John Carver is confident Newcastle United will raid their bank reserves to fund significant transfer market spending during a summer he describes as the biggest in the club’s modern history.
The publication of Newcastle’s full accounts for the last financial year on Wednesday revealed they have more than £34m sitting in the bank as a “cash-flow” sum.
This revelation follows Lee Charnley, the managing director, recently announcing record £17.8m profits for the same accounting period. With a wafer-thin squad, hit by injuries and suspensions, Newcastle have lost their past five games and prepare to host Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday in walking-wound mode. “They [Mike Ashley, Newcastle’s owner, Charnley and the rest of the hierarchy] need to invest in the summer,” said the head coach. “And they’ve said they’re going to invest.”
Carver understands many fans will treat his words with scepticism but stresses he believes the messages he is receiving from the corridors of power.
“Whether they’ve said it in previous summers and it hasn’t happened I don’t know,” he said. “What I’m saying is they’ve said it to me and I’m adamant that they’re going to invest. I’ve seen the plans and they are encouraging – not for me as John Carver the head coach but for John Carver the fan inside me.”
“They know, the club know, they have to invest in the team because you can only keep going for so long. They have to invest in the team and I have had assurances they’re going to.
“This is the biggest summer in the club’s recent history, definitely. We know that, everybody knows that. We have to get it right. But let me tell you, Lee, Mike, they all know that. We have to get it right.”
Carver, whose future remains uncertain after the end of the season, is excited by the names on Newcastle’s shopping list and believes a European challenge should not be discounted next season.
“We can threaten the top teams,” he said. “We’re not going to win the Premier League but if we invest right why can’t we go after the European spots, the Champions League spots? Why not? Look at Southampton. They lost so many players last summer and had to replace them but they’ve done a great job this year.”
Frustrated by the lack of investment – not to mention perceived ambition – on Ashley’s part, a fans protest, backed by the Newcastle United Supporters’ Trust, is planned for Sunday with supporters urged to boycott the Spurs game.
“I can’t do anything about the protests,” Carver said. “I can’t do anything about what’s going to happen next season with my position so I have just got to stay focused and maintain some sort of level-headedness. There are certainly a lot of decisions to be made.”
The accounts also reveal Ashley has £129m in interest-free loans to Newcastle outstanding but the bank reserves mean the club’s net debt has fallen to £94.8m.
Although the wage bill increased to £78.3m from £61.7m this was offset by the rise in income from the latest television deal and assorted sponsorship agreements. The ratio of wages to turnover dropped from 64% to 60%.
