Accepting that FFP is tighter than I first imagined, the Newcastle United owners still have much to do | OneFootball

Last weekend, buoyed by our great start to the season but growing increasingly frustrated at this transfer window and what I saw entering the field of play when we made several substitutions, I wrote an article (‘Great start but…Newcastle United owners need to be doing a lot more’) for The Mag suggesting the new owners should be doing more on the transfer front.

Since then, we have once again been linked with the likes of Pacqueta and regular correspondents on here seem confident that at least one new arrival will link up with the rest of Eddie’s squad before the window closes.

Now, I enjoy reading the comments section and I did respond to various folk that made observations about my latest article. Most didn’t support my position, although there were a number that did.

I have only written articles for The Mag. Indeed, the first article I ever wrote was only a few weeks ago. I’ve learned that you need a thick skin and that you shouldn’t take yourself too seriously. We all have different views and it would be a tad boring if we didn’t. I believe most folk who comment on here are respectful and do not make it personal. My latest utterings did however, lead to me being called delusional and a spoiled brat. Impatient, yes, but I don’t agree with those other descriptors.

Never mind, the point of me writing again so soon and on the same topic is because within what I was saying, I was suggesting there was more than sufficient headroom to make additional signings. I included reference to the fact that when it comes to FFP, I’m no expert and was hoping that some correspondents would put me right on things, if I was wide of the mark. In this regard, there were a couple of useful comments and more than a few of you pointed to the latest offering from the Swiss Ramble who by spooky coincidence (in the words of the Editor), posted something around the same time my article appeared in The Mag.

I was delighted to see that Swiss more or less confirmed my estimates. However, he did go on to cast a shadow over my assessment that with a budget of around £176 million to play with, there was lots of headroom in the murky world of FFP (in fact his ‘like for like’ estimate was higher, at £200 million).

This is because FFP is a moving feast. The three year assessment inevitably means that what they call T-2 i.e. the most historic financial year that makes it into the FFP calculation, is superseded the following year and for us, that is a problem because in those calculations above, T-2 is financial year 2018/19 which was one of the CAshley years and the last time we made a profit.

Since then, we’ve posted losses, some of it allowable under FFP because of Covid, but losses aren’t good when it comes to FFP. Add to that, the fact that we have added to the squad since financial year 2020/21, Swiss estimates that the available budget will shortly drop to £41 million, which might well explain the tight budget and my frustration, as well as the club wanting to keep its powder dry for future windows.

Where does this leave us? And me, for that matter? First me. As a vocal critic of why the Newcastle United owners should be doing more in the transfer market, I’ve found this albeit limited research, highly illuminating, and I have concluded that I will probably need to temper my expectations.

However, I’ve also made the point that exploitation of the commercial side of things is the way forward it we wish to loosen the FFP straightjacket and Swiss more than confirms this. He points to Man City’s turnover which was lower than ours before their takeover in 2008 but has grown from £82 million to £570 million during that time. He also goes on to explain that our £140 million turnover in 2020/21 was only 15th highest in the Premier League.

So, accepting that FFP is tighter than I first imagined, the Newcastle United owners still have much to do. I just need to be less impatient!