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The Pacemaker Diaries – are we back to square one?

I’d really hoped that having my pacemaker fitted would spell the end of all my heart related problems. Like, really hoped. It’s been almost four years now and for most of that time I’ve felt comfortable. Frustrated with having to have a pacemaker and angry at my crappy heart, but comfortable with the idea that everything seems to be running smoothly and that this little machine has made everyday life a lot less eventful.

And then it got eventful again. Not in a good way either. I didn’t meet loads of new people and start living some kind of extraordinarily exciting life. No, eventful in that my heart decided to go back to its old tricks.

I’m a regular runner. Running was something that signalled that life was getting back to normal after my pacemaker and the time off work that went with it. As soon as I was able to go out for a run again I just felt a whole load better and the more my fitness built up, the more my confidence with my device grew.

So when, after a run earlier this year, my heart just decided that it wouldn’t slow down, I was more than a little crestfallen to say the least. Sadly, it wasn’t a one off either. Although it didn’t happen with any regularity, it did keep happening. So while my heart would be beating at about 140bpm while I was running, when I stopped something would flutter in my chest and that would mean that I was in for another episode. My heart would continue to beat at that rate or more for anything from a few minutes to a few hours.

Now if you don’t know, having your heart racing for that length of time is scary and exhausting. And any normal person might seek help. Not me though. Determined that I wouldn’t learn my lesson from the months worth of episodes and a collapse that eventually led to my pacemaker, I kept quiet and hoped that it would just go away. I ignored the cold sweats, the nausea, the numbness down my left hand side and the gradual increase in pain in favour of an eventual dizzy feeling that might make me pass out. Because that would mean that it was over and that I could just rest and live with a normal heartbeat again.

Then, at the back end of August I finished a 5 mile run on a particularly glorious morning and began to walk home. A few steps later there was a familiar flutter and I knew that my heart beat wasn’t going to settle down. This lasted for around 5 hours, at the end of which I’d decided I better tell someone. So I waited for my wife to get home and kept my fingers crossed that for the rest of the day my children wouldn’t notice if dad went a funny colour.

Fast forward a few weeks and I was strolling nervously across Leeds to attend the Pacemaker Clinic at the LGI not knowing what would happen. Work had very kindly given me some time at the end of the day to ensure that I got there on time and now I was walking slower and slower in order to put off the inevitable for as long as I could.

There was nothing new waiting for me. The same spiel as ever before, the same types of tests and the same episode of a technician literally playing with my pacemaker in order to manipulate my heartbeat and make me feel sick. And at the end of it all they were able to tell me that some episodes had been my heart, while others had been the pacemaker. The plan now is to wait a month and take a download from my heart monitor and see what that reveals. Another waiting game.

I haven’t had an episode since the one in August. I’ve been out running a few times to test things out and so far, there’s been no adverse reaction. I’m making sure that I give myself a proper warm down afterwards in order to give my heart the chance to just settle down naturally, but I know that there’s no magic formula here. And so I just have to wait.

I’m hopeful that there’s little or nothing wrong. It only happens after a run and even then very infrequently. So, at worst it might mean that my Olympic dreams are over. I guess all I’ve got is to wait until the middle of the month to have some light shed on things. Until then, I suppose the best I can do is to get on with things and try not to worry. Am I back to square one? I don’t think so, but all I can do is wait to find out.

Magpie Moments Episode 9

Welcome back to another Magpie Moments, where we look at some famous and some not so famous moments in the history of Newcastle United. The three moments that we’ll look at this time are part of the modern history of the club, featuring the likes of McGhee, Pardew and David Kelly. So let’s dive in!

From the club who brought you Dyer v Bowyer, now Pardew uses his head! It felt easy to dislike Alan Pardew. I remember my thinking as being ‘anyone but Pardew’ when I first heard the rumours of his appointment. And then, during his time in charge of the Toon, he all too often felt like Ashley’s man. All ‘Mike said’ this and ‘Mike feels’ the other, if you’ll pardon the expression. On reflection though, he put together at least one decent squad and got us into Europe at a time in our history when that kind of thing felt like it was light years away. The moment in question though took place in 2014 in an away game at Hull City. Pardew was in his technical area when Hull won a throw and their midfielder David Meyler, once of sunderland, barged past in order to grab the ball for a throw. Pardew took exception, words were exchanged – no doubt some witty football banter – and before you knew it the two were inches apart and suddenly old Pards was sticking his head into Meyler’s face. Not quite a full on Glasgow kiss, more a Year 7 headbutt, but not exactly in the spirit of the game, either! An astonishing moment that you might expect in Sunday league , but not at the top level. Pardew was fined £100,000 by Newcastle, £60,000 by the FA and also received a ban of 7 games.

McGhee leaves it late! January 1990 saw one of the best games I ever witnessed at St. James’ Park. We were going for promotion under Jim Smith with Micky Quinn and Mark McGhee leading the line and at times we felt unstoppable…until the end of season play off that is. On this day though, we took an early lead through Mark McGhee and it felt like we’d stroll to the win. But Leicester had other ideas and scored twice before half time. Normal service was resumed straight after the break with Micky Quinn grabbing the equaliser. This being Newcastle though, by the 74th minute Leicester had retaken the lead and then extended it to 2-4. The promotion charge was officially stumbling. And then it happened. Not one, not two, but three goals in 10 minutes to put us ahead and ultimately win the game. I remember the winner well. Liam O’Brien won the ball from a breaking Leicester forward and it eventually got worked wide before being clipped into the feet of McGhee on the edge of the box with his back to goal. In an instant he fainted to go right and then turned onto his left foot and just hammered a low hard drive into the far corner of the net. The footage shows a heaving Scoreboard and Corner going mad and again, I remember only too well being thrown about in the Scoreboard, desperately trying to keep my feet while probably thinking that this was the best moment of my life!

Quinn, KELLY…that’ll do! Older Mags will remember this one well, while younger fans may well have been told about what is perhaps the most important goal in Newcastle United history. Without it, we were staring Division Three in the face. The game is seared into my memory. I’d travelled up from university, desperate to see us grab at least a point and we huffed and puffed our way through the game, never really looking much like scoring. In fact, the goal came from a Portsmouth breakaway, with Tommy Wright saving a shot and then throwing the ball long to Ray Ranson. Ranson kept it moving forward with a long, high ball which Kelly sort of flicked on towards Micky Quinn. Kelly then kept running and Quinn found him with a bouncing ball into his stride at the edge of the box. What happened next will go down in club folklore as Kelly ran onto the ball, catching it sweetly on the half volley and sending it beyond the keeper high into the corner of the Gallowgate net. Pandemonium! The final 5 minutes were spent trying to get my breath back while screaming encouragement for us to hang on. There was a slight late scare as a ball came into our box, but after what felt like an eternity the ref blew and it was all over. Mention David Kelly’s name nowadays and it is that goal that springs straight to mind. Our fate still wasn’t safe and there would be another twist in the tale to come. But we’ll save that for another time!

And there we have it. Three more Magpie Moments to get you reminiscing. And given the rich history of Newcastle United, there’ll be many more to come.

Book Review: Angels of Destruction by Keith Donohue.

When a mysterious child turns up on the doorstep of a widow in the middle of a night, there’s nothing else to do but bring her in out of the cold. But Margaret Quinn has never gotten over the loss of her child some years ago and so instead of just taking the child in, she offers her a home. So begins the brilliant ‘Angels of Destruction’.

From the very start this is a tale full of mystery and the reader is almost always left with questions. The child, Norah, is something of an enigma. She can’t explain where she’s from, she hasn’t eaten in who knows how long and appears nothing short of desperate. How does one so young and vulnerable just turn up on a stranger’s doorstep?

Later, Norah reveals some kind of magic powers. Yet in amongst all of the confusion there seems to be a polite, intelligent and well adjusted young lady who is bursting with potential.

Meanwhile, we learn that Margaret’s daughter disappeared in mysterious circumstances many years ago and that it’s been some time since she had heard from the runaway. Nursing a broken heart and missing her lost daughter like only a mother could, it seems only natural to take in the mysterious little girl and pass her off as family. But nothing can be as simple as that, can it?

Angels of Destruction is a wonderful book full of surprises, mystery, hope and tension. Norah, it turns out, is never far from some kind of trouble despite her well meaning nature and this in turn impacts not only on Margaret but the local community too. This leads to a fair bit of tension; as a reader one can’t help but feel sympathy for Margaret and so we want her to continue taking comfort in the new lease of life that Norah gives her. But Norah just can’t seem to stay out of trouble. And as the story unfolds, more and more is revealed about Norah, Margaret and their worlds.

We find out about more Margaret’s daughter Erica, herself a bit of an enigma who’s disappearance takes on quite an epic life of its own. In turn, we learn of Wiley, the drifter that Erica took off with and their quest to join the Angels of Destruction, a West Coast cult. And thus, we can fully understand Margaret’s angst and her subsequent decision to take in Norah. But will Margaret ever see Erica again? And with the community becoming suspicious, what will happen with Norah?

Keith Donohue has written a fabulous novel and created a world full of intriguing characters and marvellous adventure. There’s always something going on and rarely a lull in the tension or mystery. And while there’s always hope in the novel, especially concerning Margaret, it’s always tinged with sadness and an ever present sense of tension.

The novel sways back and forth in time, sometimes in the present day telling Norah and Margaret’s tale, while at others going back in time to give us background on Erica, the lost daughter. And all the while we encounter mysterious figures who threaten to shatter Margaret’s world some more while wondering if an when anyone will find out the truth about little Norah.

‘Angels of Destruction’ is a remarkable tale, full of mystery, fantasy and intrigue yet tinged with a sense of loss. As such, you’ll find yourself immersed in a world where it feels like almost anything might happen.

I give ‘Angels of Destruction’…

Matthias luvs Lewis 4 eva!

In a world where certain clubs seem to be handed every advantage possible, it feels unlikely that the powers that be could find any other way to help them out. And yet, here we are in the self styled ‘best league in the world’ where now even the media are helping our beloved ‘big 6’.

Time was that ‘tapping up’ a player was an offense. So how come there’s been such a sea change that now clubs can just have their interest and supposed contact with players plastered all over the media before our very eyes?

Newcastle have been the victims of this kind of thing with several players over the last couple of years. And of course, I realise that players might just want to leave, but when they’re paying someone to leak messages like ‘he only wants Arsenal’ then things have gone too far.

I’d thought that the end of the transfer window could be the end of my irritation with this kind of thing. Turns out I was wrong because for the last week I’ve still been seeing Lewis Hall’s name linked to Manchester United. And what prompted this article is the guff below from the BBC Sport website.

We’re over a week on from the end of the window and we get this! And the context makes it far worse than it first appears.

This week, it was announced that Hall has signed a new contract that will keep him at the club until 2031. This will mean that he’ll be handsomely rewarded for his service at his boyhood club; the club that his family supports. There’s also no release clause and therefore no obvious signs of even thinking of being released to go elsewhere.

On signing Hall said, “It’s an absolute pleasure to play for this club and represent the supporters”, “It’s a really good place to be” and “I think we can go on to achieve really great things.” Lewis Hall is clearly happy at Newcastle United, but even this won’t be enough for some who will no doubt continue to speculate that he’ll be leaving in summer 2027.

After the win at Millwall in midweek Hall was interviewed post match. Here’s what he said. “There was a lot of negativity before everything happened and as soon as the gaffer came in, he’s been top, as well as all of the coaching staff. The way he’s got us playing is amazing and I can speak on behalf of everyone – we’re really enjoying playing under him.” It doesn’t take a linguistics expert to work out that Lewis Hall is happy at Newcastle United. But I’ll repeat it for the YouTubers at the back – LEWIS HALL IS HAPPY AT NEWCASTLE UNITED!

Looking further back, after our win at Spurs the other week, during a post match interview Matthias Jaissle was told by Peter Schmeichel, “We’re (Man Utd) looking at your left back.” When he’d gotten over the initial shock that Peter Schmeichel appeared to be brazenly telling him who he could keep at the club, Jaissle replied emphatically “No way”. Still the online campaign continued with the likes of Alan Partridge clone Mark Goldbridge and various YouTubers and e-fans openly talking about ‘the Lewis Hall transfer’ like it was an inevitability.

In another twist, Jaissle was quoted as saying that he was “…in love with what I’ve seen from him so far.” So on top of all of the other positives we’ve now pretty much got ‘Lewis and Matthias sitting in a tree…’. Surely the message doesn’t get any clearer?

How can it be right then, that when so much love is in the air between player and club that the likes of the BBC, TalkSport, Ben Jacobs, Alex Crook as well as various other social media outlets linked to Man Utd, continue to insist on trying to ram their made up agenda down our throats?

I’m tired of vocabulary like ‘food chain’ and being told that we should know our place. B*ll@!ks to that. I’m sick to the back teeth of transfer speculation that should just stay firmly in the minds of the fantasists out there. Make the enquiry or pay the money. Otherwise, this unsettling of players really has to stop. He’s signed the contract, he loves the club, he loves the gaffer, the gaffer loves him and we love the both of them.

Oh, and by the way, LEWIS HALL IS HAPPY AT NEWCASTLE UNITED!

Gallowgate Cult Heroes number 25: Robert Lee

Were it not for Kevin Keegan’s powers of persuasion and this players lack of geographical knowledge, we may have lost out on our latest Gallowgate Cult Hero to Middlesborough. Thankfully, Newcastle Airport somehow made us closer to London than Teeside was and Robert Lee signed on the dotted line.

Lee was signed from Charlton Athletic for £700,000 in September 1992. An athletic and powerful right sided midfielder he would go on to become a Toon legend and develop into an excellent central midfielder. At the time that he signed Keegan told him that he’d make him an England international. And while this came true, it was as much down to Lee’s ability and the sheer amount of graft that he’d get through as anything Keegan did. Keegan – as he did with almost every player around that time – inspired belief, but the ability was all Lee.

Rob would stay at Newcastle for 10 years, thriving under Keegan and Dalglish, becoming one of Bobby Robson’s trusted ‘blue chip boys’ and surviving the politics and petty point scoring of the Gullit era.

There are enough Rob Lee ‘moments’ to fill a book, but I thought I’d pick out a few favourites, which I’m sure lots of us all share.

The first would be his disallowed goal against Brentford in the ’92/’93 season. But this wasn’t any old disallowed goal; this was one from about 60 yards out. Lee chested the ball down and lobbed the Brentford keeper at the Leazes end from well inside his own half. Cue, pandemonium in the stands. But wait. As Lee had struck the ball the ref was busy awarding Newcastle a free kick for a Brentford offside. I mean, he couldn’t possibly have just played the advantage with the home team attacking, could he? The ‘goal’ will go down as one of the strangest decisions any of us will ever see and Rob was fuming. Asked about it some years later he said, “It was the worst decision I’ve ever seen.” Me too Rob, me too.

The next moment would be one of his finest in black and white and probably one of the fondest memories any of us older supporters have. That header in the 2000 semi final against Chelsea. Not only was it a cracking goal, it also broke a bit of a hoodoo. Newcastle hadn’t scored at Wembley in the cup finals of ’98 and ’99. It felt like we never would as well, given the passive nature of both performances. At the time, I’d just moved to Leeds. I couldn’t get a ticket for the game and we didn’t have Sky, leaving me going to a Leeds pub to watch the game until a kindly new neighbour invited me across to watch it on his telly. At 1-0 I was despondent, resigned to our fate once more. Then on 66 minutes, when Shearer got the ball on the right side of their box I was up on my feet shouting for him to cross it. As he beat the fullback I was screaming at the telly and when Rob Lee met it with a peach of a header I was mid air, arms aloft in my new neighbour’s front room, swearing like a trooper and losing my mind. My neighbour had known me for a matter of hours but thankfully he didn’t ask me to leave and we became firm friends. Bobby Lee’s header still gives me goosebumps all these years later!

Sticking with the heading theme, Rob Lee also probably provided many of us with one of our favourite European memories too. In 1994 Newcastle had qualified for the UEFA Cup and had a first round away leg against Royal Antwerp. I was fresh out of university and frankly, penniless. There would be no going away for me. It wasn’t on the telly either so I found myself sat in my mate’s bedroom listening to the game on a crackly FM radio. We were both nervous. European football was something we had very little experience of so we certainly didn’t expect to roll into Antwerp and hammer them. But hammer them we did and Rob Lee came up with a hat trick of headers and another fine performance. As goal after goal went in in that first leg I remember feeling completely delirious, like this couldn’t possible be real. It’s fair to say that the LCL Pils tasted like nectar that night! While watching the video of the game writing this I was struck by the quality in that side. Lee himself, Beardsley, Ruel Fox, Scott Sellars, Andy Cole and even a young Steve Watson dancing through in the latter stages to score a brilliant fifth.

In reality Robert Lee was so much more than a Cult Hero. A club legend, an adopted Geordie and a player inducted into the Newcastle United Hall of Fame as well. Lee was someone who was central to some of my most enjoyable times watching Newcastle United and I’m sure this applies to many more of us too. Rob Lee was a genuine pleasure to watch.

Teaching: Here comes The Fear…

It’s started. After almost 6 weeks of a summer holiday, this English teacher is already getting ‘The Fear’. Even though September sees me begin my 27th year of teaching, going back never gets any easier. ‘The Fear’ is always there, whether it’s simple Sunday afternoon fear or the end of a break fear.

I’m not back until Tuesday – hallelujah for the Bank Holiday – and yet I woke up on Saturday right out of a ‘going back nightmare’. I’d love to say that I sat bolt upright in bed and let out a scream, like I was in some wacky Hollywood comedy, but I didn’t. Instead, I opened my eyes to the usual middle aged joint pain followed by a terrible realisation about the nightmare I’d been having. As with any morning I also let out a few whispered expletives, all of them featuring the ‘f’ word.

Teaching nightmares are par for the course when you’re about to head back to it. Last night’s was really quite bizarre and not the usual ‘they’re not listening’ type of thing. Instead, I’d been assigned to a desert school on some sort of compound. There were kids everywhere and also scorpions and snakes; lots of snakes. I’m not even that sure you get too many snakes in the desert. But this was never going to be true to life, brought on as it was by the anxiety of going back to work.

The snakes weren’t the worst of it though. King Charles and our previous queen, Elizabeth II, were my teaching assistants and boy did old Liz have a sailor’s mouth on her! Furthermore, when I went to the toilet – outside, of course, – every time I went to wee it set off a nearby sprinkler which gave me wet shoes and trousers. Not a look to take back to your classroom!

All this because it’s time to go back to work. But, of course, fellow teachers and those who work in education will know all about ‘The Fear’.

‘The Fear’ will no doubt continue even when I go back because on Tuesday we have the dreaded inset day where everyone and their mum’s that’s associated with any trust schools turn up to share a day of learning. It’s easily my worst day of the year, every year. I remember times when we just went back and more or less got the day to ourselves to get prepared. Common sense, right? One year, I sat working and completely forgot that I should have been in the hall listening to results feedback. When I realised I set off to the hall but swiftly turned around when I thought about how stupid I’d look and how dull it would be. No one said a thing.

At a previous school the CEO of the whole trust used to give a speech at the start of each day. These were inevitably, and for all the wrong reasons, the funniest thing I’d hear all year too. In my first year there he told us about the trust’s ‘no dickheads’ policy. I cannot, dear reader, underestimate the irony in said policy not least because they employed me, but mainly because of this particular CEO. Then, the next year he tried to convince us all that he’d been a ‘bad boy’ at school and that as a result he was indeed a local success story. Suffice to say that I’m still awaiting the medal I deserved for keeping a straight face that day.

Nowadays schools do stuff like get you to attend little seminars in the morning before you then spend the afternoon all together listening to far too many people attempt to bore you to sleep. Or something like that. So it might be anything from classroom management tips or a foot fungus clinic right through to some bright young thing trying to bring back class pets or just Abba pilates – and that’s just me throwing two words together to make a thing, but someone somewhere is thinking about which member of Abba they’d be. Honestly, it’s a nightmare. And then after the inevitably disappointing lunch suddenly someone’s bounding on stage to inspire you for the last few hours of the day. I don’t want to sound ungrateful – although I clearly am – but you know what would inspire me? An early finish or a day in my classroom.

Ah yes, my classroom. More fear. Our school has been renovating our corridor over summer. And I’ve been here before. In education it feels like nothing ever gets finished on time, so I’m preparing myself to not be too perturbed when I walk in and my classroom has no floor or something. All of my stuff is either in other classrooms or in long term storage and I am genuinely envisaging walking into my room to find absolutely nothing there! I’ve spent years coveting bloody glue sticks as well, so if they’re lost then I fear I’ll turn into Michael Douglas in Falling Down!

So, as well as worrying about whether I can still actually teach, I’m also worried about whether my classroom has all its walls, if I have a desk or even if it’s just a case of all my stuff has been brought back and dumped. I mean half a day to get everything put back in the right place is going to be quite the challenge.

As we all know though, within a couple of weeks these pre-term worries will be old news as learners have a funny little way of disrupting everything you’ve put in place with just a few words or actions. So what will be the new ‘6 7’? I mean it’ll have to go some to beat that particular work of genius. And will every student in every class still have their minds blown because I’ve had either a shave or a haircut? I wouldn’t care but it’s the same haircut every time and still it’s “Fresh trim, sir?” or even more strangely, “Who’s your barber, sir?” like they might just know him. And now, because of course young people invented hair cuts, I even get some asking if they could cut my hair! Who knew that barbering could become such an aspiration as well as yet another way to disrupt a lesson?

Whatever your role, wherever your school and whatever your cohort looks like’The Fear’ takes many forms and if you’re in education you’ll no doubt have lots of your own. One thing’s for sure though; however many nightmares you have and however cringeworthy your inset day might get, the first day of another new academic year is right around the corner. Cheer up though, it’ll soon be Christmas…

Always look on the bright side; 5 things that made me smile in July.

It’s that time again. The bit of my blog where I attempt to cheer people up, make them smile a bit, brighten their day or whatever else this series might be capable of. Usually, I reckon it’s only around a dozen people, but this monthly piece still does the same thing for me – makes me smile and reminds of just how much good is going on around me, in amongst all of the absolute rubbish in the world. So what was doing the trick in the last month?

Reaching the end of summer term. I love my job for any number of reasons. From working with vulnerable kids to standing at the front of my classroom and frankly, showing off. One day I might help someone crack a problem they’ve been having with reading or writing and on another I might just be glad to see them leave my room! The best thing about my job though, if I’m being brutally honest, has to be the summers. Every year, without fail, we get to just beyond the halfway point of July and I get to take the next 6 weeks off. I cannot stress enough how absolutely sensational it is to wake up every morning during that time knowing that I don’t need to go to work. So, no matter how hard a year I’ve had – and I’ve always worked in somewhat challenging schools – I know that there will come a time when, whatever is on my mind, work is not even in the picture!

Detectorists overwhelmed. This was the story of the metal detectorist Peter Hughes who spent the last 21 years gradually discovering more and more ‘treasure’ from a shipwreck on Margam beach in Wales. The coins date back to 1583 and the wreck of a ship returning from Spain with payment for grain that had gone the other way. Peter had visited the beach over 1000 times over the last two decades, regularly finding nothing at all. However, in that time he’s also unearthed well over 800 gold and silver coins from the wreck, as well as several other ship related items. The treasure haul has now gone on display at the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea. As good as it is, the story also made me think of the BBC show, The Detectorists, with Mackenzie Crook and Toby Jones, about a pair of long suffering metal detectorists who always seem to just miss out on the kind of big find described above. It’s a brilliant, heart-warming and understated show that we’ve only recently discovered and it never fails to make me laugh.

Retirement plans. The end of another academic year puts me another year closer to a relatively early retirement. I’m slowly realising that I’ve not got many more years in me as far as work is concerned, so we’re making tentative plans. At most, I’ve got three more years in me, but I might just do two, depending on how my pension’s looking. Either way, thinking about it always makes me smile!

Mod escort to Prom! If you don’t know, Mod is a British subculture born in the 1960s – and still alive and well today – focusing on particular styles of music and fashion from that era. They’re also into scooters, particularly Lambretta and Vespa. Last month I read a story of a Mod obsessed schoolboy from York who was given a scooter escort to his prom. Having attended a fair few proms in my teaching career I’ve seen students arrive in everything from limos to horse drawn carriages and military vehicles to helicopters. I’ve never seen a scooter escort though and so, coupled with my own interest in Mod culture, this one really made me smile. 15-year-old Travis from York, who is autistic, had been obsessed by Mod culture all his life learning lots of stuff from his grandparents. And although he wasn’t keen to go to Prom at first, his love of a sharp suit and his mum organising a scooter escort for him, persuaded him to go. The fact that the escort consisted of more than 100 scooters was just a fantastic turn out. Just a brilliant story!

The sun! Summer will generally bring out the sun at times, but in England you’re still more likely to get more than your fair share of rain. But, July brought with it another heatwave, meaning that our school sports day had to be done over two consecutive mornings – more time idling in the sun for me! Furthermore, for the bit of July that was spent at home I was able to fill loads of my time in the garden, just relaxing. More than enough reason to smile!

And with that, I’ll bid you adieu! But I’ll be back next month with hopefully a load more instances of turning that frown upside down!

Amar Dedic, the signing we never knew we needed.

It used to be that we didn’t get too excited about signing a full back. But modern football has changed all that. Yet still, our latest full back signing, Amar Dedic, didn’t exactly set many hearts fluttering.

I can’t lie, I hadn’t heard of him at first and then when my memory was jogged by the fact that Anthony Gordon had ran him ragged in last year’s Champions League game against Benfica, I was a bit unnerved. Clearly, I needn’t have been because Amar Dedic has quickly turned my frown upside down!

I’ll caveat this with the fact that it’s only been two games, but Dedic has made a flying start to his Newcastle career. He’s taken to English football like a duck to water and it’s fair to say that the lad looks like a seasoned Premier League veteran already. It might seem a convenient comparison, but he already reminds me of Kieran Trippier. His presence gives us a nice balance at the back and he looks pretty solid defensively.

Going forward Dedic is dynamic and quick, making brave runs on either side of the winger, and always giving opposition defenders just a little bit more to think about. Against Liverpool he never looked overawed, despite the extremely high emotion of the occasion, the opposition and the fact that he was making his debut just days after arriving at the club. The Bosnian showed a calm head which is going to serve him well for the remainder of the season.

Against West Brom, Dedic was superb again. While Harvey Barnes won the Man of The Match award for his two goals, Dedic wasn’t far behind with what some in the media would hilariously label a swashbuckling performance. Pirate-like or not, wor Amar had another fantastic game, bombing up and down the right hand side all night in an incredible display of stamina that left this fan tired just watching! More to the point, he grabbed a brace of assists; another happy knack that might just prove more than its weight in gold this year as well as leaving a certain Tino Livramento wondering if he’ll be able to get the shirt back once he’s fit again.

Clearly, our Geordie Bosnian has settled well and from celebrations on the pitch it seems like he’s quickly gained the trust and respect of his new team mates too. Defensively aware, likes a tackle, works hard, loves getting forward and provides the goods when he gets there – in a world where flair and skill are often king, Amar Dedic might just become the poster boy for sheer graft!

Newcastle United: A New Hope?

If we’re honest, it’s been another stressful summer. Put it this way, I’m a teacher and on the back of this one and the ‘Isak summer’ I think I might just get some temporary work for the six weeks between the middle of July and the start of September next year. Players leaving, transfer snubs, barely even a friendly won, SCR woes and then the manager of the last five years leaving. Not a great deal to get excited about. And of course this summer we lost possibly the most important person in the club’s history; Kevin Keegan.

So, I decided to go looking for positives. It’s the eve of a new season and of course we’re probably all feeling nervous to say the least. But going into this with a sense of doom, won’t help anyone.

If you believe certain sections of the media you’d think it’s been a nightmare transfer window for Newcastle. But while it hasn’t been great in terms of outgoings, when you look more closely, it’s not quite the disaster that it’s been painted as. In Tonali and Gordon we lost two players that wanted out and hardly set the world alight for us last season, so getting good money for both was actually smart business. For me, Trippier was a bigger loss, given the youthful look of our new signings. And the less said about Bruno, the better. He’s gone and we have to move on. Let’s stick to the positives!

With that in mind, here’s a big old positive statement; I genuinely believe that a couple of our signings could go on to be just about anything they want at St. James’ Park. Even though it’s early days, for me Sean Steur and Bazoumana Toure look more than a little bit special.

Steur in particular has been a fantastic surprise, bought seemingly when none of us were looking. But what a spot! The lad is 18 and plays like a seasoned veteran. It’s like he was born with a ball at his feet. I can’t remember seeing such composure at such a young age for a long time. In terms of his confidence with the ball there’s a hint of Gazza there for me. I watched him come into the team many years ago and just change games, demanding the ball. Steur feels similar. And while I don’t think he possesses the ‘God given’ talent that Gazza had, he’s certainly very, very special. Composed, intelligent, strong and always looking to play forward. He’s very quickly made himself look like a starter and him and Lewis Miley may be our central midfielders for a few years to come.

Toure is a very different player, obviously. However, he looks like one who could grab games by the scruff of the neck and change everything with his pace and flair. I’d become tired of watching wingers cut inside, slowing the game down, so it’s been good to see Toure so willing to go down the outside. I really hope he makes a positive start and manages to stay injury free as much as possible this year.

On top of those two, others have come into the squad and it’s to be hoped that once they settle they can live up to their billing. Furthermore, the likes of Leo Shahar and Mason Miley have impressed in pre season too, so you never know, the next future superstar might have already made their debut!

Further down the pecking order things are progressing well within the development teams with some notable additions being made and teams like our under 15s winning tournament after tournament. So who knows, with a little more patience we may see some of the likes of Park, Fitzgerald, Salia, Pivas, Neave, Ca, Ferreira and Wooster pushing to get into the team. And down the age groups the likes of Charlie Robinson, Sam Alabi, Michael Mills and Lucas Flack all seem to be making excellent progress.

Meanwhile, the manager who could well be giving those lads a chance in a few years time is young, highly rated, well motivated and tactically innovative. Matthias Jaissle was a name that I didn’t recognise when it was reported that he was coming in and the jury is still well and truly out on whether he’s up to the job, but I must admit I like what I’ve seen and heard so far. Hopefully, once the players are up to speed with his system things will begin to look even more positive.

The announcement about the new training facilities has also been a very timely positive. Some were beginning to doubt the ownership, so it’s nice to know that they’re still there! But these state of the art facilities are sure to benefit the club for many years to come and the part they’ll play in future recruitment can’t be underestimated. It’s certainly a long way from wheelie bin ice baths and paddling pool recoveries!

Furthermore, with more sponsorship just announced for the training kit and potentially the Stack and even St. James’, suddenly things are looking a lot healthier commercially too. So while plenty of others were revelling in the idea that our owners had ‘lost interest’ it actually looks far from it. And that could begin affect things in an immensely positive way for the club.

After the stale feel of last season something had to change and it had to be a big change. Players and a manager that we had loved have gone, but the club is still there and the team now has a chance to shake off that stale feeling and go again.

My one caveat would be that patience is going to be needed. There are a lot of moving parts to the changes at Newcastle United at the moment and whatever is being implemented by the new management team will take a bit of time. The importance of staying positive cannot be underestimated.

Film Review : ‘The Great Escaper’.

Some films are guaranteed to take us on a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. They can sometimes be a tough watch, but still we put ourselves through it. While I wouldn’t describe ‘The Great Escaper’ quite this kind of film, I would say that it will make you smile, laugh and cry…possibly all at the same time!

Michael Caine and Glenda Jackson star as Bernie and Rene, war time sweethearts who made it through Bernie’s service during World War II before getting married and living their happily ever after. But the ravages of time catch up with all of us and now Rene is in a nursing home with Bernie still living with her after refusing to leave her side.

Based on a true story, the film is a love story with a twist. So yes, you’ll be heartened by Bernie and Rene’s devotion to each, before ‘The Great Escaper’ lives up to its name as ex-Royal Navy man Bernie sets off on one last mission to bury the ghosts of the past.

Bernie is determined to attend the celebrations for the 70th anniversary of D Day. So, when he can’t get a ticket for an organised tour, he sets off to France alone, with only Rene aware of his whereabouts. On his way there he’s befriended by Arthur, another veteran. Both have unfinished business in France and both are still haunted by their military past.

Touching on issues such as ageing and mental health, ‘The Great Escaper’ is a fantastically refreshing watch. Caine and Jackson are superb as Bernie and Rene and the film reveals a lot about the trauma, despair and heartache that veterans go through as well as the harsh realities of ageing. But there’s a light hearted side to the film too, as we will Bernie to make it out to France and then sit back, smile and enjoy his new found celebrity status upon his return.

If you enjoy a heart warming love story with a bit of a difference, then you’ll enjoy ‘The Great Escaper’ and if you have an interest in anything to do with World War II then it will also appeal. Overall, it’s a fascinating tale with a hearty serving of laughs thrown in too.

I give ‘The Great Escaper’