This is a week that I would just like to be over.  And most of next week for that matter.  When the Glamorgan Gob inevitably left the club there was part of me really wished we had received offers for him from Barcelona or Bayern Munich (and not just Blackburn and Birmingham) or that Celtic hadn’t been skint, because you just knew the first time he retuned to face us it would open up old wounds and generate the sort of interest that we really could do without right now, especially in the current circumstances we find ourselves in.

Unusually (?) though it was the other Welsh Wobblyjaw who fired the opening salvo.  Robbie “I don’t want to play for Wales anymore but why don’t you call and ask me though” Savage started raking over the embers.  (Article) (Article) with Bellamy reckoning he would let his goals do the talking (Article).  Aye right.  With stuff like this appearing less than 24 hours later?  (Article)  Steven Taylor was the first within SJP to be quoted in saying he’d love to take Bellamy on.  (Article)  That shows some of the spirit we’ll have to display to compete at Ewood on Sunday, I just hope whatever 11 can be put out shows it too.  We will need it.  The Guardian’s Fiver showed us their take on the Bellamy/Souness battle that everyone wants to play down whilst building it up of course.  (Article)  Then followed a whole raft of comment from all sides.  Simon Rushworth at The Journal asks if Bellamy will get the last word (Article) whilst Alan Oliver wonders if Bellamy will actually get out of the tunnel.  (Article)  You know it does have all the makings of a Viera/Keane type incident.  Lets hope the Ref has eyes in the back of his head and pizza is off the menu on Sunday then.  Alan Shearer meanwhile wanted to play the Souness/Bellamy talk down (Article) whilst Souness himself was busy telling the world how much better off the squad is without “disruptive influences”.  (Article) (Article)  Cue then the obvious defence by Bellamy’s current manager and fellow “fiery” Welshman, Mark “How dare you send Bellamy back to me injured” Hughes.  (Article)  The weekend brings a whole load of predictable building up of the story and I’ll not bore you with a load of links, you’ll be able to find plenty on your own, and they all read like this anyway.  (Article)  The bottom line on all of this for me is that the whole sorry saga is a catalogue of errors from start to finish on both sides.  Everybody lost.  Perhaps is the man at the very top has stepped in and had the balls to clash heads together right at the start, after the Charlton game last season, it would never have escalated to the levels it did.  The way this issue continues to divide the supporters of Newcastle United is worrying, as it is infuriating. Perhaps with this weekend out of the way we will start to move on.  However where Newcastle United are concerned we have this habit of people coming back to haunt us.  My hope is that the Craig Bellamy that got himself sent off after 5 minutes against Inter Milan is the one that shows up on Sunday afternoon.  I get an awful feeling it won’t be though.  

One man who has had plenty to say in defence of Souness this week is Terry McDermott.  (Article)  There are still a lot of questions being asked as to just what his role is at the club these days.  You can’t doubt his love of NUFC, a glutton for punishment he just keeps coming back for more.  But this is most definitely done post-Fulham and pre-Blackburn as pro-Souness spin.  That said I don’t doubt the sincerity of the man (nor for that matter do I doubt that of Souness.  I think he is sincerely passionate about NUFC and has pride in being the manager.  It’s his ability to put that across and manage the team effectively where the doubts lie) and I think it reveals why certain players other than Bellamy are no longer at the club.  It also raises the old chestnut about why they could not be motivated though doesn’t it.

The Fulham game last weekend was awful to say the least.  (Article)  With strikers fed off scraps (Article) and frustration all round (Article) the word “crisis” appeared in abundance yet again  (Article) (Article) as the players have their day off cancelled (Article) resulting in some sort of summit meeting between all involved.  (Article) (Article)   Certainly not what it said in the brochure Mr Owen eh? (Article)   As every though the media can’t help but have a dig at the club with sanctimonious prattle like this by Henry Winter for example. (Article)  You just don’t like the fact he’s here at all do you.

With empty seats a plenty in the Premiership (SOS being a prime example used) and in midweek European games (Stamford bridge and it’s deserted corners springs to mind) there has been debate over what has caused the fall in crowds in the Premiership this season.  (Article)  Massive club Citeh and The Beasts showing the biggest falls in percentage terms.  Remember that when you next hear “where were you when you were shit?”  Perhaps the reply could be “where were you when you were any good?”   I notice we fail to get a mention and in fact whilst crowds are falling everywhere ours remain healthy and indeed we get ridiculed when over 15000 turned up to welcome Michael Owen.  Remind me just what was the attendance at The Beasts’ UEFA cup game this week?

Speaking of European fixtures I’ve has my piss boiled watching various UEFA and Champions’ League ties.  Firstly we see Everton getting their sorry arses spanked in Bucharest being given every excuse under the sun from bad pitch to hostile crowds and former Eastern Bloc places being “difficult places to go to.”  Meanwhile Bolton, struggling to a 2-1 win (their first game in Europe with plenty of empty seats mind) over Lokomotiv Plovdiv, are excused as “some of these sides more relaxed playing away from home.”  If that logic applies then Everton could be onto a bigger hiding in the second leg.  At the same time we can’t even see how empty the Smogside stadium is as the Beasts struggle against some Greek nonentities; even Setanta couldn’t be bothered to make it ppv and showed it free.  In Ireland.  When were we EVER given any excuses like these?  In fact it almost bordered on ridicule when Partizan knocked us out of the Champions’ League, for example.  And for that matter when were we ever given any credit for some of the results we DID get in Europe.  Destroying Olympiacos over 2 legs springs to mind.  Nope when we play we play against Pub teams and if we aren’t winning by 3 clear goals it’s a struggle and if we win by more than that its poor quality of opposition.  Oh how Channel 5 and ITV must wish we were in Europe this year. They’re not going to get much out of this lot.  Wonder how long before they realise that actually, and especially with the possible advent of a NUFC TV station, they need us more than we will ever need them?  Just a thought like.

So what to leave you with for this week?  I think it would be remiss not to congratulate Steve Harmison for playing his part in bringing The Ashes home again.  He’s been rewarded (?) with a seat at St James’ for life.  (Article)  I’ve seen him at St James’ a few times and I must say he really does come across as a genuinely decent individual.  Not full of himself in the way some sporting “professionals”, who have achieved less than he has, I could mention, are and someone who deserves respect and support for a job done well.   Finally it was nice to have it confirmed this week that these words are read by those within the fourth estate.  Read last week’s missive and then have a look at this “snippet” from Alan Oliver.  (Article)  We didn’t get any credit for that matter from The Guardian after “their” story on the NUFC finances website either.  Clearly, complete co-incidences. These lads are professionals and don’t need snotty, 2-bob fanzines for their stories and not giving us references in their copy proves they didn’t get the ideas from us. As I’m sure you’ll all totally agree.

NM