even human rights groups refrained for a day or two as football showed that it’s still able to conjure up a romantic story.

Howe is finally getting the credit he deserves for awakening the sleeping giant. Yes, he has spent some money: not a huge amount but he’s spent it well.

A combination of judicious buys and good coaching has brought this success and turned the Magpies into serious contenders for top honours.

Buying Alexander Isak for £63m when Liverpool paid more for Darwin Nunez is one example. The Swedish star is the man the Reds now want and Howe faces a battle to keep him.

Whether they do could depend on funding and, ultimately, the Manchester City court case.

Turning Joelinton from a non-scoring striker into a non-stop midfield dynamo is another of the manager’s notable successes.

It’s what’s also earned Howe the title of best English manager – ironically at a time when German Thomas Tuchel takes over the England team.

But the Newcastle boss is the ante-post favourite to be the next – when Tuchel’s reign ends after the 2026 World Cup.

By then Magpies fans will hope to have won more silverware or at least made an impact in the Champions League.

Victims of bad luck and bad decisions in 2023/24, next time they would certainly be expecting to advance beyond the group phase.

In short, Howe has done well enough on a budget to earn a statue; with unlimited funds, he could turn Newcastle into European royalty.

Liverpool has looked anything but blue-blooded lately and didn’t even live up to that old marketing slogan.

Flat, leggy and ineffectual, they were no match for Newcastle who won most of the duels.

Dan Burn, 22cm taller than his supposed marker Alexis Mac Allister, epitomised the difference on the day.

They have won the League Cup 10 times – more than anyone. They won it last year and, bar an almighty collapse, will soon win the much greater prize of the league for the 20th time.

For Liverpool, this year the League Cup didn’t mean enough.

As a pay-your-way club, the Reds’ owners no doubt want the financial constraints to stay and if the EPL wins the case with City, they will.

But Newcastle can still join the elite.

Plans are afoot for a new or revamped stadium and the Saudis are in it for the long haul – at least the 2034 World Cup that they are hosting.

Yep, the elephant still has to be dealt with. But we are now in a world where different regimes are being lived with and many fans don’t even notice.

Nothing was going to spoil Newcastle’s fun last weekend and it won’t in the future.

In football, it still comes down to what happens on the pitch.

Thankfully. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.