Amanda Staveley admits Newcastle United relegation 'risk'

Amanda Staveley (right) was in attendance when new head coach Eddie Howe faced the media for the first time on Wednesday

Newcastle co-owner Amanda Staveley says buying the club was a "risk" because "there is always a chance of relegation".

Staveley and fellow owners the Reuben brothers and the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund took over five weeks ago from former owner Mike Ashley.

But the club are 19th in the Premier League, five points from safety.

Staveley said it would have been a "safer investment bet" to buy after Christmas.

But she told NUFC TV that after appointing Eddie Howe as head coach, "we had to have someone leading the club who is not frightened of relegation."

Howe's former team, Bournemouth, were relegated from the Premier League in the 2019-20 season.

Staveley added: "Eddie and I talked about this at Brighton, he's going back to a position he's sat in before. It's not one we have sat in.

"As an investor group, it would have been and easy decision not to buy club yet, wait to post Christmas, or post January transfer window to see where the club sat in the league and then make the acquisition.

"That would have been a safer investment bet. We didn't do that. If we didn't get it now, it wasn't going to happen.

"We had to take that risk, and we felt we took a risk because club was in 19th at the time. Eddie took that risk with us because there is always a chance of relegation. I think he will do the most incredible job."

Howe, 43, was appointed after Villarreal and former Arsenal manager Unai Emery had turned down an approach from Newcastle's new owners.

But Staveley said the owners had spoken to Howe "some time ago back when Mike [Ashley] was running the club".

She added: "We had to do a full search of the marketplace to find the perfect fit and Eddie is the perfect fit. We couldn't have imagined bringing in a better manager, he's so dynamic.

"He's had an incredible impact on Bournemouth and someone who has grown the club from League Two to the Premier League is an incredible achievement.

"We were impressed by the fact he'd done that with limited resources. It's very easy to win trophies if you have a lot of money, infrastructure or people, but when you are limited by those factors, his success really shone out."

Staveley, who has been flanked by her husband Mehrdad Ghodoussi, said the experience of taking over at Newcastle had been "pretty exhausting and exhilarating".

It follows some criticism from fans about how they went about their approach to Emery, but she said the new owners had a "robust business plan" and were seeking to invest in all areas of the club, including the playing squad in the January transfer window.

She said: "It's not a window that we would ordinarily want to invest in because you don't get the right deals but that is something which is important, and we are preparing for that.

"We don't want to let anyone down. One of the things I want to do is be able to communicate with fans that if we do make mistakes, we will quickly own up to them and put them right."