Kieran Trippier urges patience over Newcastle long-term goals

NEWCASTLE: Kieran Trippier has urged patience at Newcastle United, with the England international predicting it could take “five or six years” for the Magpies to be competing with the Premier League big boys.

Newcastle have suffered back-to-back defeats to the top flight top two in recent weeks, losing 1-0 to Liverpool at St. James’ Park and then 5-0 at Manchester City last weekend.

And that has led many to highlight the huge gulf in class at present between the sides.

For Trippier, though, that is to be expected, although he does not expect the gap to exist long term.

He said: “I was at Man City when their takeover happened and I had to leave to get minutes. You see the way Man City have done it and everyone is looking at Newcastle now. Like I said when I first arrived here, it’s not going to happen overnight. It could take five years. It could take six years and everybody has to be patient.

“But they (the owners) are taking the right steps and that’s all you can do. You can’t just go all guns blazing — you have to take the right steps to move the club forward and that’s what Newcastle are doing.”

During the second half at the Etihad, it took the Magpies 10 minutes to simply make a pass, such were the waves of dominance asserted the Abu Dhabi-funded outfit, awash with world stars such as Kevin De Bruyne.

While Trippier was not on the pitch at the time, he was thrown on for the final 20 minutes. The match did not surprise him. He does, however, believe that one day, it will be Newcastle doing that to other teams in the Premier League.

“It shows what Man City can do to teams. When you come to places like that, you’re rarely going to see the ball which is how you keep your shape, how you are as a unit.

“This is