When Premier League fixtures return next weekend after what has felt like an even longer than usual international break they do so with a richly promising meeting between the two remaining unbeaten sides. Manchester City, top of the league and going like a train, entertain Newcastle United, surprise package of the season and going for a song.
That is not strictly true. It is only the naming rights to Newcastle's ground that are up for sale, Mike Ashley having announced he was taking the club off the market two years ago after failing to attract buyers with an asking price of £100m. Considering the club are now seeking to make £10m a year from anyone willing to make an honest stadium of St James' Park and come up with a better name than Sports Direct Arena, the original deal for the whole kit and caboodle seemed much better value, though just as Ashley was not trampled in a buyers' rush in 2009 the indications are that he is unlikely to realise as much money as he hopes from a change of name that has gained approval only in the parts of the north-east populated by Sunderland fans.
City made a similar switch and a raft of money at the start of the season, simply by inviting their existing sponsors to cough up around £400m more to have their name attached to the stadium, quite some going when Uefa are encouraging financial fair play and City do not even own the former Commonwealth Games venue but lease it from the council. Clearly it must have helped that there was no 100 years of history with the Eastlands stadium and supporters were not emotionally tied to the name – City would have faced much more spectator unrest had they tried to rebrand Maine Road – though what has assisted City more than anything is having the sort of backers who can happily part with such sums in addition to paying stratospheric salaries and granting the club real clout in the transfer market.
That is what has put City on top of the table, regardless of the individual brilliance of David Silva and others. The Etihad splurge has even put Manchester United's nose out of joint, let alone Newcastle's, and for Alan Pardew's side to break up the Manchester duopoly on the top two positions, as they did briefly a week ago, is nothing short of miraculous given the gulf in budgets.
It appears Pardew is deserving of credit, along with the chief scout, Graham Carr, for rebuilding the team with unheralded signings from France, though before his typically tasteless Sports Direct Arena stunt people were starting to say that Ashley must be doing something right, too.
He appointed Pardew, after all. He sold Joey Barton, now seen as a key move in allowing less strident personalities at the club to express themselves more fully on the pitch. He pocketed £35m from Liverpool for Andy Carroll, a deal that looks more like the sale of the century with every passing week, no matter how much of the cash trickles down to Pardew. And with a team unbeaten in third place, and supporters as happy as they have been since the early promise shown under Kevin Keegan,
Ashley has not only put an end to the rather squalid soap opera of expensive comings and goings he originally found himself supervising, he has shown that a degree of success can be achieved by clubs where spending has to be sustainable.
Newcastle's big advantage is a ground holding 52,000 that regularly sells out. That not only generates income, it excites potential signings, and Carr has spoken about the importance of the St James' Park match-day atmosphere in convincing foreign targets they are moving to the Premier League big time. Though Sunderland's ground holds almost as many, they cannot make the same boast. The Stadium of Light will fill if results are good, yet results have to come first.
Ashley always had a full stadium, now he has the results to go with it, and if he needs extra revenue from naming rights and shirt sponsorship to keep Newcastle at their present level the supporters might have to swallow their pride and go along with it. However depressing the Sports Direct Arena match-day atmosphere sounds, Newcastle do not have the global fan base of Manchester United or Arsenal, or the luxury of backers with deep pockets like Manchester City or Chelsea. They have to make money where they can, or think they can.
Ashley may struggle to get his latest project off the ground because really famous names have a habit of resisting takeovers – cycling's Milk Race disappeared for a while when new sponsors dried up on discovering that no one ever wanted to refer to the event by any other title, meaning that the Milk Marketing Board got years of free advertising long after they had ceased to pick up the tab – though at least he is no longer trying to sell the club. He has probably decided economic conditions are not auspicious, and he is probably right. When he does come to sell up, if that is his ultimate intention, it could be completely different from the last time.
Not only might he find a few prospective buyers, there may even be a few supporters wanting him to stay. Unpredictable, that's Newcastle. But indisputably in much better shape than two years ago.