Nick Pope was in the spotlight on Saturday.
A huge match against Brighton at St James’ Park
Eddie Howe and Newcastle United looking to avoid a sixth defeat in a row (all competitions) and tensions high.
The fact that Brighton had the best form of any Premier League team in recent times didn’t exactly help ease any nerves in the lead up to the match.
Nor did it help the mood that Brighton are seen as some unbeatable bogey team at St James’ Park by some Newcastle United fans. Despite the fact that before the Seagulls picked up a fortunate 1-0 win last season on Tyneside, Eddie Howe had previously at SJP against Brighton won two and drawn one. There again, who cares too much about actual facts these days…?
Just for the record, Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United v Brighton in the Premier League at St James’ Park now reads:
Played 5 Won 3 Drawn 1 Lost 1 Goals Scored 10 Goals Conceded 5
Anyway, back to Nick Pope.
As a member who buys (or at least tries to) tickets match by match, I have mentioned before in previous articles that it has been very informative and enlightening when each time you are surrounded by a different set of Newcastle United fans.
A constant theme has emerged, especially in this rollercoaster season.
Obviously the majority of Newcastle United season ticket holders (you can tell they have season tickets because they all know each other and have ongoing conversations across you between themselves) you are surrounded by are canny people. However, every single match, certainly this season, there are those who are absolutely obnoxious.
What I am talking about are fans who never ever join in with any singing and the only time you hear from them is when they are slagging the manager and/or players off, frequently. You would think they were forced to be there at pain of death and act like they are doing everybody else a favour by coming to matches. So many of them actually look gutted when something positive happens. Indeed, they are like some kind of football vampires, feasting on the bloodletting of misery when things go wrong.
Against Brighton on Saturday, I had a right bunch of them around me, the best/worst so far.
Honestly, this handful of Newcastle United season ticket holders were an absolute disgrace. It was like a competition between them as to who could be the most pathetic and obnoxious.
Never once did they get behind the team.
Even before kick-off they were slagging off Eddie Howe and pretty much every single United player.
Then it did kick off.
From the first whistle to the final whistle it was constant, apart from when the three goals went in and they sulked.
Eddie Howe was slagged off because of his team selection, the tactics, the substitutions that were made, the substitutions that weren’t made and so on and so on.
You would think the Newcastle United players were our mortal enemies, Mackem infiltrators sent in to ruin our club.
Nick Pope though topped it all off.
The hatred and abuse for our goalkeeper was off the scale.
So extreme were the levels of rage at times, it was a miracle that none of them experienced a serious medical episode.
They made me feel ashamed to be a Newcastle United fan the way they went on. Why don’t they do everybody else a favour and stay in the pub, better still a darkened room, let some proper supporters sit in their seats.
Every time Nick Pope kicked the ball, you would have thought he had just blasted it into his own net, rather than out of play or gifting possession as was admittedly normally the case.
This is the thing though, those of us who want to get behind the manager and players, especially during matches, we are not blind to any weaknesses and mistakes. Nick Pope was terrible with his kicking on Saturday and I am absolutely ready to say so.
At the same time though, Nick Pope was absolutely brilliant with his hands. A series of top notch saves and bravely coming out for any crosses into the box, like so many of his teammates on Saturday, he showed great character and resilience.
For these Newcastle United season ticket holders around me though, the many excellent things that Nick Pope did, were met by silence, just a pause for them to take breath before they could next go on a raging rant that seemed set to trigger strokes and heart attacks around me (they weren’t young…).
Without Nick Pope, Newcastle United would not have won that match yesterday, I am convinced of that.
Yet if you had given these knackers the chance, they would all have personally been happy to leave the Gallowgate end at any moment of this Brighton match and personally carry off Nick Pope to be replaced by Aaron Ramsdale.
I am not sure they even liked any of our players, having dug themselves such a deep hole of negativity and hatred towards our own. The same players and manager who have delivered Champions League campaigns, cup finals and a trophy in the last few years.
I don’t for one minute believe that Nick Pope will be first choice next season, nor indeed a fair few others who started for Newcastle yesterday.
However, why not just get behind whoever is on the pitch at this moment in time, or at the very least give them credit when they do something positive, when they score and stop goals, when they get the win?
Just like the fanbase overall, most Newcastle United season ticket holders are of course fine decent people, I know plenty of them!
At the same time though this very vocal minority are embarrassing the rest of us and should do us all a favour and find something else to do on a Saturday afternoon, or whatever day and time NUFC are playing at St James’ Park.