Monday 5th September 2005

Well where do we begin?  Probably the biggest news week for NUFC in a long time!  Front and back pages and some in-between too.  Blanket media coverage of yet another chapter in our history, documented in every way possible and I somehow have to sift through it!.  And for once we’re all over the news for the right reasons.  Astounded?  You bet we all were!

           

In the aftermath of the Man U game (Article), with time running out before the close of the transfer window and Shearer desperate for ammunition, as The Guardian’s Kevin McCarra astutely pointed out in a column we all could have written (Article), things were looking grim.  Owen was indeed on Tyneside but was also set for talks with Liverpool.  (Article) (Article) (Article)  I think it is fair to say that the majority of us weren’t hopeful.

Then at 10am on Tuesday morning an announcement was made.  Michel Owen is a Geordie!  (Article) (Article) (Article) (Article)  I was lucky enough to be at home on Tuesday morning.  Lucky enough to see Sky Sports News’ Vicky Gomersall, a Liverpool fan (one of the smug Liverpudlians of the “Owen is signed an sealed and coming back to Merseyside” variety), have to read the news that was sending thousands of Geordies mental through a very fake smile.  TalkShite’s Greame Beacroft, another smug Scouser who has been getting on my tits on my morning journey to work with his “my contacts in Liverpool tell me the Owen deal is cast-iron” line of drivel, was equally crest fallen.  Especially as he had said only that morning that if he was wrong you could “pin him to a dart board and throw darts at him.”  Form an orderly queue behind the ‘oche lads! 

And such has been the outpouring of grief and disbelief from Merseyside all week.  From snide remarks in interviews from Pinocchio Thompson, again on Sky Sports, to collections of comments like this.  (Article)  Perhaps this is a good time to bring a selection of the more pithy comments regarding Owen’s decision in a little gathering that I shall call the “Bitter Scouse Corner.” (Article) (Article) (Article) (Article)  Calm down, calm down! 

The bottom line is that Liverpool thought they could just click their fingers and he would come.  He’d already, very honestly in my opinion, said what his preferred destination was and they thought it was a done deal.  Perhaps ultimately that worked in our favour; we tried harder and really showed we wanted him.  Liverpool, meanwhile, if it is to be believed didn’t even offer him a cup of tea (Article) and by the end of the week there were even stories appearing doubting the very sincerity of their bid.  (Article)  Perhaps this has ended up with us being footballs odd couple in a marriage of convenience (Article) but at the end of the day he is here and I think his own words (or whoever writes them for him) say it all.  (Article)  Yes it is a gamble (Article) but to compare us to Leeds is just ridiculous. (Article)  Any debt we have is geared differently.  We actually own our ground and training facilities for starters.  We haven’t spent much in real terms over the last 2 years.   We’ve been “keeping our powder dry” and suchlike.  And if you look at who has come and gone over the summer I reckon our wage bill is at worst the same as what it was before the summer.  Still at less than 50% of turnover.  A turnover suddenly boosted by a rapid rise in sales of shirts etc and further ticket sales. 

Elsewhere the press reaction has been mixed to say the least.  There’s so much to cover here that I’ll be doing this in more detail in the forthcoming true faith 45.  That’s the only way we’ll do it any justice.  In brief though you can be sure that there’s more that just bitterness from Merseyside to contend with.  It seems to be catching.  Sky, of course, was cock-a-hoop.  Mainly because they got the presentation gig!  (Article) Fronted by Jim White, the reporter whose “special relationship” with FFS you’ll remember we discussed a few weeks ago.    Also full of praise, and rather unusually so, was The Mirror’s Oliver Holt.  (Article)  Henry Winter couldn’t help but have a dig (Article) and neither could Giles Smith at The Times (Article).  The Guardian’s David Lacey had something to say, again with a barb (Article) as did Paul Wilson (Article), Roy Collins (Article), Peter Corrigan (Article) and the line up wouldn’t be complete without Sunderland’s own sour grape metric martyr Louise Taylor (Article).  Would they all be happier if Owen was sat on the bench at Chelsea?  Sorry to spoil your own little club and actually remind the world of our clout. 

Interestingly those with the most positive things to say have been the ex-players now writing columns.  Alan Smith (Article), Andy Gray (Article), and even Niall Quinn (Article) can see the opportunity that Owen has at NUFC.  Perhaps it is because they see things from the player’s perspective and not as that of someone paid to make headlines and tell us what we should think.

The other major incoming as the window closed was the return of Nobby Solano, Peruvian midfield genius and trumpet player.  (Article) To say this was by popular demand is an understatement.  (Article)  Can it really be the case that the fans were listened to? (Article)  Wonders never cease.  We never really replaced Nobby, sold in a fit of pique by SBR.  He also rejected Scouse advances (Article). No laughing at the back please. Aye Ok gan on then!  Welcome home Nobby! 

In both of these transfers one thing is clear.  Alan Shearer is the power behind NUFC.  He is one of the main reasons Owen came.  (Article) (Article)  He is one of the main reasons why Nobby returned.  (Article) (Article)  Perhaps then we see why Souness described getting Shearer to agree to delay his retirement as one of his most important signings.  I very much doubt we’d be in this remarkable situation without his influence. 

There is of course one major outgoing to discuss.  Jermaine Judas finally got his wish and headed to the smoke with Spurs.  (Article) (Article)  He went with a bit of a whimper really.  A bit like many of his performances lately.  What Spurs want with another central midfielder is beyond me and I’m glad to take the cash for him.  Would you have him in your side ahead of Carrick and Davids?  Spurs have a habit of taking over-rated, over-valued players from us.  Kevin Scott and Ruel Fox spring to mind.  If JJ is not careful he may join them in the “I can’t believe how much we got off Spurs for him” category.  Sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for.  I wonder how long before we get the obligatory “my goldfish bowl hell” stories in the Sunday rags?

Well that’s about it for this week.  I know I’ve left loads out and you could probably all add much, much more on your own from what you have read, heard and seen yourself.  I hope I’ve managed to just capture some of the flavour of what could turn out to be a monumental week in the history of NUFC.  Right I’m off for a lie down now.

NM