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Opinion

I just didn’t have the heart….A bit like some of the Newcastle United players eh?

2 years ago
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As regular readers might know, I haven’t been attending Newcastle United home matches since the Cockney Mafia were exposed after the Kevin Keegan fiasco in 2008.

Indeed, my last away match was Scunthorpe United at Glanford Park, as I was working down in that neck of the woods.

My mate Colin Watson Jnr still travels away and was on one of the Monk’s buses yesterday when I rang him.

Colin has recently married and moved to Teesside, but when he was back up, we had a pint a couple of weeks ago. He had just got his tickets and travel for Leicester sorted with the aforementioned Monk, and was looking forward to the trip.

We still had to play Norwich and Burnley at St James’ but Colin was in confident mood and looking forward to another away day.

Anyhow, back to yesterday, and when he answered the phone I could hear the lads in the background obviously in fine spirits.

They were not far from their first destination, a boozer in Loughborough, and Colin said the first thing he was going to do was lump £50 on a Newcastle 3-1 win when he found a bookies (in the past he has been a canny tipster).

His sense of optimism clearly came over and I told him I would ring after the game.

I was having a couple of pints with my mates in Whitley and told them of the seemingly raucous time the travelling fans were having. We also agreed the Toon had a great chance at the King Power stadium.

An hour before the kick-off I checked the team and it was as I expected, with Fernandez on the bench and Joelinton once again in the starting eleven.

As it pushed on for the 2pm kick-off I decided to have another pint or two, before getting the bus back home for the second-half.

All was going quite well but as I put my hat and scarf on preparing to leave, Newcastle decided to play the ball out of defence. What happened next was a calamity and will go down as one of the moments that will probably define this miserable season on the pitch for Newcastle United.

In the blink of an eye, VAR was back in the spotlight and we all knew what the outcome was going to be.

Back in the house and it was soon 2-0 to Leicester and the rest of the game was a formality.

To hear the travelling supporters at the end was amazing, they have definitely got hope now, and their voices and club back.

The Newcastle United players on the other hand looked forlorn and knew they had let everyone, including themselves, down.

Eddie Howe has a massive job on his hands to help instil confidence into this woeful bunch in the next three crucial weeks.

He will know the honeymoon at St James’ is now well and truly over and I sincerely wish him the best of luck like everybody does – but every week we are taking an extra step into the Championship.

After my disappointment subsided about an hour after the game (probably the drink kicking in), I picked up the phone to ring Colin….and then put it down again.

I just didn’t have the heart….

A bit like some of the Newcastle United players eh?

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