People inside Newcastle United were not happy with what Jurgen Klopp recently said about the Magpies.
The Liverpool boss caused a bit of a stir with his recent comments about the club. He was discussing the financial power of state-owned clubs such as Newcastle, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain, before making reference to something Sporting Director Dan Ashworth had recently said.
The summer arrival had said in an interview that Newcastle don’t have a ceiling in terms of ambition – something Klopp had a problem with.
Rather prickly, the German boss said: “He is absolutely right, there is no ceiling for Newcastle. Congratulations. Some other clubs have ceilings.”
This then led to a response from Toon boss Eddie Howe, who had to put Klopp in his place for perhaps missing the point of what Ashworth was saying. Howe was quick to defend Newcastle, and rightly so.
The Sporting Director was talking about how far the club can go up the footballing ladder, while Klopp merely seemed focussed on money. While the two can go hand in hand, it isn’t quite as black and white as that.
Howe was measured in his response to Klopp’s snipe, seemingly unwilling to get involved in a slagging match. However, there were apparently some unhappy faces behind the scenes at St James’ Park.
Newcastle not happy with Jurgen Klopp’s recent comments
On the latest episode of Pod On The Tyne, The Athletic reporters George Caulkin and Chris Waugh discussed what the Liverpool manager had said.
And Waugh provided an interesting snippet on what the club made of it all.
Caulkin: “That probably will be fair comment in two or three years time. But the ceiling they were talking about at Newcastle was one of ambition. They do have a very big ceiling at the moment in terms of what they can do. There are financial restrictions. They don’t have a commercial department. So that’s incredibly limited in what they can do. They have an antiquated training ground that they’re in the process of doing up. And the point was that when you look at how they played at Spurs, it was with a lot of the same players who have been at the club for a very long time. So I felt Klopp’s words were a little bit disrespectful to Eddie Howe. I wasn’t having a go at him. I think Klopp’s been incredible.”
Waugh: “There were people inside Newcastle United who were annoyed by the comments.”
While Howe did well to set the record straight, it’s understandable that Newcastle were annoyed with Klopp’s comments. He is the type of manager who can set the agenda within the media, as we saw when the two sides met earlier in the season.
In terms of ambition, Newcastle shouldn’t have a ceiling. The owners believe the club can go right to the top, and the early signs are encouraging. However, it will take time.
In contrast, Liverpool shouldn’t have a ceiling either. They’ve literally won it all in recent years, so where is their ceiling? They have still spent money and invested – and subsequently reaped the benefits.
Klopp’s comments were misinformed, and missed the point of what Ashworth was talking about. However, given how Liverpool’s season is going, it’s no wonder their manager is rather spikey at the moment.
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