Two
years ago on the last day of the season, I was playing in goal for Wallsend
Winstons away to Pennywell Comrades at Silksworth in Division 4 of the North
East over 40s League. The sun was dazzling, the wind blustery and the rutted
pitch rock hard. Ten minutes from time, we were leading 1-0 when their central
midfielder chested down a clearance from our defence, let it bounce once and
smashed it perfectly into the top left corner. I didn’t have a chance. I don’t
think I even moved. At full time, the first player I sought out to shake hands
with was the fella who’d just scored past me. Sometimes you just have to
acknowledge when you’ve been done by a piece of audacious skill, even when
lightning strikes twice. You see, the year before, also on the last day of the
season, the same bloke playing for the same team on the same pitch had scored a
similar goal to give them the lead in the opening 10 minutes. At half time they
lead by that strike. Just as we cleared a corner, the whistle went. Stood next
to me was the goal scorer’ we had a brief chat and a laugh about the quality of
his strike, before joining our respective team mates for a team talk. Nobody
complained about my conversation.
The
hours and days following a predictable, but still gut-wrenching fifth
successive derby defeat, where cowardice rather than incompetence was the root
cause, may not be the ideal time to discuss the merits of Corinthian gestures
to opposition players. However, the Tim Krul handshake with Jermaine Defoe has
garnered as much condemnatory comment as John Carver’s alleged tactics in the
game as a whole. To be perfectly frank, I am not a fan of Krul. I believed when
he came into the team that we had the basis of a genuinely world class keeper,
who combined the brilliant reflexes of Shay Given, the finest goalie and finest
gentleman I have had the pleasure of seeing play for Newcastle United in the 42
years I’ve followed us, with a physical presence that enabled him to command
the area. However, as is so often the case with players of genuine talent at
our club, initial promise has not translated into fulfilled potential.
Undoubtedly Krul is a very good keeper, but he should be better; his
distribution is atrocious and more concerning, he is highly susceptible to
shots close to his body, resulting in a significant number of “soft” goals
conceded.
Jermaine
Defoe did not score a soft goal; he scored a wonder strike that was almost as
good as Lauren Robert’s brace against Spurs in 2003. Krul was not
unprofessional in congratulating Defoe; indeed it was the opposite, as he
demonstrated an awareness of the craft and skill of a fellow professional doing
his job to the best of his ability. Of course if Sky hadn’t intrusively poked
their lens into the tunnel, we’d have been none the wiser about Krul’s gesture
and about 50% of the NUFC related Twitter traffic on Easter Monday wouldn’t
have been generated. There are many things to fulminate about our players these
days, being a good sport isn’t one of them. Condemn Krul when he makes a
mistake on the pitch, not when he doesn’t make one off it.
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