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BBC Football pundit Mark Lawrenson has delivered his last set of Premier League score predictions for the season ahead of the final day on Sunday, and he has made an interesting claim about Newcastle United.
What’s the word, then?
Well, the Magpies travel to already-relegated Fulham this weekend in what is a largely meaningless match for both sides, with only the visitors able to finish higher – by a single place – in the top-flight standings.
It is no surprise then that Lawrenson was keen to focus on what the uncertain future of Toon manager Rafa Benitez instead, talking about what the future holds for the Spaniard under owner Mike Ashley.
The former Liverpool boss’ contract runs out this summer, as of yet there has been no suggestion as to whether he is going to stay or not – the fans have certainly made it clear what they want.
Lawrenson certainly seems to sympathise with Ashley when it comes to investing his own money though, telling BBC Football:
“The big questions, as ever, for the Magpies are will manager Rafa Benitez stay, and will he get the money that he wants to spend?
“I think the answers are ‘yes’ and ‘no’… but he will get some of it, and enough to make some more improvements to his squad.
“We already know Magpies owner Mike Ashley is never going to splash the cash, because he could give Benitez £100m and he is realistically only going to finish seventh, at best.”
Fair comments?
They probably are, yes.
Even if Benitez was given a war-chest to spend by the controversial business tycoon, he would undeniably find it difficult to finish any higher than seventh.
The likes of Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester United have been so inconsistent this season, yet seventh-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers are still nine points adrift of the latter.
It will therefore be difficult for Newcastle to make a dent in the top six, but Lawrenson has also missed the point slightly.
What’s the point for the Tyneside outfit and their supporters if they can’t show the ambition to go and try and do exactly that?
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Otherwise they will just keep petering along and finishing in the bottom half of the Premier League year after year, with no hope of doing anything more.
Showing that willingness to at least want to push on is important, and in Benitez the Magpies already have the man capable of taking them a lot closer to where they dream of being.