Boss Beale talks sense

MICHAEL BEALE is not the first football luminary to be condemned in the North with the c-word. No, not that c-word. I’m talking about “cockney”. Beale is – because he’s Sarf Landan – and it all sounds a little bit foreign to the folk of Wearside.

Beale believes his accent IS a factor in fans at the Stadium of Light taking a dislike to him.

We’ve already had the so-called “Cockney Mafia” running Newcastle… although I found both Alan Pardew and MD Derek Llambias straighttalking and likeable characters.

His boss, Mike Ashley, was regularly labelled a “Fat cockney b ***** d” by Geordie fans. But it turns out that if you are from Saudi Arabia, or Mayfair, London, and have lots of money, then you’re heroes.

So, in times of crisis, it seems an accent matters, and is used as a point of difference to make whoever is in the hotseat alien and unwelcome.

I’ve always been uneasy about Northerners weaponising Cockney roots as a reason to insult.

And that is writing as someone – a Geordie with a mild Newcastle accent – who is still asked by London-born friends to say “cook book” for comedy reasons. I always play along for the laughs.

Don’t get those southerners started on a Geordie saying: “Southwark” (suh-thuhk, not South Walk, as I once told a boss)… or “Magdalen” (correct sound: Maudlyn) College.

Beale says it’s fair to criticise him for the job he’s doing, but not the way he speaks.

And as Northerners, whose accents are only now being promoted by the likes of the BBC after years of mockery and seemingly being hidden away, we should know what he means.

Poor Beale hasn’t even lived in London for 10 years, or mentioned apples, pears, pie and mash or jellied eels once since moving up here.

The focus should be on results, not how you speak about them.