If I’m being completely frank about my response to recent
events, the death of Lou Reed was actually the worst thing about Sunday 27th
October 2013. As Lou changed my life forever from the very first time I heard
the opening bars of Waiting for the Man by The Velvet Underground when I was aged
about 14, I can’t even pretend that the poisonous, malign influence of Mike
Ashley on Newcastle United and its supporters caused me to feel this way, by
effectively downgrading our defeat to the Mackems to the status of a minor
irritation and no longerallowing me to regard such a happenstance as a tragedy
of enormous proportions. Remember, music never lets you down; football always
does. Let’s be honest, only Keegan’s Entertainers or Bobby Robson’s 2001 to
2003 side could come anywhere near the first four Velvets albums in terms of
sheer, hairs standing up on the back of your neck, pleasure. Shola Ameobi
stumbling over the ball or What Goes On from Live
69? Cisse being caught offside or White Light / White Heat? No contest…
I didn’t see the Mackem game; in fact, I hadn’t seen a
single Newcastle United fixture either live or on television, other than on
highlights programmes, including the Fulham game where I won a pair of tickets
and palmed them off on my son, at all this season, before I took myself off to
St. James’ Park for the Man City cup tie. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not actually
boycotting the club, as I’d always intended to make the Stoke City game on
Boxing Day a must attend match, but I had found so many better things to do
with my time, including watching 31 Northern League games up to and including
October 26th. The vagaries of the fixture list so far this season
have meant we’ve avoided any Sunday or Monday home games, as I’m not prepared
to sacrifice a Saturday at a non-league game to watch Newcastle United, so I’d
not seen the inside of SJP since the tame surrender to Arsenal at the end of
the previous campaign. I have to say, I’ve not missed the place; those Wonga
and Sports
Direct adverts give the place a seedy, unwholesome air.
Even in the pub before the game I was questioning my reasons
for attending. As a lifelong Hibs fan, I could have taken to my sofa to see a
predictable 1-0 home loss to the hated Hearts in the Scottish League Cup on BBC
Scotland or, more productively, headed up to Blue Flames on a kind of semi
scouting mission, to see my real team’s rivals West Allotment Celtic and
Northallerton Town in a battle for 3 crucial league points. Allotment possed
the Yorkies 3-0 incidentally.
What’s that I say about my real team? Well, so far this
season I’ve had a simply wonderful time following Heaton Stannington during our
debut campaign in the Northern League, where we sit proudly atop the Division 2
table as November begins. At Grounsell Park, I edit the programme, update the
website (www.heatonstanningtonfc.co.uk)
and generally involve myself as much as possible in the day to day running of
the club. Come and see us; it’s only £3 in and there are always 3 real ales on
hand pull at an incredible £2.25 a pint. At The Stan, I feel enthused,
energised, fulfilled and above all, appreciated. Can any of us truly say the
same about Newcastle United these days?
And yet, in the minutes following Borini’s goal, which Krul
really ought to have stopped (Shay Given denied Sewpa Kev twice from similar
positions in the Dabizas game), my only thought was to get on line and book
myself a ticket for the City cup tie. While the majority of the support engaged
either in heavy drinking, on line recriminations or the pursuit of the red
herring of the local press ban, I booked K127 in the East Stand for myself. You
see, whenever the club finds itself in straitened circumstances, I find the
elemental urge from the very depths of my soul to go along and show critical support.
That doesn’t mean moaning or slagging the team off; it means putting the team’s
performance into a wider context. Thankfully I didn’t show this in the way that
those risible, self-appointed uberfan messiahs in the Strawberry Corner, who
had defected from the Division 92 corpus in the Gallowgate
Upper, decided to. Singing your support
is fucking shit to 2,000 City fans that’d made the trek up here for a midweek
game that was on the telly in their 4th most important competition,
is simply beyond parody.
While we lost the game, to a score line I predicted
beforehand, we could have won it in the regulation 90. Certainly if Remy had
started instead of Cisse, I think we would have done. In addition, I was
greatly encouraged by the performances of several players: Anita is a superb,
unfussy distributor of the ball, Williamson looked very steady, Yanga Mbiwa was
an assured presence, while both Sissoko and Tiote showed a degree of dominance
in midfield. However the least said about Cisse the better, while
Cabaye and Ben Arfa had cameos to forget. Worst of all was Krul; it simply
amazes me that he is still in the team ahead of Elliott. How much of a miscalculation
was it to keep the Dutchman and allow Fraser Forster to leave for Celtic?
Of course, let’s be realistic about things. Looking at the
bigger picture, my mantra is unchanged; while Mike Ashley continues to own
Newcastle United, it is completely irrelevant who plays for the club, who
manages the club or where we finish in the table at the end of the season. All
that matters, regardless of populist window dressing like the proposed £20 away
tickets reciprocal agreement or the seemingly otiose Fans Forum, that appears
to be blighted by resignations already, is getting Ashley OUT and 100% Fan
Ownership IN, though I’ll settle for 51% as a transitional demand.
On the pitch it appears that the squad have enough quality
to overcome both their maddening inconsistency and the tactical idiocy of the
frankly laughable Pardew, to ensure a spot somewhere between 8th and
15th, giving Ashley the succour and stability that huge injections
of Premier League and Sky TV cash can provide. As per his instructions, we’ll
be becalmed in lower mid table, avoiding any danger of qualifying for Europe,
with only the merest flirtation with relegation and dismally exiting the cups
at the earliest opportunities for the entirety of his ownership; a situation
that will allow him the chance to harvest money without undue expenditure.
Meanwhile, the big question is what do the fans do to register our opposition
to this state of affairs? NUFC
Fans United were instrumental in helping Lee Marshall set up the Fans’
Forum, but the pace of events mean this channel of communication has much to do
to avoid accusations of being a hollow talking shop. Additionally, the Time
4 Change was a huge success in uniting the support; let us hope that it
continues to be a force for good and isn’t hijacked by those with a personal
agenda of harbouring grudges and ensuring their positions of influence and
power are maintained, at the expense of the involvement of those who’ve worked
tirelessly for the good of NUFC’s fan base.
Whatever happens, it is clear that the pace of events will
leave us all scratching our heads at the ultimate meaning of them. I’m looking
forward to catching up with the true meaning of both Christmas and the way
forward for Newcastle United’s support at the Stoke game on Boxing Day.
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