Craig Hope once again broaches subject of PIF's level of commitment to Newcastle United
It wasn't too long ago that Daily Mail journalist Craig Hope looked into whether the PIF were still fully invested in Newcastle United.
The Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund own the majority stake in Newcastle United and have done since October 2021, coming in with a whole big plan for success and shiny new things like training grounds and a new stadium.
Since then, however, the PIF have invested in several clubs in their home country who have gone out and bought some big, high-profile players for extraordinary amounts of money, while Newcastle have pretty much stagnated.
There's no sign of a new stadium despite having been told for months that an announcement is coming. There's no movement on a new training ground and nothing on big sponsorship deals for the stadium, training ground or training kit. Fans are starting to feel like the PIF's attention is no longer on their 'flagship' football acquisition.
Newcastle have had a lot of staff turnover behind the scenes as they find their feet under the new owners
Newcastle haven't been blessed with much luck off the pitch with CEO Darren Eales having to step down from his post due to poor health, high-profile figures in the club coming and going and really inopportune times, but there's also a feeling that the club has not reacted quickly enough to these issues. Eales announced his decision to step down 10 months ago, and we're only now getting close to an appointment.
Since Amanda Staveley was pushed out of the club, the communication from the board to the fans has been practically non-existent, which isn't helping the feeling that we're being cut adrift.
It could all just be teething problems. It hasn't even been four years since the takeover went through and there's a lot to get right, but communication is key here.
The lack of progress is something that Craig Hope has noted too, and the journalist wrote today that he spoke to a senior club official while out in Asia and put the question to them about the PIF's commitment.
Club insiders believe that the PIF haven't lost interest in Newcastle - PROVE IT!
The good news for Newcastle fans is that Hope's comment seemed to hit a nerve with the club source, who seemed almost offended by the idea that the PIF were losing interest.
That's great that those inside the club are still feeling the love from PIF, but none of that is transferring to the fans, and it is a huge problem. There simply has to be more communication from the club. When David Hopkinson takes over as CEO, as is expected, we hope that it is made very clear to him that he needs to be more open with the fans.
Darren Eales made all the right noises when he joined the club, then disappeared after booting Staveley out of the club. We can't hide forever; the club needs to communicate what is happening.
We need the stadium announcement. We need Peter Silverstone to do his bloody job and get us some big sponsorships. He's just sitting back and dining out on the Adidas dea,l and it's simply not good enough.
If David Hopkinson comes in soon, we hope he starts putting boots up arses and gets the club into shape.
