Gael Bigirimana has taken a huge diversion away from the official Newcastle United line right now - by insisting that relegation could benefit the club in the long run and help the Magpies "rebuild its foundations". The 21-year-old midfielder, who is currently on loan at Scottish Championship side Rangers, insisted "nobody" wants the club to be relegated, but that demotion could prove to be a blessing in disguise for the North-East club. Bigirimana has not featured for the Magpies first-team for close to 18 months - and due to injury and illness he is yet to make an appearance for Rangers either since joining them on loan in February - and the Burundi-born midfielder has taken the remarkable step of suggesting that Newcastle needs an entire club restructure. The club's official line right now might be that everyone is focused on keeping Newcastle in the Premier League, yet Bigirimana is already looking to the positives of playing in the Championship next season. Comparing Newcastle's situation to that of Southampton a few years ago - even if his timeframe is slightly off, with the Saints having been relegated from the Premier League in 2004-05, and not five or six years ago as he says - Bigirimana believes the Magpies could establish a club ethos and a youth policy like the one present on the south coast. Speaking to Sky Sports News, Bigirimana explained:
"Nobody wants that (relegation) to happen - but you know, this might put me in trouble, but you look at what happened to Southampton five or six years ago. Sometimes what you need as a club is that you just need to rebuild. "Rebuild the foundation and the structure of the club. I don't want them (Newcastle) to go down at the moment but for the future, it's all about the future."
Newcastle sit just two points and three places above the relegation zone following their eighth-straight Premier League defeat, against Leicester City last weekend. John Carver's men have just three matches - against West Bromwich Albion, Queens Park Rangers and West Ham United - to secure their Premier League status for another season. Otherwise, Bigirimana's theory of the benefits of relegation could be put to the test imminently... For all the latest NUFC News, Views and Transfers make sure to follow WhatCultureNUFC on Twitter and Facebook.
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
