HOWAY THE LADS!
TO SAY I’m rather fond of Newcastle and its environs is merely stating the obvious having spent many a windy and chilly summer up there in my younger days. I thoroughly enjoyed hiking around Kielder Forest, swimming off Whitley Bay was quietly memorable (bloody cold), Vindolanda was thoughtprovoking, and Washington was, well, Washington.
But the undoubted main draw for me, even though I was based in Gateshead, was the city across the river. Newcastle has many attractions: Bigg market, Eldon Square, the Quayside, many brilliant pubs, and those magnificent bridges, but what really stands out is the “Cathedral on the hill” otherwise known as St James’ Park, which for my money is the best situated stadium in the country bar none.
All of these attractions are ample reasons why the nowrichest club in the world should be able to attract world class players, but there’s one reason why they won’t: as things stand they’re just not a good football team and, ridiculous as it may seem, without judicious stewardship over the next few weeks leading up to the next transfer window, the Saudis could well find themselves owning a team in the Championship.
On Wednesday they put Steve Bruce out of his misery and sent him off with £8 million in his pocket, but now comes the tricky part and that is finding someone to not just stabilise the club, but also set the table for the next manager twice or even thrice removed.
As Manchester City found when Abu Dhabi came in with
their petro-dollars that will not happen overnight, so patience will be needed; have the new owners got that patience? Time will tell.
They don’t need no educashon (sic)
Of course it didn’t take long for the usual suspects to come crawling out of their basements to condemn the Toon army for, among other things, cultural misappropriation, and it was vigorously suggested that their beloved football club should educate their followers on why the donning of Arab garb is offensive to, among others, Islamists, Arabs and Semitic people in general.
Well, good luck on getting a Saudi-owned club to renounce anything even vaguely Islamic, and as for educating the fans? Since when was Newcastle a city in North Korea or China?
But. . .
I wasn’t comfortable at the sight of Toon fans cavorting around Bobby Robson’s statue wearing faux Arab garb while displaying the Saudi flag; I may be wrong but I don’t think the great man with black and white blood running in his veins would have approved.
I did approve, however, of my Lilywhites’ wiping the smug looks from the faces of the talentless Ant and Dec as Spurs put Newcastle firmly in their place. Now, if there was a way they could be kept off our TV screens I would be one happy bunny indeed.
Chant of the week
“No noise from the Saudi boys.” No explanation needed
Internet Newcastle quote of the week
“The new owners and their sycophants who have brought untold misery to millions jumping up and down and dancing around without a care in the world.” Retort: “Oh come on, Ant and Dec aren’t THAT bad.” (They are.)
Team of the week
Edouard Mendy Chelsea, Trevoh Chaloba Chelsea, Caglar Soyuncu Leicester, Ben Chilwell Chelsea, Pierre Emile Hojbjerg Spurs, Tanguy N’Dombele Spurs, Youri Tielemans Leicester, Roberto Firmino Liverpool, Jamie Vardy Leicester, Mo Salah Liverpool, Adama Traore Wolves. Manager: Brendan Rogers Leicester.
Joint players of the week: Sergio Reguilon and Eric Dier Spurs – not so much for their onfield performances at Newcastle, fine though they both were, but for their actions in drawing the attention of referee Andre Marriner (Reguilon) to the Newcastle fan who was having a heart attack, and having the gumption to race off the pitch calling for the defibrillator (Dier).
This week’s games
Premier League today 2:30; Chelsea vs Norwich. 5pm; Palace vs Newcastle, Everton vs Watford, Leeds vs Wolves, Southampton vs Burnley. 7:30
Brighton vs Citeh. Tomorrow 4pm; Brentford vs Leicester, West Ham vs Spurs. 6:30; United vs Liverpool.
League Cup fourth round Tuesday 9:45; Arsenal vs Leeds, Chelsea vs Southampton, QPR vs Sunderland. Wednesday 9:45; Burnley vs Spurs, Leicester vs Brighton, Preston vs Liverpool, Stoke vs Brentford, West Ham vs Citeh.
Selected Championship today 2:30; Cardiff vs Middlesbrough. 5pm; Coventry vs Derby, Luton vs Hull, West Brom vs Bristol City.
Selected Scotland today 5pm; Aberdeen vs Hibs, Celtic vs St Johnstone, Hearts vs Dundee. Tomorrow 2pm; St Mirren vs Rangers. Wednesday 9:45; Hibs vs Celtic, Rangers vs Aberdeen, St Johnstone vs Hearts.Games to watch; West Ham vs Spurs, United vs Liverpool.
Will the Hammers keep up their recent good form or will Spurs win their third league game in a row? I suspect the former but I’m hoping for the latter. United meanwhile are in a bit of a mess defensively while Liverpool are on a roll with Mo Salah looking unplayable at the moment. But these fixtures rarely go with form so I’m expecting an error-filled draw especially having seen Liverpool’s shoddy defensive performance in midweek at Atletico Madrid.
F1
United States Grand Prix tomorrow 10pm. After the barely believable snafu in İstanbul, Mercedes know they cannot afford any more own-goals if Lewis Hamilton is to win his record-setting eighth world title. The Austin circuit has been good for him in the past with five victories thus far, his last in 2017, and he will hope it continues to be so.
And finally
Last week’s question: Ferenc Puskas and Alfredo Di Stephano were famously capped by two countries, but which player played in the World Cup finals for three countries? As a result of the break-up of the former Yugoslavia, Red Star Belgrade, Lazio, and Inter Milan stalwart Dejan Stankovic found himself playing in the 1998 World Cup finals in France for FR Yugoslavia, in Germany in 2006 for Serbia and Montenegro, and finally in South Africa in 2010 for Serbia.
This week: with which club did Sir Alex Ferguson start his managerial career?
I bumped into an old friend this week in Barbara Booth, aka Lapta’s original Old Fashioned Girl. The doyen of the Kyrenia Amateur Dramatic Society was on good form and eager to assure former acquaintances that she is neither dead nor that she has moved to Australia.
As she said quoting another not very good thespian: “I’ll be back.” Rest assured I think Dick Whittington’s cat will be with us for the foreseeable future.