REALITY CHEQUE
Party Tyne lasted just 22 minutes then Harry made it 2-1 and the full scale of the task ahead kicked in
FIRST the celebrations, then the reality check.
After 11 days playing fantasy football, speculating on which superstars could arrive and director Amanda Staveley insisting the Saudi-geordies are targeting the title in five to 10 years, the scale of the job was shown to the world.
Newcastle United, now supposedly the richest club in the world, remain without a win and second bottom of the Premier League.
Relegation, not the Champions League, is a possibility.
Spurs, inspired by resurgent Harry Kane who ended his six-game league goal drought and made one for Heungmin Son, made this an embarrassment for the new regime.
“You’ll always be s**t,” sang the Spurs fans.
If the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman was tuned in, on his newly legal bein Sports subscription, he would have switched off early.
It took just 108 seconds for Callum Wilson to get the new owners off to a flier.
St James’ Park was alive with anticipation and hope.
The party was over after just 22 minutes and it will probably be 1,000 games and out for Steve Bruce.
Newcastle’s £305million Saudifunded takeover has stirred awkward, head-spinning moral questions leaving some supporters feeling a bit uneasy. This result added to the queasiness.
It was heaving outside the Gallowgate End two hours before kick-off. The statue of Jackie Milburn was brought alive with Mike Ashley’s head on the ball.
The noise was initially loud inside, as much for Ashley’s departure and the years of mediocrity plus lack of ambition, as for what might come.
Wilson nodded home from close range, after Javier Manquillo overlapped and whipped in a cross.
Up in the directors box new chairman and Public Investment Fund governor Yasir Al-rumayyan leaped off his seat to roar his approval holding up a scarf. Soon he will be writing the transfer cheques.
TV stars Ant and Dec (below) were also there for the new Tyneside era.
There are things that the club – or 10 per cent stakeholders Amanda Staveley and Jamie Reuben – have got right off the pitch.
Like the fan who left his tickets at home, went to the box office expecting to be charged £2.50 per duplicate, but was told it was now free and “we don’t do that sort of thing here any more”.
Or like Reuben announcing he would match every pound collected at the NUFC Foodbank until the end of the season.
The Wor Flags fan group were allowed into the ground during the week – after their self-imposed boycott when Rafa Benitez left – and put on quite a display.
It all added up to a dreamy first, er, 17 minutes, until Tanguy Ndombele curled home and reminded Newcastle why they remain 19th in the table. Five minutes later it was Kane on the money to break his second-longest Premier League goal drought.
A burst into space, a pass from Pierre-emile Hojbjerg to the unmarked England man and a neat lob, which ended the Geordie party.
The game was delayed after a Toon fan sitting near the pitch needed emergency medical treatment.
When it resumed, Lucas Moura sliced open the Toon defence, sending Kane clear. He crossed, and Son had a simple finish.
It could have been more, Lucas Moura hit the bar and Spurs, up to fifth with back-to-back wins, were dominant. “No noise, from the Saudi boys…” echoed from the away end.
Sub Jonjo Shelvey saw red, booked twice in his 22 minutes on the pitch, before Eric Dier’s 89th-minute own goal made the scoreline more respectable.
“We want Brucey out…” echoed around St James’ as thousands walked out early.
turned sour when Tanguy Ndombele levelled 15 minutes later and Harry Kane netted his first league goal in seven games.
Then the match had to be suspended when a fan needed urgent medical attention – with Spurs players Sergio Reguilon and Eric Dier spotting someone performing CPR in the crowd and quickly alerting officials.
When the match resumed, Heung-min Son added a third for Tottenham.
Newcastle sub Jonjo Shelvey was sent off in the second half, before a Dier own goal saw the match end 3-2 to Spurs.
The Magpies are second bottom and winless this season. And, asked if the Toon were in a relegation fight despite the change in ownership, boss Bruce (below, with coach Graeme Jones) said: “We have been in it five of the last six years. I would think so. We have been against it.
“I picked up the reins and finished 12th and 13th. I find that respectable. I am convinced we’ll win a relegation battle again.
“If you are in the bottom half you are in a relegation battle.”
Bruce could face the sack this week if the new regime finds a replacement, and he added: “I will wait until they see fit and see what they are going to say.” Spurs striker Kane said: “The game itself didn’t start great, we knew they were going to come out fast and they got their early goal.
“After that, we composed ourselves really well, created some good chances.
“The only disappointment is that we should have seen the game out, got the fourth, the fifth. We made it a bit more difficult at the end.”
On the incident with the fan, Reguilon said: “I saw one guy lying down and one man like this [making CPR gestures]. I was nervous, I went to the referee and said we cannot play, stop the match. Now I think it’s OK. That’s more important than
anything else.”