If you were hoping for any great insight into how Eddie Howe has managed Newcastle United or coached his players to become the great overachievers of last season, you are going to be disappointed by the new Amazon Prime documentary We Are Newcastle United.
Howe did not want the cameras invading his privacy behind the scenes or distracting players around the training ground. He certainly did not want them sitting in the back of the room at team, individual player or staff meetings.
Newcastle’s manager is a natural introvert and it can come as no surprise to the people that employed him that he did not want to do anything more than he absolutely had to for the series to go ahead. His involvement is minimal and with very little insight into his methods or personality.
That is precisely how he would have wanted it to be. Howe does not like the spotlight or talking about himself – unusual traits for a highly successful, popular and well known Premier League manager. He comes across as he does in his press conferences, but there are few glimpses of the tougher side of his personality, as well as his unwavering determination to bring success to the club.
Telegraph Sport has been allowed to see the first two episodes of the documentary before its release on Friday and one thing is obvious. This is not a dressing room fly-on-the-wall documentary. There are only a few short scenes filmed in that environment. This is, instead, a rather soft focus look at the owners, players and supporters who revelled in the remarkable achievements of the 2022/23 campaign.
That does not mean it is not interesting, although in the first two episodes there are no huge shocks or big reveals.
Concerns about the club’s Saudi owners, the state sovereign wealth fund, PIF, using Newcastle United as a sportswashing project are denied by co-owner Amanda Staveley and not challenged by anyone.
There is a cursory nod to Amnesty International’s concerns and criticism of Saudi Arabia’s human right’s record and a rather farcical claim that PIF, which is ultimately controlled and led by the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, has nothing to do with the Saudi state.
To be honest, though, this was not a documentary that was ever going to dig too deep into that contentious talking point.
Neither are there any hugely controversial moments, but there are still some fascinating takeaways. You do get a greater understanding of the challenges the club has faced and a glimpse at the personalities involved in running it.
The big star of the show is Staveley, who contrary to public perceptions of her, is considered and calm, rather than brash and over-exuberant. She manages expectations in board meetings, gives a consistently honest and clear assessment of things and appears to be Howe’s main ally.
She repeatedly stresses that Newcastle are overachieving and almost pleads with PIF to sanction the signing of Anthony Gordon in January, because Howe needs help. She even warns, if players were not signed, that they should “assume they are not going to qualify for the Champions League.”
She comes across as approachable, friendly and caring, but also sharp, astute and intelligent, especially during the negotiations with Everton over the transfer fee for Gordon. Her anger at the way the other Premier League clubs behaved immediately after the takeover was sanctioned by the Premier League, changing the rules regarding sponsorship,also comes across clearly.
Instead, it is her husband Mehrdad who is caught on camera saying Newcastle want to be like Barcelona and Real Madrid, while chairman Yasir al-Rumayyan talks about being “number one.”
The emotional attachment the owners have developed for the club also appears genuine, especially from those involved in its day-to-day running. Al-Rumayyan stresses he has lots of other business interests and, although PIF have to sanction every major deal, he is not involved in the day to day running of the club
There are a lot of platitudes paid to the passion and loyalty of the fans, but the real warmth comes from the focus on the players, with locals lads Sean Longstaff and Dan Burn, as well as Kieran Trippier and Bruno Guimares featuring heavily in the first two episodes.
All in all, it is soft focus stuff. Some will call it soft spin sportswashing, but it was never likely to be anything else given the parameters of the show and the extent of editorial control.
It is polished and will certainly appeal to Newcastle United supporters, but it is, certainly based on the first two episodes, not a warts-and-all look behind the scenes at St James’ Park and neither does it challenge any of the more controversial aspects of the takeover.
It is, though, a welcome insight into some of the decision making in the boardroom and that makes it a must watch for Newcastle fans. Whether the wider football public are very interested remains to be seen.
The first of four episodes is released on Amazon Prime on Friday August 11. New episodes in the four-part docuseries will launch each week through to Friday 1st September
