Donald
Trump… frankly the start of his dictatorship has been worse than anyone could
have predicted. While we all reeled impotently at the blow of his victory over
the dislikeable, though not potentially Armageddon-inducing, option of Hilary
Clinton, especially as it came on the back of the Brexit Tragedy, there was a
minimal level of residual complacency among the ageing liberal intelligentsia.
The crumb of comfort we sought to feast on was the knowledge we’d endured the
Thatcher and Reagan Folie a Deux, yet
lived to tell the tale. Surely, almost 30 years later, what William S Burroughs
described as the cattle, oil, real
estate… poker playing, whiskey drinking evil old men who run the United States
of America… back stage operators for whom presidents and ambassadors are just jokes and errand boys would
have taken Trump to one side, in the manner of Old Man Bickford, and explained the
reality of political office. Alas not; the only thing Trump had explained to
him was the Geneva Convention by Angela Merkel at the end of a momentous and
miserable week that saw the death of human rights in the States.
Instead
we’ve had the Mexican Wall plan reaffirmed and the hideous, racist,
empty-headed Muslim Ban. At least the decision has been stayed, to allow some
kind of sense to prevail. However it’s gratifying to see the enormous level of
popular protest on both sides of the pond.
Astonishingly, one the 45th anniversary of Bloody Sunday,
tooled up Babylon didn’t go round firing off volleys of semi-automatic gunfire
into crowds of innocent people, exercising their democratic rights. No doubt
this will come, as shown by the refusal to consider the implication of over 1
million signatures and rising for the on-line petition opposing any state visit
by this despotic fucktard by the toadying filth in the British Government.
Maybe we
should let Trump visit Britain, then waterboard the bastard to within an inch
of his life. Now I’ve jokingly referred to America as the Great Satan and
called upon Britain to align ourselves with the Democratic People's Republic of
Korea for a long time now, but with the increasingly incompetent Theresa May,
visibly transforming from Thatcher Lite to Major Minor in front of our eyes, while
seeking to blend the accountability of Pontius Pilate with the vengeful
aggression of Neville Chamberlain, now must be the time to sort out one’s
passport to Pyongyang. After all, it’s
not as if the leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition is doing much to help.
I’ve been a
loyal supporter of Corbyn from the get go, despite wavering slightly when that
other bloke stood against him last year… oh you know; Owen Thingy. Well, I’ve
finally had it with Facefuzz Farage, after he insisted Labour MPs should back
Article 50 on the basis that’s it’s the democratic will of the people. How many
more times do we need to say that for the most part, the fact that 52% voted Leave
in response to a binary question that none of them appeared to
understand, for reasons that had nothing to do with the EU? By and large,
pro-Brexit voters were snidey Carling drinkers
from your local, unfriendly Wetherspoons who,
if they came from up here, probably regard Mitrovic as the next Alan Shearer.
And that,
sadly, brings us to Newcastle United. You know if Trump, May and Corbyn have
difficult and potentially epochal weeks ahead of them, the pressure on them
probably pales into insignificance when you look at Rafa Benitez’s forthcoming
agenda. Win both home games against QPR then Derby and the NUFC wobble will
become a distant memory; take less than 4 points and the mounting clamour for
the manager’s head on a spike will become deafening.
Actually,
hold it right there. There is no actual evidence of any significant groundswell
of opinion expressing any desire to see Benitez replaced, other than Ashington’s
resident Eeyore Glenn Wallace, who would rather we still had Souness as boss,
because “at least he took the cups seriously.” I really can’t begin to answer
that point…
Now admittedly
the result at Oxford was not the best, though we lost 4-2 there in the 92/93
promotion season of course, while the modern day fan is predictably hysterical
when things aren’t going their way and the lack of progress in the transfer market this month has been more
than a little frustrating, both for the support and for Rafa. Indeed, words
from close to the club do say that Ashley has made it clear Benitez is the best
paid manager with the best paid squad in the division. He promised Ashley the
playing staff were good enough at the start of the season to win promotion and
he’s been asked to keep that promise. Hardball tactics perhaps, but I can see
Ashley’s point, even if we are crying out for another striker and a creative
midfielder. Now it’s at this point I see Rafa’s point as well; he feels he’s
been let down by three players. It’s not hard to work out they are Mitrovic
(not enough goals), Colback (tries his best, but simply too limited) and,
sadly, Perez (just hasn’t shown enough application in a tough division). Ayoze can and will come good again, of that
I’m sure, but the other two are lost causes I’m afraid. We need to get shot of
them and this would have been an ideal time to replace them.
If I were
asked if Benitez is doing as well as I expected, the answer would be no, simply
because, other than the remarkable Norwich turnaround, Newcastle have failed to
come from behind this season. Indeed, I think that only Brentford away and
Reading at home have seen the team recover to win after conceding an equaliser.
This is why we’ve lost 7 games already; alright Wolves deserved it and Forest
was a farce, but both Blackburn games ending up as single goal defeats is very
disappointing. If I were asked did I want Benitez to remain as boss; I’d say,
without hesitation, absolutely and for as long as he wants the job. It is
ironic at a time when the Tory government has the temerity to launch an inquiry
into false news sites and their effect on the general population, that certain
NUFC fans are questioning the right of any of us to express even a modicum of
reasoned discontent, regarding it as heresy to be vociferously denounced. I
really hope Glenn doesn’t head to South Tyneside any time soon….
However, and
this may change if the next two home games don’t go according to plan and there
are no incoming players this window, if you check out the hashtag #RafaOut
on Twitter, it becomes abundantly
clear there aren’t any actual, real-life Newcastle United fans demanding that. Do
some research if you don’t believe me, because what you’ll find is those daft
sentiments are being expressed by a collection of self-deprecating NUFC
followers as gallows humour following the cup collapse, several Mackem WUM
accounts that lie dormant between our defeats, the ill-informed wittering of followers of other clubs (notably Villa and
Leeds) who claim we’re saying it when we’re not and angry NUFC fans ready to
flay the hide off any other Newcastle supporter who has uttered such treachery,
even if nobody has.
Rather
fittingly, in the post-truth era of false news, this is a non-story. It isn’t
happening and it should be on www.snopes.com to disprove the gloating of
ill-informed opposition supporters eager to bandy the “deluded Mag” term about
the place and calm the ire of fiery ultra-loyalists who are ready to hang all
Doubting Thomases from the lamp posts on Strawberry Place. Of course while a
week is a long time in politics, it could be an eternity in football….
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