So here we are still in limbo. Last week I wrote about the international break coming at the wrong time and interrupting our anticipation of hopefully building on the sensational win at Anfield.
And here we are a week later still anticipating and limboing like a drunk Glaswegian during a Caribbean night at an all-inclusive hotel in Majorca.
It’s been like a long car journey with a couple of irritable small people repeating “are we there yet?” until you feel like doing a David Cameron and leaving them at the Little Chef and legging it.
Not long now though and we can hopefully get our questions answered about how good (or not) this squad is going to be.
And standing in our way, Newcastle United. Now I don’t think I’m wrong when I say we’d all like to see Newcastle relegated. They’re they antipathy of the ugly side of modern football.
Owned by a mercenary business man who doesn’t seem to care about the fans and the soul of the club, they have become the club everyone loves to hate. Now we all understand that football clubs must be run more business-like than in the past. But there must be a trade-off.
No-one wants to see any clubs go to the wall, Portsmouth being a prime example how mis-management can lead to a heavy fall from grace. As they walk down the long road to rebuilding what was a top flight club not so long ago, it is being done by the fans. Now community led they are bringing the soul back to the club which was lost to a succession of owners only interested in personal profit.
Newcastle should look long and hard at Portsmouth, and Leeds, and pray that doesn’t happen to them. When the owner does leave, and he will, times could get very tough there.
The trade-off I mentioned must be a sound business structure that retains the heart and soul of a club. Whatever you think of our joint owners they are the model of this trade off. Two fierce businessmen who run the club on a secure financial footing but understand that actual business. They are business men who are also football men.
We may not like everything they do but would we swap with Newcastle or come to think of it any team when it comes to club owners? I personally shudder to imagine our club in the hands of a Mike Ashley or Vincent Tan. We had a lucky escape with the Iceland invasion (and I don’t mean marauding armies crossing the north sea waving frozen prawn rings in an aggressive manner) not so long back.
I personally feel that the club is being led by men that have the club’s best interest at heart. I’ve never been able to say that before in my long years supporting West Ham United.
Anyway, refocussing on Newcastle, I was very fortunate to be among the 24,735 in attendance on 21st April 1986 when we famously gave them an 8-1 hammering with Alvin Martin scoring a hat-trick past 3 different keepers – 5ft 8in Peter Beardsley? He must have really naffed the manager off to get that gig.
I watched that game from the back of the Chicken Run, at the time the very best place to watch football from in this country bar none. Let’s hope Slaven’s boys can make the Chicken Run roar again on Monday night.
We’d love to see the wally with the brolly’s face if we gave them a going over. We certainly need to convert our sublime away form in to something substantial at the Boleyn Ground.
Here’s hoping ….. COYI