Loyal fans change their Toon
THEY love their No 9s at Newcastle United, just not when the figure relates to the number of games since their team last gave them a victory to celebrate. It’s been a miserable few months at St James’ Park as the side John Carver inherited from Alan Pardew have slipped from European hopefuls to relegation candidates. Fans had to endure eight successive league defeats before Saturday’s draw with West Brom — one fewer than Sunderland’s run in 2005, though some way short of the record 15-game stretch their bitter rivals from Wearside experienced two years prior to that. So there was a feeling of trepidation long before fans packed into Nine — the bar named in honour of legendary Newcastle strikers like Jackie Milburn, Wyn Davies, Malcolm Macdonald, Les Ferdinand and Alan Shearer — at lunchtime to see Sunderland beat Everton and move above them in the table. The boos from Goodison Park at the final whistle echoed from the many TV screens plastered around the place, the noise a sharp contrast to the solemn mood inside the bar itself. If there’s anything as bad as a Newcastle defeat around these parts it’s a Sunderland victory. But this was no time to go after the old enemy. No point in being distracted by tribal differences. There is a bigger picture here and Newcastle are in danger of disappearing through the trapdoor, possibly taking the fall for Sunderland. That would hurt. Outside, the sun had poked through the morning cloud and there was a more optimistic mood. Nearby, a stag party dressed as 80s footballers with retro shirts and mullets gathered. One wore an old Newcastle jersey beneath a belly with ‘Gazza’ written across it. How Newcastle fans would love to turn back the clock now. Inside St James’ Park, there was none of the rancour that has recently engulfed the club. The Toon Army had heeded the calls for unity, recognising that their team needs them.‘It was like being back in a stadium where the only thing that mattered was the football,’ said Carver. ‘The fans stayed with us and were patient — that was important.’ No-one was kidding themselves that the job is done yet, though. It’s QPR away next, then West Ham at home on the final day. Sam Allardyce, sacked after eight months here, will be looking forward to that one.
CHRIS WHEELER