Newsletter

Get your daily update and weekly newsletter by signing up today!

Opinion

Newcastle United – A club that tries now, which could lead to a team that…

2 years ago
Share

In the aftermath of both the transfer window closing and the crushing late defeat for Newcastle United at Anfield, I have to admit a feeling has come over me.

Something happened on Wednesday night, something changed, I can’t speak for others but at least something did for me.

Going back many years (Pre-Mike Ashley) football was always enjoyable. I looked forward to the matches and focused the entire week around where I would be and what I’d be doing on the day of the match.

I’ve never been fortunate enough to get to all the Newcastle United games and even when I couldn’t be there, I still planned the week around the night in the pub for the midweek game, the Saturday 3 o’clock kick off or the “Super Sunday” match.

Over the course of the Ashley 14 years this gave way to following the scores from work, on the radio and sometimes completely shunning the game altogether in favour of other activities, then checking to see if a decent result had been forthcoming some time after the final whistle. Usually ending in disappointment and frustration I might add.

Then when you conversed with people who had actually seen the Newcastle United match they’d say “You’re lucky you didn’t see it” or “You missed nowt”.

Exorcising the demons of Mike Ashley last October was a seminal day and one that will be a postmark for the change that we’re currently seeing at the club. Some may say baby steps are happening but on the face of it, in less than a year we have already witness the rebirth of this club and taken massive strides into a more optimistic future.

This sea change was encapsulated in two matches recently.

Firstly in the 3-3 draw against Manchester City at St James’ Park and secondly with the defeat at Anfield on Wednesday night.

Hands up who would have taken a point from those two fixtures beforehand? I would have. We’ve never previously expected anything from those two fixtures (home or away) and to be honest we’re usually on the end of some pretty heavy scores.

Like I said earlier, something’s changed.

Against Manchester City I was actually disappointed with the draw but after the adrenaline wore off, I accepted that a draw against City is still a good point and beating clubs like that is not where we are at yet. Of course we’ll take it but the progress in expectation must be managed and measured. That disappointment morphed into out and out fury after the final whistle against Liverpool.

I was transported back to a bygone time where I went home and kicked the cat (metaphorically), sat in disbelief, stunned into silence and then realised I’d became annoyed at not picking up a point away at Liverpool, having been seconds away from doing so. If you’d closed your eyes, you could have been forgiven for thinking it was 1996 all over again.

That’s two teams, two top teams, two potential Champions that we’ve more than matched home and away and we had both of them rattled for sustained periods. Gracious at the end was Pep Guardiola, who conceded that it had been a good game and they were lucky to get a point. Bitter and snarling was Jurgen Klopp who seemed disappointed at Liverpool’s win. Newcastle United aint half ruffling a few feathers.

Down at Anfield, Newcastle United were missing Bruno Guimaraes, Callum Wilson, Allan Saint Maximin, Jonjo Shelvey and some good players were sat in reserve on the bench. This team is going places quicker than we dared thought. This team is entertaining its public once more.

The evidence?

I can’t speak for others but I’d say my reaction after the final whistle against Liverpool probably sums up where I’m at right now. At 10:30pm on Wednesday, the hurt and the devastation was back. In short – I cared.

It’s easy to switch off from any pastime when the pastime doesn’t matter, or worse, the pastime doesn’t care about itself. That was NOT evident against Liverpool or against Manchester City. Gone is the acceptance of where the club is / was and where it was or wasn’t going and in its place is the emotion, passion and drive from all concerned to see it fulfil its potential, be that the owners, the management, the players and most importantly, the fans. Boy am I glad to see that attitude back after so long at Newcastle United.

“We don’t demand a team that wins, we demand a club that tries”

In Eddie Howe’s team and under these new owners, I’m confident we’ll get the former because we’ve certainly got the latter…

Share

If you would like to feature on The Mag, submit your article to contribute@themag.co.uk

Have your say

© 2024 The Mag. All Rights Reserved. Design & Build by Mediaworks