Timely lesson as owners must play the long game
THE more things change, the more they stay the same at St James’ Park.
The Saudi dawn brought with it a familiar refrain of anti-Steve Bruce chants as his Newcastle side slumped to a feeble home defeat.
Bruce had surveyed the scene around the ground before kick-off, drinking in every moment as if it might be his last in the post.
It is only a matter of time.
Bruce was baited with choruses of “You’re getting sacked in the morning” by the Spurs fans. As the fate of Newcastle became clear, the Gallowgate End joined in.
The “We want Brucey out” chants had started with a quarter of an hour left. As Jonjo Shelvey was dismissed they intensified.
It made for a discordant new beginning but an instructive one for the club’s new chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan.
Five minutes before kick-off the stadium announcer asked for a huge Geordie welcome for him. Draped in his Newcastle scarf, boy, did he get one.
When CallumWilson gave the hosts the lead inside two minutes the chairman, scarf raised, was grinning like a Cheshire cat. There was precious little else for him to smile about.As Spurs
Neil Squires
handed out a lesson in precision football, you could imagine Al-Rumayyan thinking: ‘How much would this Harry Kane cost?’ In fact, how much for the entire team in purple?
It is questionable how many – if any – of the Newcastle squad will still be around once the revolution takes full hold.
This could be an expensive venture for PIF.Then again if there’s one thing Newcastle’s Arabian knights have it is lots of cash.
The ruling Saudi royal family were not represented at St James’ yesterday – PIF are a separate entity to the Saudi state remember, no really – but there was Geordie royalty with Ant and Dec in the building and the takeover had brought with it an air of joyous release.
The statue of Jackie Milburn outside the ground about to shoot had a cut-out of Mike Ashley’s face taped to the ball.
The sentiments were clear. With Ashley gone, a page had been turned but for anyone who thought this would be a quick fix, think again.
The fans unveiled a giant banner ahead of the game which read: ‘Cause this is a mighty town built upon a solid ground and everything they’ve tried so hard to kill we will rebuild.’
It may take some time.