JOHNGIBSON Questions remain as training starts again
UNCERTAIN FUTURE FOR ALL AT CLUB
ON the momentous day they returned from compulsory lockdown they entered a workplace engulfed by mass uncertainty.
Newcastle United were back in full employment this week confronted not only by an appalling coronavirus pandemic but with heightened talk of takeover rendering the future employment of virtually every single individual open to speculation.
If conditions are bad for every Premier League club then it is a darned sight more worrying at NUFC.
How dangerous is training physically? Who has a guaranteed job long-term? Many more questions than answers.
They came in dribs and drabs after being in lockdown for longer than they cared to remember.
First there had been the comical sight of certain United players having to back into the coronavirus testing stations because foreign cars have left hand drives which meant they couldn’t enter the orthodox way to be confronted by waiting medics.
Then on the first day of training the coaching staff were walking round in face masks as small limited knots of players resumed fitness work under social distancing guidelines.
Players had turned up in their training gear and walked straight on to the pitch. Straight off it and away home too to get washed.
Steve Bruce had warned that footballers nationwide would need longer to gain acceptable fitness than originally planned by the PL. Danny Rose, on the other hand, openly rebelled at returning at all, talking of players being used as “lab rats” in the rush to entertain a bored nation regardless of personal physical risk. Meanwhile, in these most unique of circumstances, United were engulfed by a further blanket uncertainty as the first steps towards normality were taken.
Mike Ashley was still owner but for how long? Amanda was still waiting with her partners on the puff of white smoke from Premier League headquarters.
Bruce was still manager but for how long? Speculation swirled round his head as social media went into overdrive.
Coaching staff were still coaching staff but for how long? As long as Brucie is in charge. Nice to see you, boss, to see you nice! First teamers were still first teamers but for how long after “The Revolution” gets under way if it does?
More pressing, what is the future of the on-loan players? Of Matty Longstaff? Of Andy Carroll?
We know Lee Charnley will leave after a short while if the takeover goes through but who shares his taxi out of SJP? Or does he stay along with Ashley, Bruce, and the current gang because of PL intervention?
I mean, has there ever been a season like this one, nationally and locally? The answer is no.
Oh, a couple more questions: Will United confirm league safety in their remaining nine games? And will they reach the FA Cup final? All to be played out in the eerie silence of empty grounds up and down our land.
Answers on a postcard please. While supporters are buoyed by takeover talk, all those within barracks look upon such a momentous event with a little trepidation. How will it affect them?
Everyone has had to be as professional as they possibly can during the swirl of speculation currently engulfing this particular club and the wider, more sinister and frightening, implications of a pandemic that has both changed lives and ended lives.
These are crazy times. Mentally and physically draining.
While Danny Rose and Watford skipper Troy Deeney have led the dissenting voices, such has been the meticulous medical support and restrictions put into place that one player declared: “I feel safer coming to work than going to the local supermarket.”
United in some ways sparked the start of the medical awareness by banning handshakes at their training ground well before the lockdown began at the beginning of March.
Nevertheless, no one at SJP deserves this awful state of affairs. The never-ending wait for a takeover decision was still in place on the day of their return to action early this week and only heightened already existing medical anxiety.
I know the PL have had things on their mind with Project Restart but surely they have enough staff to handle two sets of problems simultaneously – or are they all furloughed?
The legal boys paid to look over the credentials of those wishing to take up residency on Tyneside have had long enough to do just that. We all knew the two main issues in great detail – the allegations of TV piracy and also of human rights violations have been chewed over publicly for some considerable time – and, as meeting the financial obligations surely isn’t a worry, a yes or no should have been forthcoming long ago. Tiny little words but of huge importance to people up here.
We had been told the deal is “edging closer” for so many weeks it must have passed the target a while back. Equally, we’ve been regularly informed “no red flags” have been raised, so what have we been waiting for? Have they failed to find a red flag? Or a green one?
Former Newcastle stars from Steve Howey to Olivier Bernard have prophesied the day of confirmation which has come and gone amid deafening silence. However, perhaps the most significant public statement came on Thursday when the Saudi state news channel Al Ekhbariya which is owned by the government and run by the Ministry of Media, declared in a twitter post: “The English Premier League gives the green light to complete the Saudi acquisition.”
Ah well, that would only spark blind panic in-house, even if there are scenes of sheer delight on the streets!