Sunday 16th January 2005

The first part of the week was all about bloody Yeading again.  How upset everyone seemed to be that they didn’t get what they wanted because for once against non-league opposition we managed not to cock it up.  It really was a no win situation, as borne out by the media reaction.  Had we won by a mile they’d have said “well it was only poor little Yeading” and we’d most likely have been made out to be Premiership bullies.  As it was we came up with a more mediocre performance and so we get this kind of thing from Sky Sports’ Alex Dunn (Article). “Yeading impress, Toon progress” he says, claiming rather fancifully for me that Yeading’s David Clarke (who once had a 5 presumably) was “dictating possession.” 

On then to the Daily Mail’s overly gushing match report (Article) in which you’d think we’d actually lost.  Yes we were vanilla in our mediocrity but please don’t give us all that “£30 a game” rubbish all over again.  They’d have had to shut Fleet Street down for a week to recover had we drawn or lost it.

As ever, Shaun Custis at The Sun led the charge of the Anti-Newcastle brigade on the Monday after the match. (Article) Mr Custis I actually do think this kind of stuff is “patronising platitude to the Ryman League leaders.”  And if it isn’t then surely the stunt your paper pulled with their goalkeeper and the car (Article) most certainly was.

Soon to follow in the Telegraph were perennial Newcastle critics Henry Winter, in yet another rather myopic match report (Article), and the absolutely woeful Sue Mott (Article).  It’s about time Mott in particular changed the record.  Her constant problem seems to be about money in the game, look here for example "Link".  I suppose I should be grateful that its not just us but it doesn’t matter what we do we’ll take stick for it.
 

For example, unlike the Stevenage game a few years ago, we managed to keep relations with Yeading on a positive foot.  So enter the Guardian’s resident Mackem Louise Taylor with this lame effort (Article).  It’s one thing dragging the last value out of Shepherd’s mistimed words in Dubai but to then start banging on about “poor old SBR” all over again, please.  I like the comment from the LMA’s John Barnwell mind you that SBR was  “wrongfully dismissed.”  The only thing wrong about it was that it wasn’t done at the end of last season!

So on to the rest of the week.  Well it’s transfer window time so there’s been plenty of speculation.  That said bearing in mind we were linked with approaching fifty (!) players who were at Euro 2004 there’s always plenty of transfer speculation.  As Roy Collins in the Telegraph rightly points out though we seem to be the only big club willing to spend big in this window, though his patronising reasoning I could do without (Article).

The rumours themselves range from the sublime to the ridiculous.  My personal choice pick of the week was the rumoured return of Jon Dahl Tomasson, first mooted Alan Oliver in the Evening Chronicle on the 13/01/05, and regurgitated by The Times a day later (Article).  As for out going the News of the World’s suggestion that the Mackems want Titus Bramble tickled my fancy rather as did the thought of him and Caldwell together again.  A combination sure to shorten the odds on “own goal” as first scorer at the Stadium of Shite!

Speaking of amusing the Daily Record seems to be rather bitter about Jean Alain Boumsong coming to Tyneside.  This week they put out this bizarre little story claiming he couldn’t understand anyone in Glasgow. (Article) All I can say is let’s herrp ye divvent gan te any o’them red an’ white bits of Hairshingten on a Frida’ neet bony lerrd.

Finally I found this interesting article on supporters’ trusts (Article) by the Observer’s Ian Ridley.

This is something we’ve thrown our support behind at tf and I think this article goes  some way

to showing why. It’s about time we truly had a voice.  It works for Man U and if it’s good enough

for them then it must be good enough for us too!

NM
 

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