Shola Ameobi delivers some much-needed positivity to Newcastle United fans when quizzed about ambitions
It's hard for Newcastle United fans to see anything positive about the club right now. Other than a 4-0 win behind closed doors against Carlisle United, Newcastle haven't won a single pre-season friendly, they aren't getting the signings they need, there's no sign of a stadium announcement, and the silence from the boardroom is deafening.
While we understand that Darren Eales has other things going on right now, while we await the announcement of David Hopkinson to take over, surely somebody should have been appointed in the interim to give the fans some updates on what the hell is happening at our club.
Instead, we have no movement on big things like the training ground and stadium, things that could help show fans and prospective (and let's be honest, current) players that the club still has the ambition to see this exciting project through. We can't convince players to join us over the likes of Manchester United, who finished 15th last season and don't have European football to offer, yet still manage to attract Champions League-level players ahead of us, who won a trophy last season and are playing in Europe's top competition next season.
Everything points towards a lack of care from our majority owners, as if they no longer care about the project they invested in almost four years ago.
Shola Ameobi has tried to put a positive spin on Newcastle's current situation
Former Newcastle striker, Shola Ameobi, who is now the loan manager at the club, has been speaking in his ambassadorial role, and he told The Chronicle that the PIF are as committed as ever, even amid all the speculation surrounding Alexander Isak.
"At the end of the day, this is football and when you are trying to mix it with the best teams, you are going to have great players that other teams want.
"The thing for us is where we are at as a club, an ownership, we are really ambitious. We want to do our best for the club.
"They have shown that right from the get go, and that is not going to change.
"Myself, being somebody who has lived this (Newcastle United) since I was a kid, it is great to see that ambition. Not only the manager and the staff, but all the ownership, the exec team, and the board, they are all on the same page and want us to win more trophies.
"Whatever happens will only be what is right for the club and I have great faith that the people who make the decisions will make the right ones long-term."
Shola Ameobi speaks well ... but he also speaks the bullshido
Speaking more directly about Isak, Ameobi says that nobody is bigger than the club and that Isak's saga will not overshadow the team's efforts.
"No (nobody is bigger than the club). We have a big squad and they are all very popular and are all team-mates, they have a chemistry.
"The whole thing can be unsettling, the surrounding noise behind it, I know inside the squad from being at the team hotel, everybody is focused on the job, that is to qualify through the group stages of the Champions League and make it back into the top four, while trying to win another trophy.
"That (the Isak situation) does not change any of that. We have to be level headed around this and focus on the task in hand.
"It will be a long gruelling season. The manager how he communicates what he wants."
It's easy to see why Shola is a club ambassador as he toes the party line very well. We still need more convincing that the project is still on track, however.
Our feelings right now is that the stadium announcement and all associated things are on hold until the new CEO comes in as he may have fresh ideas, and we understand that, but that still needs communicating.
It also doesn't stop Peter Silverstone from doing his job and finding sponsors for our training ground and kit.
