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Lee Clark

Newcastle United owners' first year has 'exceeded expectations' ahead of next 'big question'

For me, the last year could not have gone any better both on and off the pitch. The dialogue between the new owners and the supporters - the relationship is magnificent.

They're getting involved in every area of the club, the Foundation, the food banks. They're turning up at supporters' meetings, they're supporting the manager, his staff and the players by giving them the best facilities they can at this moment in time.

I know they're adding things to the current training ground, and they're looking to build their own training facility which would take them into the 21st century straight away. It's just been sensational, it's given the whole city a lift.

READ MORE: 'Excited' Jamie Reuben opens up as Newcastle 'only getting started' amid Al-Rumayyan's speech

You can feel the vibrancy before the game on a matchday, everyone is excited. It's difficult to get tickets home and away like it used to be. The atmosphere in the stadium and the club's relationship with Wor Flags has just taken it to a new level.

I know they're not going to rest as they're so ambitious and they know there's so much more to do. But they're doing it in a constructive manner. They've put some terrific people in important positions. Darren Eales and Dan Ashworth, Eddie Howe has proven to be a terrific appointment along with his staff, and the signings.

You have to credit the recruitment team, there was a lot of questions being asked of them under the previous regime. But it looks to me like they had their hands tied behind their backs, there were limitations on what they could go out and try and find for the club. Now those shackles are off, with Eddie and his staff and the recruitment team coming together, they've come up trumps. They've made some terrific signings.

One thing that makes the whole football club tick is the first team. That sets the mood around the club with the staff and the supporters, the city. What they've done is shown they care about the club, they care about the city.

They've invested in the team and the facilities to help the players achieve the best results possible. They've invested in management and his staff, they've helped him with whatever is needed. That's what they've done, and they've created that relationship with supporters which is back to where it was in the 90s.

Fans are turning up and no matter what's happening on the pitch, the fans are still right behind them. No-one is turning on the owners, everyone is fighting and you know the team can continue to get positive results home and away. The fans are enjoying the football and the desire and passion of the players.

People going to work five or six days a week have something to look forward to, they've got a match where they know they're going to be entertained and they'll be in the game and even if they lose, they know the players are giving absolutely everything. That's not me saying the players weren't before, that's one thing you could never criticise before.

But they weren't given any help, and now those players are, a lot of them have started producing really good performances as well. It's the relationship set among everybody and it's filtering down through the club all the way to the youngest employee and academy player, and all of the staff and the fans.

It has been phenomenal, and they've earned the trust and the respect of fans. Many ownership groups come in and give the spiel about doing this and that, and they get in behind the scenes and the reality is it's not what they thought. They can not do what they promised.

These owners have delivered to the letter, and they've probably done more. I think if you ask the majority if not all Newcastle fans, they probably think the first year has exceeded their expectations to be honest.

We've got owners who care about the club as much as we do. It's been brilliant, night and day from before. The only reason fans were selling out away ends and still coming to St James' in their thousands before was loyalty to the club. They carried on believing that things would change eventually, and thankfully that belief was rewarded.

You've just got to keep improving day by day the whole organisation. A year down the line, does the club own it's own area to build their state-of-the-art training facility for the academy and first team? They're the things they are looking at.

One of the big questions that fans are asking and I'm sure the ownership are, is there anyway they can develop St James' Park? All of those things are ongoing, and fans are excited because they know this group will be trying everything to improve the club both on and off the pitch.

They set out their stall when they took over, they said they want the club to be competing for the biggest trophies and to be in the big European competitions. They didn't hide from the fact, they stated what they wanted and why they bought the club. I've got no doubt that behind the scenes, the work they are putting forward will be huge.

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