NEWCASTLE: Kieran Trippier has urged patience at Newcastle United, with the England international predicting it could take “five or six years” for the Magpies to be competing with the Premier League big boys.
Newcastle have suffered back-to-back defeats to the top flight top two in recent weeks, losing 1-0 to Liverpool at St. James’ Park and then 5-0 at Manchester City last weekend.
And that has led many to highlight the huge gulf in class at present between the sides.
For Trippier, though, that is to be expected, although he does not expect the gap to exist long term.
He said: “I was at Man City when their takeover happened and I had to leave to get minutes. You see the way Man City have done it and everyone is looking at Newcastle now. Like I said when I first arrived here, it’s not going to happen overnight. It could take five years. It could take six years and everybody has to be patient.
“But they (the owners) are taking the right steps and that’s all you can do. You can’t just go all guns blazing — you have to take the right steps to move the club forward and that’s what Newcastle are doing.”
During the second half at the Etihad, it took the Magpies 10 minutes to simply make a pass, such were the waves of dominance asserted the Abu Dhabi-funded outfit, awash with world stars such as Kevin De Bruyne.
While Trippier was not on the pitch at the time, he was thrown on for the final 20 minutes. The match did not surprise him. He does, however, believe that one day, it will be Newcastle doing that to other teams in the Premier League.
“It shows what Man City can do to teams. When you come to places like that, you’re rarely going to see the ball which is how you keep your shape, how you are as a unit.
“This is Man City. They have a great manager, great players, but if you look at Man City now, this is where, me certainly being here at Newcastle, that I want to be. I want to be reaching the levels Man City are with Newcastle. It’s about building and gradually we will get there, but it’s about being patient.”
One way in which the owners — the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, PCP Capital Partners and RB Sports & Media — are attempting to bridge the gap is by improving the club’s training facilities.
Plans were last week submitted to North Tyneside Council in relation to a multi-million pound improvement plan at the club’s Benton training base. This was welcomed by the club’s fan base, with little to no improvement made on the site since it opened in the early 2000s.
“To be honest, we haven’t spoken about it with the games coming thick and fast, but I”m sure the club and the manager will speak to us about that,” said Trippier on the plans.
“We’ve not seen anything. We’ve just been focusing on the games and training. But it’s always nice if it is happening and it will be good for everybody — the fans, the players, the staff, because it’s another step in the right direction.”
