Matchday Journal – Newcastle United 1 Bournemouth 2
Journaling my thoughts on a seismic and era defining day for Newcastle United.
An Autistic Person’s view of an increasingly chaotic world.
07:00
I thought I’d try something a little different today. It won’t be a regular thing, and I don’t really know why I’d be doing it today and not any other day, or why I’m doing this format at all. But we’ll see how this goes.
It’s Saturday, 18th April – and it’s a Matchday Diary.
People who actually go to games do this for podcasts and speak to other people. I’m just a fan who likes to write, and for some reason, to follow Newcastle United. They’re playing Bournemouth in a home match. And it is a pretty big one.
I’m doing this because, match by match, week by week, our season is slipping away from us. In fact, it’s gone off a cliff. And as each week passes, I find myself reassessing what would constitute a success at the end of the season, given our circumstances.
5th… 6th… A Europa League finish… Any European place at all. Cup runs are not in the picture now. Now I’m wondering if we’ll even have the right to brag about finishing above Sunderland, who… and I’m going to say this even though it sticks in my throat… have undoubtedly had a better season than us up to now.
And Bournemouth isn’t going to be an easy game. This feels like a club at a crossroads. I remember back in 2016 when Steve McClaren was our manager. We were in a much worse situation than we are now, where we were staring into the abyss of relegation. And yet we surrendered to a much better Bournemouth team who were enjoying their first Premier League season at that point – I don’t think they were even thinking about relegation at that point. It was the end for Steve McClaren and I fear today that that defeat would be another nail in the coffin for Eddie Howe.
I guess that’s one reason I wanted to do this today. I might return with a few thoughts a little bit later on, but I definitely will after the team news comes out.
09:30
Part of the reason for doing this blog is that this game really is a crossroads moment for this stage of the project, and because if I’m absolutely honest, I’m not expecting us to get anything out of the game. I want very much to be proven wrong and for this to be the start of a mini revival that puts us in contention for conference league football at least.
As a fan, I feel like I’m feeding from the crumbs of the high table from which Newcastle have been booted out of. Booted out because we no longer deserve to be there. But that’s the situation we’re in. It reflects on everyone at the club. The owner, the manager and the players… and I think sections of the fanbase. And I realise that is a very controversial place to go, and I’ll come to the reasoning for that in a moment.
It’s on the owners because they are, I’m led to believe, the people behind the decision to hold out as long as they could on selling Alexander Isak, which I supported at the time, even through every play the player tried to make to force the move. There was every chance that if we had just talked through the move sooner, given him more encouragement that a deal could be done with him and Liverpool, we might have been in a better position to do deals for players.
Letting the deal play out for as long as we did has damaged us. While we held out on the Isak deal, other clubs, including Liverpool, did deals for other targets that would have strengthened our squad. We ended up with no striker of real quality. We did not replace him. We lack the goals that Isak and Wilson, to a certain extent, gave us. In the end, we had to resort to what amounts to little more than panic buys that, it has to be said, have not worked out, so far.
I also think we’ve (all of us involved, including us as fans) had a bit of a reality check about where we are as a club and where the project is. I don’t want to use the word “failure” because too much good has happened over the last few years for me to go there. But I do think this “phase” is coming to a natural end. We are still thinking of ourselves as a club that is challenging the elite clubs. But we’re not there. A club that has the right to consistently challenge the top 6 is one that qualifies for the Champions League year in year out. And we’ve shown that in spite of everything we’ve achieved, we are still very far away from where we thought we were.
I think we all just need to take a step back. When the takeover happened, a lot of people inside and outside the club thought it was going to be a linear progression from a relegation-threatened team to one that challenges for titles. It hasn’t worked out that way for all sorts of reasons that I won’t go into because I’m already going on too long. But to end this section on a positive note, maybe this tough period is the reality check everyone at the club needs.
…. See you at 1:45 when the team news comes out.
13:45
The team news is out. One thing I heard shortly before was that there were going to be some very big calls.
There’s no Anthony Gordon at all, we’re told, because of a hip injury, but if you’re cynical, it feels convenient given recent comments where it’s claimed he’s said he feels like he’s outgrown the club
Osula starts, which he probably deserves. I thought he gave a decent account of himself last weekend at Crystal Palace, at least to begin with. He deserved his goal.
A big call would also have been starting Bruno for his first game back (he’s on the bench), and starting Joe Willock in midfield. “Big call” because really, I think he’ll be on his way in the summer.
A big call would also have been putting Woltemade back in a position up front, but I am pleased to see Ramsey and Barnes start. For me, they are players who are unlucky not to have started more games. I wish Bruno could also have started, but the team is okay.
They have to perform now.
13:57
It’s a big game, and it’s not often I say I’m not confident of a positive result. But I’m really not confident of a positive result. Things haven’t really been working for a long time. And I’ve said a change of some sort is needed.
Newcastle United 0 Bournemouth 1 (32mins)
0-1 Well… 32 minutes in, a bright start and a performance becomes flat, and by the time Bournemouth score, it does not come as a surprise.
The onus is on us now. I think this is the first time in at least 3 games we’ve conceded the first goal.
Newcastle United 0 Bournemouth 1 (39mins).
We should be 2-0 down. A turnaround is looking very far away. We have only turned a result around to win after conceding the first goal once in the last 8 games….
Newcastle United 0 Bournemouth 1 (Half time).
The boos are out. And they’re right. 15 minutes to assess things. 45 minutes to put it right. You have to be consistent. You can’t point to a bright start and then get sloppy. But that’s us. It’s been the pattern to our play for far too long.
It’s just not working. Hope they prove me wrong.
Trippier rumoured to be coming on for the second half… replacing Livramento, I would imagine, who pulled up with an injury at one point? (Update, this was for Lewis Hall….)
Newcastle United 0 Bournemouth 1 (55mins).
It feels like we’re having a go now, but 0 (zero) confidence we’re going to score.
Newcastle United 0 Bournemouth 1 (68mins).
Well… 1-1 but given offside. Which is just our luck. It’s being checked by VAR as I write this….
It’s the hope that kills you…. waiting…. waiting…..
GOAL.
I don’t know if Osula was actually in an offside position at this point, but it was given off a Bournemouth defender, which changed the decision anyway. So… goal given, and it is 1-1.
Now…. can we turn it around?
Newcastle United 1 Bournemouth 2 (85mins) 16-43.
And it’s 2-1 Bournemouth.
Sloppy defending again. We can’t keep clean sheets and we can’t defend.
Well… I’m gutted because even though I predicted this, I was given reason to hope despite pretty much writing off our chances before the game. It’s another damaging goal, and for me, this will be the result.
We have Arsenal away next. We are running out of games and points to play for. To be frank, that’s the end of any hope we had of European football.
Newcastle United 1 Bournemouth 2 (Full Time)
Well, that’s Full Time.
I had some stuff written down here at one point, which annoyingly disappeared from me after I wrote it. But the crux of it was, I found myself making peace. Making peace that this is the end of this phase of the project.
I don’t actually know if Eddie Howe or the Newcastle United owners are thinking the same as me, but that’s how I’m thinking of it, and… it’s okay. I said before that I didn’t want to think of it as a failure because the club has made too much good progress and too many good moments to say that.
But for me, the game is up. I think what (certainly) the last few weeks shows us is that too many of our best players have checked out and are thinking about futures elsewhere. They don’t see a football club challenging for the game’s highest honours. And whether they mean it or not, that does affect performances. And that affects the manager and the coaching staff.
It needs a change. And if I had to put my neck on the line, I think that means Eddie Howe’s time at Newcastle is coming to an end.