As an American, a die-hard sports fan in Los Angeles, and a Newcastle United fan since I was a teenager (so over 40 years now…).
I can hear the gnashing of Geordie teeth all the way from my sofa, or the barstool at a local footie-loving British pub, every time the boys lose.
Let me cut to the chase…
Will Osula’s goal against the Salford unwashed has compelled me to write this. Whether or not it turns out to be turning point that has us play our best and rise up the league and win at least one of two cups remains to be seen.
Whether it makes it to the public’s eyes is not up to me. But I’m sending it anyway, hopefully my debut on The Mag.
I find it hard to find fault with this season overall.
Our league form has been abysmal at times. Some of our strikers or goal scorers come alive only under the bright lights of cup play. And it takes great mental strength not to lose concentration defensively night in and night out when running on fumes physically. Some in our squad don’t have such toughness.
Yet, it’s easy to understand. 38 league games is a grind. It’s the same thing in the NHL and MLB.
Throw in extra games because of our runs in both domestic cups as well as Champions League.
Combined with injuries… the Isak saga dragging… signing strikers with hours to spare, and…
It’s frankly amazing we made the Carabao semis…
Get the other Manchester club for a chance in the FA quarters…
And are in the last 16 of Europe’s top cup with a legit chance to advance.
Yes, I’m an optimist. No doubt about that. Every August, I figure the Mags will win the PL.
And as bad as it is that we’re 12th in the league… That we’ve dropped 19 points from winning positions (this really galls me – if we’d only shipped nine points instead, we’d be 5th and bearing down on the Villains and Manyoo for 3rd)… And that we both lost to the Mackems and trail them in the table…
However, I’ll take this over ANY of the Mike Ashley years.
From the 1990s, I had every NUFC home and away kit. It was hard to get back in those days, not like today, but living overseas and not in America helped.
That was back in the day when teams released kits every other year – new home kit one year, new away kit the following, then another new home kit the next year, and so on…
I looked forward to buying them every year. Northern Rock or Newcastle Ale as our sponsors most of the time. There was the occasional McEwan’s Ale and maybe another sponsor or two I’ve forgotten about…
I always loved those shirts as much for the colorway as for the fact that the sponsor was local.
And of course, the three stripes of our kitmaker making it a no-doubter that only adidas should ever make our kits.
But that all changed in 2010 when our kitmaker became Puma. Then when the shirt sponsor became Virgin and then some godawful casino with Chinese characters. And Ashley began showing his true (ie, cheap) character.
I didn’t buy a kit for 12-13 years. Gave up my Newcastle United season tickets.
(Yes, I had Newcastle United season tickets, though I never got the chance to use them. I had friends with Geordie family members, so I just gave them away…)
I wasn’t about to give that rat fat muppet any more of my money.
But I never stopped supporting Newcastle. And I bought retro kits off eBay, though nothing from whenever Puma took over to after the new owners came in.
All of this to give context.
I’ve lived the heartbreak of the relegations. I’ve lived the anger and at times desolation of the rotating carousel of managers who were an embarrassment to the ethos of Newcastle United.
Like any Newcastle resident and fan, I often rage at the lack of respect for us as a fanbase and football club – and, don’t worry… the bias for the Septic Six is just as alive here in America. I’m not a Geordie and have never lived in Newcastle (I visited twice as a boy though), but I know the lack of respect is also for city itself as well as its people. It’s truly my goal to one day live for at least a year in Newcastle Upon Tyne so I can live and breathe it from the inside, not just the outside. I digress.
After the Spuds loss to Palace on Thursday, the announcers were nearly crying at the prospect of Tottenham – a prominent member of the six God’s Gifts to English Football – being relegated from the PL for the first time ever.
A club that’s won two league championships in nearly 150 years of football. It begs a shake of the head.
But like a real supporter, I followed NUFC as vociferously in the relegation seasons. I was/am still proud the times when we won the second tier Championship.
Still…
I’m not happy with our league form. I want Eddie Howe to play Alex Murphy more. I want to press less in league play, especially if we’re carrying a heavy injury list already. I want a world class GK. I want Howe to unlock the potential of Osula and how to use BNW because it’s there. I want AG1 to never wear a man-bun ever again.
And although it’s a grind, the league cannot NOT be the top priority. While I don’t discount our chances to win the FA Cup or Champions League, the fact remains:
The path to Europe every year winds through our league finish.
But the flip side to our at-times miserable league performance is our cup runs.
On Saturday, the old cathedral on the hill will be howling. On Tuesday, it’ll be boiling…
No reason to believe we can’t/don’t win both matches.
And have a legit shot to hoist at least one cup… if not two.
I’ll end with this:
…putting up with the gnashing of teeth and often-nonsensical whinging from large portions of Newcastle supporters…
…enduring a season in which we were/are in the last 4 of a domestic cup, the last 16 of another domestic cup (vs a team we can beat), and the last 16 of a continental cup (vs a team we can beat over two legs) DESPITE bad league form…
…watching world-class players want to come here and stay, despite what the toxic media says on behalf of the Septic Six…
All of it is much better than enduring what we went through with Ashley. I wouldn’t trade it for any of those under his ownership.
(Our thanks to Dave for his debut article on The Mag. If you would like to do the same, all articles welcome to contribute@themag.co.uk, whilst you can find extra information at Submit an article)