Stan Collymore crying as fears future of Newcastle United not Liverpool fighting it out at the top with Manchester City

You have got to love Stan Collymore.

Well, not obviously for some of the shameful stuff he has got up to in the past in his private life.

I am thinking more about what Stan Collymore is about when it comes to getting paid these days for his ‘expert’ views on football.

I woke up this morning with a hangover (naturally!) after yesterday.

If Carlsberg did ideal football days, then a Saturday home 5.30pm kick-off against Chelsea and our lot still meeting up at the usual noon kick-off (the drinking), then bossing and beating said Chelsea, before strolling down to enjoy Newcastle city centre for the rest of the night…and into the early hours. Well, it doesn’t get much better than that does it?

Despite my well earned hangover I woke up with a big grin on my face, thinking about yesterday, these past six weeks, then of course what is to come in the future. Whether that is the future in six weeks time when we get proper football back, or indeed these years / seasons to come.

Then my grin got even bigger, when I read what Stan Collymore has had to say, specifically about Newcastle United and his precious Liverpool.

As things stand, Stan Collymore hasn’t got a big grin and he most definitely isn’t currently looking forward to what is coming down the track in the seasons to come…

Absolutely loving this… as Stan Collymore crying, fears future of Newcastle United and not Liverpool fighting it out with Manchester City.

This is some of what Stan Collymore has been saying to The Mirror following Newcastle United beating Chelsea and guaranteeing they go into this World Cup break in third place, with also, amongst other things, an eight points lead over…Liverpool.

‘It is clear Jurgen Klopp needs the financial backing to compete with Manchester City that FSG aren’t able to give him.

But it’s not just Liverpool supporters who need the Reds to be competitive, it’s the Premier League as a whole and it’s vital that my old club get things right. None of us want our top-flight to become a one-horse race for City or, in maybe two or three years, a two-horse race between City and Newcastle.

That’s because, with the greatest of respect to those two teams, if that is the rivalry in the Premier League in three years’ time, then the vast majority of people aren’t going to give a flying you know what about it.

Look, I know they are two very big clubs because I played against both, at Maine Road and St James’ Park, and I know how passionate both sets of supporters are. But the simple truth is that Liverpool and United underpin what the Premier League is in terms of it being a global juggernaut.

And if you take one or both of them out of the Premier League for whatever reason then the TV revenue would take a huge hit and possibly even be halved. They are the two clubs everybody wants to beat, they are the ones who fill the front and back pages – and that is important not only for the Premier League as a global brand but for global football, too.

When you think of La Liga, you don’t think of how real Real Betis, Sevilla or Villarreal have done, or even Atletico Madrid for that matter. It’s just, ‘How have Barcelona and Real Madrid been doing this season?’

When you think of German football you think, ‘Is there anyone who can compete with Bayern? Oh, that’s Dortmund, isn’t it?’ In French football it’s Paris Saint-Germain and then you think, ‘Could Marseille do something if they get their act together?’ It’s the same with Liverpool and United here.

They are the two biggest clubs and I would be staggered if a sovereign wealth fund or some seriously wealthy individuals didn’t come up with the funds to buy Liverpool. If they are bought quickly, or as quickly as these things allow, then there’s no way a new owner would look to change the manager.’

You have to laugh.

Stan Collymore is one of the many Liverpool fans / ex-players, pundits etc etc who lives in this bubble where they think everybody is so interested in them, when reality is far different. They are even worse than Man Utd fans and ex-players, pundits.

Liverpool didn’t compete seriously for the Premier League title for the best part of three decades.

Yet in that time, the Premier League became this massive success story, both in terms of making money of course AND becoming the world’s league in terms of overwhelming interest from around the globe. Back in the day both Italy and Spain could claim this, in terms of global interest, but this Premier League era has absolutely taken it away from the rest.

Stan Collymore honestly wants to claim that a competitive Liverpool are essential to the Premier League.

Hmmm, funny how this Premier League monster grew and grew and grew without that.

Indeed, until Jurgen Klopp came along…and certainly if we look at what actually happened before Mike Ashley blighted all our lives, arguably Newcastle United proved far more of a serious threat than Liverpool in the first decade and a half of the Premier League’s existence.

It wasn’t our fault that Ashley sucked all hope and ambition out of ourselves and our club for a decade and a half.

Man Utd of course were the main club bossing things in the first couple of decades of this Premier League era BUT amzingly, even without Liverpool, the PL managed to be somehow still competitive and relevant. Blackburn won a Shearer-inspired title, Arsenal were the biggest early challengers with three titles in seven years, then we have seen five Chelsea titles in a thirteen year span, add in a Leicester triumph. Man City then with two titles before these past five years have seen Pep Guardiola really smash it, four titles and only that one for Liverpool spoiling a clean sweep.

Liverpool win their first top tier title in 30 years and yet the Premier League can’t survive without them…according to Stan Collymore.

He makes a big fuss of Man Utd as well as having to be competitive for the Premier League to thrive. It is now a decade since Man Utd seriously threatened and the Premier League has simply in that time attracted ever more and more cash and followers from all around the world.

The angle is that because of who the owners are, Man City and Newcastle United will automatically dominate.

Money has repeatedly been shown not to be everything. Man City only getting a period of real domination once Pep Guardiola was given the chance to build something special.

We go into this World Cup break with Arsenal five points clear of Man City.

Newcastle United only two points behind Man City in third, despite seven of the fourteen players used against Chelsea costing only around £60m for the seven. Indeed, four of those players costing only £38m between them, four of the back five who started the game. Yet you have Liverpool with a goalkeeper and a centre-back who cost £150m just for that pair.

Eddie Howe, just like Pep Guardiola (and indeed, Jurgen Klopp) has shown, the most important thing is a good manager if you are going to be competitive.

Talking of money, this past transfer window saw Chelsea spend over a quarter of a billion, a new record, Man Utd were not far behind. Whilst Liverpool spent £85m on a striker.

Yet it is Newcastle United getting competitive after spending around £260m across the last six transfer windows, who are the only ones where spending matters. This as well after all the other Ashley years of minimal spending.

Newcastle United are becoming the club they have always been capable of becoming and ambitious owners willing to invest is only one of many factors in that.

Stan Collymore and everybody else associated with Liverpool don’t like it, which makes it all the sweeter.