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Opinion

I was at the RVI and Joselu told me we were going to beat West Ham

6 years ago
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Well seasons greetings to every Newcastle United fan and their families on the planet, I hope you all had a happy and healthy Christmas!

Of course Christmas was boosted by the unexpected win at the London Taxpayers stadium, although I have to be honest, for me it was not totally unexpected.

While results in recent weeks have been very poor, it has been noticeable that the last few games the positive signs have been there. The comeback against West Brom, the matches away against Chelsea and Man Utd, the Everton and Leicester home games, in each and every one of the games mentioned above, NUFC have either played extremely well in patches or quite simply, not had the rub of the green.

Look at the Chelsea game where we took the lead, their equaliser was fortunate as Hazard miss-hit his shot into the ground, if that misses…what happens?

Similar against Man Utd, we dominated the first half and should have been 2-0 up, if we had been…what happens?

Everton where the woodwork is pummelled twice, OK Karl Darlow makes a schoolboy error and you know who pounces…but again, what happens if it’s the net bulging and not the woodwork bruised.

Every fan of any club in the country can make similar claims at various times but it really is true at the moment, Newcastle United simply don’t get the rub of the green.

Do I really need to go on to referees decisions as well? Another penalty goes against NUFC On Saturday while the wait for one for us goes on, I really could write chapter and verse on this but what’s the point?

In one game shortly, all the luck is going to go our way and why not Wednesday, if all the stars align and ‘massive club’ citeh turn up with only seven players, then who knows?

Joking apart, Man City are possibly the best team on the planet at the moment, a squad packed out with superstar quality, unlike off the pitch where they struggle to sell out their home games!

This however is a free hit for NUFC, nobody expects anything other than a minimum 4-0 thrashing,  but football does have a funny way of righting wrongs,  so maybe just maybe…

If ANOTHER packed out SJP can rattle their players, maybe get some decisions off the officials, maybe see all our months of  misfortune balance out, then it is after all only 11 v 11. For me it’s not a lost cause, it’s a chance to again show the footballing world what Rafa is capable of.

Takeover talk is quiet at the moment but bloodying a Man City nose might just nudge things along! I say go at them, physically hard but fair, let them know where they are.

Away from football and I have had reason to spend a little bit of time in Ward 4 of Newcastle RVI, obviously I won’t go into too much detail but it’s one of the magnificent children’s cancer wards here in the NE. A truly inspirational place where it has to be said the staff are beyond amazing, the hard work they do stretches emotions beyond belief, in the short time I have been visiting I have been left in awe at what I have seen.

Anyway, last Tuesday I visited in the afternoon, OK I won’t lie I had been tipped off that the players of Newcastle United were coming in to hand out Christmas presents, it was pointed out by family members that I was seemingly more excited than the kids..?

A few players popped into our room including Isaac Hayden, Joselu and one I did not recognise…but step forward Henri Saivet. It has to be said all the players were chatty, friendly and in Joselu’s case, very funny!

Joselu is a player we all know is not what we really wanted but apart from the obligatory smiles and photos he was simply an all round funny guy, hats off to him and all the players who came. Oh yeah, after signing my niece’s Chelsea shirt (she is now Black and White by the way) it was Joselu who told me we were going to beat West Ham on Saturday and we truly did!

Oh yeah, I also left with a kid’s signed mini football and 2018 calendar – cheers guys.

Back to the football and Henri Saivet deserves a mention, if his free kick had been scored by any player from Man City, Christiano Ronaldo or a balding ( 2nd time son) fat scouser wearing blue, then Sky Sports and their pundits would have raved about it for months. Instead, all he got is a few words and limited air time, have another look at it, it is as good as anything David Beckham ever produced, power and extreme accuracy. Yeah probably just luck, really? NUFC don’t get luck, enjoy the moment.

Ok, it’s season of goodwill so no time to giggle at them down the road, enjoy it and everyone but get behind the lads tomorrow night, because you never know!
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