Firstly, no disrespect to Southampton or it's supporters but when I’ve seen Newcastle compete in European competition throughout my childhood, with the prospect of finishing in the top four of the Premier League for a couple of seasons; competing with a club the size of Southampton, with only one FA Cup in their history as their only major honour is simply not good enough! What is good enough you may ask? I can't speak for every Newcastle fan, but I believe our club should at least be trying to get into the Europa League every season. We have seen the likes of Burnley, Wolves, Swansea, Southampton, West Ham; even Wigan and Hull have been in the Europa League since the last time Newcastle graced Europe. Newcastle are bigger than all of the teams mentioned above but compared to some of those clubs, they are miles behind in terms of ambition. However, if I was Steve Bruce the last thing I would be saying publicly is "I'm delighted that we are only a couple of points behind a really good team like Southampton and there has to be a reality check down the line..." Would Rafa Benitez, Kevin Keegan, Chris Hughton or the late great Sir Bobby Robson say something like that? Sir Bobby said whilst we were battling with Arsenal and Manchester United (which now seems like a lifetime ago) "Lets threaten Arsenal and Manchester United, lets challenge them!" Furthermore the future of Newcastle United doesn't look positive or ambitious. We can all point the finger at Mike Ashley, and rightly so because we all know as fans he would take 17th every season, plus being 13th for the last two seasons is like Champions League qualification for him. Steve Bruce should be trying to over-achieve instead of being content with the bare minimum of just staying in the division, because ultimately, if any potential takeover does occur, will they be happy with the bare minimum? Finally, this is a big summer for Newcastle United for a number of reasons. If they get it right my Europa league dream could happen sooner rather than later. If it goes wrong, the club‘s 'ambition' could be “Can we get out the relegation zone, or even worse the championship in years to come?” Let's hope for the best, because our fans are the only part of the club who think that way consistently, it's just a shame the club's hierarchy doesn't.
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