It’s not ideal, right? An inexperienced manager, a squad stripped of its best players and Liverpool are first up. Those attached to Newcastle United would be forgiven some apprehension for where this fresh start might lead.But that’s a tricky one to predict, because how far ahead do you want to look? Or framed differently, how far must you travel to understand the consequences for Saudi assets that don’t deliver?One answer is particularly terrifying and timely and can be found across the Atlantic. Around the point that Newcastle and Liverpool finish up on Sunday evening, a golf tournament will also be winding down in Indianapolis. But not just a tournament – quite possibly an entire league, concept and dream, too.And that’s because we’re talking about LIV and the distinct possibility of its death after the final putt is struck at Chatham Hills. After this weekend, the Saudis will sign no more of their cheques and an awful lot needs to happen for LIV to survive into 2027.Why should this concern Newcastle? Well, that’s a conversation about their chairman, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the high lord of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, and, specifically, the patience of those he represents when an investment gets too messy, too slow and too embarrassing.We should head straight to the early part of 2026, when, according to multiple sources, Al-Rumayyan had offered a few assurances to the golfers of LIV. Their circus had been hemorrhaging cash, but he said they would be funded for years to come. As a golf obsessive, who once told the players that this league was his ‘f****** baby’, no one doubted the value of his word. Least of all LIV’s bombastic CEO Scott O’Neil. Newcastle United go into the new season with an inexperienced manager in Matthias Jaissle at the helm How long will Newcastle chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan play ball with the club if they are heading in the wrong direction? Cameron Smith tees off at Chatham Hills in Indianapolis on Thursday, in what could be the last LIV golf event after the Saudis pulled the plug on funding I remember having a long chat with O’Neil at the Masters in April, when he was giddy about LIV’s future. During all of this, a member of his staff thought he was being a little indiscreet with his predictions for Saudi-fueled growth, so he turned to me and said: ‘I won’t be put in a cage, I have to fly.’Surreal as that may have been, it had nothing on what followed on the Monday after the tournament, when he was abruptly informed the money tap had been turned off. One point I subsequently revealed in Daily Mail Sport is that Al-Rumayyan didn’t even tell O’Neil directly – he had one of his henchmen do it. The baby was ditched on a doorstep.Today, LIV is hobbling on broken legs. Vendors are suing for unpaid invoices, golfers like Jon Rahm are still due tens of millions from their contracts, and the season finale in Michigan was cancelled. Indianapolis was never meant to be the last stop for 2026, let alone forever, but unless promises from private equity groups shift into hard cash, it will be curtains for LIV.Suffice to say, when the Saudis change priorities, it gets ugly and fast and emotion plays no part.I don’t believe that is in Newcastle’s immediate future – a seat at the table in football is worth more than a sinking ship in golf, especially with a Saudi World Cup in 2034. Predominantly, the club has largely been a successful and useful investment.But Saudi Arabian spending priorities have changed massively this year. And it ought to be noted, not downplayed, that earlier this summer there was an apparent willingness on the part of the PIF to sell a minority stake in Newcastle, ostensibly to lighten their own load on a stadium purchase that has dragged on interminably.A new training ground, announced on Thursday, is a show of commitment, but a few bad boxes have been ticked of late. Messy, slow to progress and embarrassing? It’s been that kind of summer. The past two, actually, and that might be fine because the upside is worth riding a few storms. But here’s one – what about a relegation? For a kingdom appalled by the notion of losing face, that could be different.Staring out at the new season, this all seems a touch pessimistic, perhaps. But it isn’t ludicrous. Eddie Howe has left Newcastle and he was their difference-maker, their grown-up in the room, the leader who papered over cracks and delivered a trophy Bruno Guimaraes has also jumped ship, leaving Newcastle to join champions ArsenalThat’s mainly because Eddie Howe has gone and he was their difference-maker, their grown-up in the room, the leader who papered over cracks and delivered a trophy. But his judgment, rarely doubted, also told him to get out of Dodge.You don’t make that call if blue skies are overhead. No, you make those decisions when it’s exhaustingly grim and you know the unseen bits. You make that decision when you’re contemplating a sale of key personnel, such as Anthony Gordon, Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali. You make that decision when Alexander Isak is long gone and Joelinton has indicated a desire to do the same.You make that decision when those exits roll into a systematic failure to land the targets you truly wanted – guys like Hugo Ekitike last year and, more recently, Victor Munoz, who will possibly line up for Liverpool on Sunday.The Newcastle inherited by Matthias Jaissle has been inviting a crisis for some time. Exceptional reporting by my colleague Craig Hope has exposed the dysfunction behind it all, from the boardroom down.And so you do need to ask if the Saudis will embrace the chaos indefinitely. And you do have to wonder, persistently, if they knew what they were getting into, which is to say a landscape of ever-changing spending controls.Of course, they don’t make violins small enough for big boys who can’t buy their way to glory. But if Newcastle could only finish 12th last season with Howe, what follows now that he and his best men are gone?The bookmakers don’t think the worst-case scenario is so absurd – most of them have Newcastle at single-figure odds to go down. Viewed that way, those mock-ups of Kylian Mbappe in a black and white strip, paraded after the Saudi takeover, seem like ancient history. No doubt Al-Rumayyan has offered some reassuring words behind the scenes. But there are a few golfers in Indianapolis who have heard a similar song before. For my money, those assurances would be worth about as much as a handful of plastic tees if Newcastle keep to their current trajectory. The bookmakers don’t think relegation for Yoane Wissa and Newcastle is so absurd – most of them have the club at single-figure odds to go downWHY FURY-AJ FIGHT WAS NEVER WEMBLEY-BOUND Anthony Joshua’s fight with Tyson Fury, assuming it does indeed happen, will be in New York rather than the more logical options of the UK. None of which is a surprise to Wembley insiders, who always suspected the promoters were grandstanding in their public desire for a bout on home soil. My understanding is that there was a basic, belated act of lip-service to sound out the London mayor’s office in the past fortnight to discuss the feasibility of Wembley, with sources believing it was all a performative ruse to pressure Madison Square Garden into favourable terms. The fight between Anthony Joshua (above) and Tyson Fury will be in New York rather than WembleyEVEN MORE REASON FOR INFANTINO TO GO It emerged this week that among other schemes, Gianni Infantino met with investors in the past year to discuss creating and commercialising an Under-15 World Cup. When even kids are fair game, it really is time for a few adults to step up and drum this money-grabbing creature out of the sport.RIDING PEP TIDES CANNOT HAVE BEEN EASY Two thoughts on Amazon’s Pep Guardiola documentary and the astonishing outbursts of passion that it showcases so well. One is that it’s a pleasant surprise to see one of these productions deliver on the brief. Two: we have marvelled at Guardiola’s genius for decades, but what about the patience of those riding his emotional waves each day? It can’t have been easy.