Category: Article

NUFC Academy: Next Cab Off The Rank?

Every year Summer brings what feels like a never ending, exhausting amount of transfer talk. From bedroom ITKs with their insider sources and local journalists who can never seem to agree on the status of a transfer to the new breed of ‘celebrity’ internet transfer gurus; they’re all at it to the point where it becomes tiresome. And that’s before we get to the flight trackers!

But what about getting one or two breakthroughs from our youth ranks?

It’s a bone of contention for many Toon fans; the will to have young players coming through versus the dearth of talent in the youth ranks that we’ve seen over the years and also our demands for shiny new names and star players.

But, given the demands of the fixture schedule in the coming season, academy talent could well be in demand at some points. Especially if it means solving the habit of putting two keepers on the bench! So, who could be the next sensation after Lewis Miley to make the leap from academy up to the first team squad?

There are some more obvious candidates, if you look at our loan lads from last season. Young Alex Murphy has already featured in the first team and then spent the season on loan at Bolton last year, so maybe he’ll make the step up this season. Similarly, there’s Charlie McArthur, also a defender who was out on loan last year and could well get a chance next season. There’s also the exciting prospect of Trevan Sanusi stepping up, after making his senior debut last season before succumbing to injury. However, I’ve decided to pick out three players whose progress intrigues me the most.

Leo Shahar. A name that many of us will already have been alerted to, but also perhaps a pertinent name for us with the coming season in mind. While Tino Livramento seems to have deservedly nailed down the right back spot in the team – when he’s not filling in at left back that is – it could be a position of little cover this year. Kieran Trippier may well be sold, despite showing his value to the side last season and this then leaves Emil Krafth or Harrison Ashby as cover. While the former has proven himself a reliable squad member, he is prone to picking up injuries. Ashby, on the other hand, is yet to make an appearance for the first team since joining in 2023 and with only loan appearances since then, he may well be moved on. Shahar looks like a young player with a big future. With a wealth of experience at Premier League 2 level, Leo is also an England international at both Under 17 and 18 levels. Since I first watched him he seems to gained a little bulk and strength to his frame and now looks a lot more capable of handling the rigours of the mens’ game. He’s a pacy full back, with good positional sense and decent distribution. And of course, he’s been learning from two excellent examples in Tripps and Tino. Could he be one who makes the step up this year or is a loan the more likely option?

Alfie Harrison. Since joining us from Manchester City in the 2024 January transfer window, Alfie has made steady progress with the Under 21 side. With 5 goals and 7 assists last season, he certainly made an impact. The little I’ve seen of Harrison suggests a player of real promise. A really skilful player who looks at home as a number 10, Harrison is quick and carries the ball really well, while his movement looks fantastic. He looks to be a player who sees passes a step ahead of most and his stats back that up. And while those in the know seem to be suggesting that a loan may be the best course of action for the youngster, I think it would be interesting to see how he fares as part of the first team squad where minutes as an impact sub could well produce interesting results.

Garang Kuol. Kuol has had quite a turbulent time since his arrival in January 2023. A full Australian international, he’s been loaned out twice since then and has still only made 25 appearances. It’s safe to say that neither loan went well with both clubs – Hearts and Volendam having poor seasons and changes of management. From what I’ve witnessed of him, Garang seems to be a quick, skilful player with an eye for goal. Comfortable with the ball at his feet, he plays mainly as a winger, but looks at home anywhere across the front line. Kuol’s best time since joining the club was during the latter half of last season in the Under 21 set up where he scored 8 goals and might just have caught the eye of Eddie Howe and the senior coaches. It seems likely that next season may be spent on loan again, but for me this kid looks worth shot at some point, especially with the number of games we’ll be facing across a very busy season.

Obviously, given our transfer activity with youth players over the last few years, there are lots of players getting noticed at both Under 18 and Under 21 level. The future looks exciting with the likes of Lewis Miley and Sean Neave breaking through of late. And then we can look to players like Cordero, Vakhtang Salia Baran Yildiz, Miodrag Pivas, Travis Hernes before going even younger with players like Michael Mills, Mason Miley and Sam Alabi all breaking through into older age groups last season.

But will we see a first team squad breakthrough from anyone in the academy set up next year? It’s the kind of thing that always captures the imagination, so let’s hope so.

Middle Aged Gigging: Stereophonics at John Smith’s Stadium in Huddersfield.

A funny one this gig. Beforehand, I was slightly reticent about going and not for the usual reason of being middled aged and living life in an almost permanent state of tiredness. No, this was different. This was a stadium gig and I really couldn’t remember the last time I’d been to a gig in a stadium. In fact, if anything I’ve been going to gigs in smaller and smaller venues of late. I needn’t have worried so much though, as first Blossoms and then headliners Stereophonics served up a cracking night that may well have taken the roof off the place if it actually had one!

The first time I saw Stereophonics live was around 1996, before their first album came out in what was a glorified pub in Hanley, Stoke-on Trent and it still amazes me to see what they’ve become. Don’t get me wrong; they’ve always had the songs and talent to deserve to be selling out stadiums, but it’s a hell of a leap from those early days!

Tonight, we arrive (fashionably) later than planned and after a mix up over stage times, realise that we’ve missed the first support act. In fact, we’re still trying to get into the stadium as the night’s other support, Blossoms, take to the stage. So, while I’m a big fan of their song ‘Your Girlfriend’ it’s difficult to enjoy it while your being squeezed through a small gap to get into a stadium and then precariously edging down some stairs towards the pitch. Tricky to sing along to when you’re trying not to take an almighty tumble!

Blossoms look and sound great though. Singer Tom looks amazing in flared jeans, striped shirt a loose tie and there’s more than a little bit of Mick Jagger about him. Tonight, he also brings to mind Faces era Rod Stewart and even a little bit of Prince at times, which is surely no bad thing?

Their set is superb and songs like ‘Gary’, ‘I Like Your Look’ and ‘Charlemaine’ have the whole stadium grooving along. It’s a great start to our night and the perfect set up for the main event.

After a quick set change Stereophonics amble on to the stage to a great welcome. There’s the odd wave from the band, but it’s a pretty low key entrance. And before we know it we’re into opener ‘Vegas Two Times’ and it feels like the whole place is up and moving. It’s a great track to open with.

This being a ‘Stadium Anthems’ tour there’s plenty to enjoy. Lots of singalong anthems and lots to make even the most curmudgeonly and dancephobic music fan (that’s not me, by the way) shuffle their feet. And singer Kelly Jones looks the epitome of cool in shades, black jeans and a black leather jacket. Oh, to be a rock god!

Stereophonics prove themselves to be as tight as it gets and this is just a brilliant rock and roll show. The visual production – in the form of screens – is pretty good; videos accompanying some of the songs and the odd bit of pyrotechnics as well as some massive pink balloons sent out into the crowd later on in the set as night falls. However, it’s the music that counts here; a stand alone reason to come and see the band.

Singer Kelly Jones has always been renowned for his incredible voice and it doesn’t let him down tonight as he’s absolutely note perfect throughout. My fears about a stadium show are quickly allayed as Stereophonics fill the place with a great big dollop of good old rock and roll. There are the usual irritations about this kind of show – people barging through to get closer to the stage when ‘their song’ comes on, people chatting – but none of it manages to get in the way of this being an excellent gig. Stereophonics do indulge in the odd bit of rock posturing, the odd pose here, a showbiz point or wink there, but then maybe they’ve earned the right to call on the odd cliche having sold over 15m records! It certainly doesn’t spoil anything for me, anyway.

There’s barely a dull moment tonight. As I mentioned earlier, it’s a set of stadium anthems so you’d have to be a fairly miserable fan of the band to not be enjoying what’s on offer. For me though the standout tracks are ‘Geronimo’ complete with it’s enormous saxophone (a baritone sax, I think?), ‘I Wouldn’t Believe Your Radio’ with Kelly on ukelele, ‘Mr and Mrs Smith’ and ‘Mr. Writer’.

As we edge towards a close – and my knees and feet begin to grumble – we’re treated to the ever brilliant ‘Local Boy in The Photograph’ and ‘C’est La Vie’ before an encore comprising of blistering versions of ‘The Bartender and The Thief’ and ‘Dakota’. Stadium anthems indeed!

As they exit stage left, Stereophonics leave behind a very happy bunch of Yorkshire punters. It’s been a brilliant night and a gig and band well worth coming out for. Makes me think that I shouldn’t leave it as long between shows next time!

NUFC; The ones that got away – Matz Sels.

Over the years I’ve had a surprisingly happy knack at backing the wrong horses, both literally and metaphorically. Whether I’m studying form or sticking pins into a list of names, it’s a rarity for me to back a winner. And it’s a similar story with footballers, particularly those that play for Newcastle. Back in the early 90s I may have been the only person in the stadium convinced week in week out that Kevin Dillon was going to score. Similarly, I was sure that lightening quick Wayne Fereday would be a success and thought that Daniel Cordone was going to be the best Argentinian thing since Maradona.

Some years later, Rafa Benitez signed Matz Sels and again, with literally zero insight whatsoever, I jumped on this particular band waggon. Sels was going to be a brick wall. Hardly Director of Football material, eh?

Sels was signed from Gent in 2016 on the back of a ‘Best Goalkeeper in Belgium’ award in 2015. Costing £6.5m and given a 5 year contract, it looked like we really meant business. Surely Sels was going to be our goalkeeper for as long as he chose. Rafa had clearly unearthed a gem. At 6 foot 2 he was imposing and at 24 a good age. He couldn’t fail!

Turns out he could though. Despite a reasonable start that included a run of four clean sheets in a row, Sels quickly lost confidence following an error that let Aston Villa grab a late equaliser. He stuttered while coming for a cross that was never really his to take and was subsequently beaten at his near post while frantically back pedalling. Four days later and Karl Darlow was given the shirt.

Sels made only 14 appearances in his season at Newcastle. He was loaned out to Anderlecht in 2017 and to all intents and purposes barely heard of again by Toon fans. By July of the next year he was being sold to Strasbourg for £3.5m and enjoyed several decent seasons in France. And if that was the end of the story you’d no doubt all happily flood the comments with variants of us dodging a bullet and that he was terrible. But, it didn’t end there for Sels and his comeback got me thinking about whether he really was one that got away.

When he left Strasbourg after 6 seasons there was much unrest from supporters with many seeing it as another example of terrible management by their new owners BlueCo, the investment group that also own Chelsea. Sels had built a reputation as a solid, reliable presence in the team and his departure on the last day of the January transfer window was deemed a betrayal by the Strasbourg and also the kind of decision that we’d become accustomed to under Mike Ashley. It seems that Sels couldn’t escape mismanagement. He’d been team captain and Strasbourg president Marc Keller referred to his a “true soldier” and “an exemplary goalkeeper”.

Sels moved to Nottingham Forest in February 2024 and since then has steadily rebuilt his reputation in England. He looked like a man at the top of his game last season when he kept 13 clean sheets and shared the Golden Gloves award with David Raya of Arsenal. And it wasn’t just that. What impressed me personally about Sels was the range of saves. While some were what you might call ‘saves for the cameras’ others were instinctive and brave. Sels was a major reason why Forest were still challenging for a Champions League spot on the final day.

It seems ironic that while we grumbled about Nick Pope and Martin Dubravka for a lot of last season one of our former flops was proving himself to be Mr. Reliable. I’m not for one second suggesting that we should be looking to sign him, but I couldn’t help but notice how well he was doing last season and it did lead to me re-assessing Sels as a goalkeeper.

So was he one that got away? In my opinion, he could well have been. I suppose selling him was the best thing at the time, but with the benefit of hindsight, might he have been worth keeping, if you’ll pardon the pun? Maybe Rafa Benitez needed to be a little more patient. Obviously, it’s said that goalkeepers get better with age, so that could be part of the story here, but I do believe that Matz Sels always had the right ingredients.

What do you think? One that got away or another Mike Ashley dud?

Always Look on the Bright Side: Five Things that Made me Smile in May.

So, here we are again. Delving into the everyday positives that can be found…even if you tend to wander round with your head in the clouds like me! It doesn’t take much to find something that will be sure to make you smile.

So what did the trick in May?

Toddlers named World Puddle Jumping champions! I mean even without the detail there’s enough to raise a smile even with the headline alone. However, last month I read about Eli and his twin sisters Maia and Neeve from Northampton whose mum had submitted a video of them jumping in puddles to the organisers of the World Puddle Jumping Championships. The championships are run by Wicksteed Park, a tourist attraction in Northamptonshire, who decided that these muddy puddle loving siblings were the winners. There’s no trophy; winners receive a cuddly toy and tickets for a family day out at the park. Let’s hope it’s raining that day!

Star Wars Teabag art! This was such a great story! Artist Caroline West has been busy making miniature paintings of Star Wars scenes on tea bags. As someone who loves a bit of art and is also a Star Wars fan this one was always going to make me smile. Caroline first dries the teabags out, empties them and then irons them flat before painting her masterpieces. And they really are fantastic. Apparently she has created 30 tiny paintings and given them all Star Wars themed names like Brewbacca and R2Tea2.

Another artist! Drawing London using a fine liner. I’ll say it again – I’ve always loved art. I was reasonably good at it as a kid (and can still turn my hand to it a little bit nowadays) but I really admire people who can paint, draw or even take great photographs. This time it’s an artist called Jack Nolan who has drawn the whole of central London using only fine liners. And he’s spent nearly 1000 hours doing it! This raised a smile mainly because of how good it looks, but also for the amount of skill and dedication involved in getting it just right. Have a look for yourselves!

My daughter arriving home. Not as simple as it sounds, this one. She hasn’t just got the bus back from work or something. I’ve mentioned in a previous ‘Five Things’ how proud I was that she’d sought out adventure in her gap year by travelling to South East Asia and exploring Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore. Well, in the middle of May she returned! There were lots of tears (not mine!) and laughter when we picked her up from the airport, but mainly this was just an enormous reason to smile. Not only is she safe and well, but she’s been through a whole raft of enormous experiences that, as she enters a bit more of the adult world, I hope will stand her in good stead for what she’s got to come in life.

I became a superhero…finally! I started a new job at the beginning of this academic year. It’s an all boys school in an entirely new academies trust after I left my old place having become frustrated with the trust that I was working for. I didn’t feel valued, which struck me as a strange way to treat someone with nearly a quarter of a century of English teaching experience. I was assured by friends who worked at my new place that our trust was vastly different and it didn’t take long for me to realise how true this was. Within a couple of months I was more happy than a middle aged man should have been to be named Star of The Week at our school, with the Head teacher waxing lyrical about me in our meeting. He’d sat in on one of my lessons with a particularly difficult group, so it was great to hear so many positives. And it’s continued with plenty of people having good things to say about my teaching over the last few months. A couple of weeks ago though, things got even better when I was named as a ‘Staff Superhero’ on a document that was sent across the whole trust! Again, lots of nice things were said about me and even at my age it’s lovely to get a bit of credit for hard work. Such pats on the back are not why I do the job, but still, it’s nice to feel valued at any time, really. I’m still waiting on my cape and lycra costume though…

So, there you go; proof once again that even though you might have to upturn a few stones and look a little harder than you might like at times, there are always positives to enjoy and things to turn that frown upside down!

Gallowgate Cult Heroes number 13 – Santiago Munez and Santiago Munoz.

They say that the truth is stranger than fiction and in the case of Santiago Munez and Santiago Munoz, that couldn’t be more true! For while both have Toon connections and a bit of a cult following for a time, neither actually had any actual impact on the first team. Yet still, both are immediately memorable.

It gets even stranger though. Munez of course is a fictional character and was the young Mexican striker from the film ‘Goal’, signed by Newcastle to then go on and become a bit of a superstar. Munez’s story is brilliant though and it’s actually been mentioned by some signings in terms of being one of the reasons that they knew about Newcastle! Jonas Gutierrez, Massadio Haidara and Papiss Cisse all mentioned the film as helping with their awareness of the team and Callum Wilson said, “…it’s all about Newcastle. It got the little boy in me all excited and you’re thinking, yeah that’s the one for me!”

If you don’t know the film ‘Goal’, Munez is spotted by a scout playing in LA and offered a trial at Newcastle. Despite the odds – his dad nicked his secret stash of money so he couldn’t afford the plane fare, but was saved by his grandma who used her secret stash to buy one for him – Munez arrives on Tyneside and overcomes bullying, asthma (no, really!), the weather and homesickness to eventually strike up a decent partnership up top with Gavin Harris, another cult hero…

Nowadays he’d be scuppered by Shola and a loan to some team in Belgium fighting a relegation battle and we’d never hear from him again, but thankfully his cult status was assured by the magic of Hollywood!

I remember being at matches at the time ‘Goal’ was being made, sitting in Level 7 and spotting people in Toon kit crouched by the pitch, behind the advertising hoardings. At the final whistle they’d run on and celebrate with actual players, with cameras capturing the footage for the film. And I was at the Liverpool match that was used as Munez’s moment of glory when movie magic transformed a Laurent Robert freekick into a last minute winner by the fictional Mexican cult hero. Strange times indeed!

From Newcastle Munez is transferred to Real Madrid where the drama continues. However, despite a troubled time, he eventually turns things round and scores in the Champions League final against Arsenal, which I think proves once and for all that Hollywood doesn’t quite understand football! Apparently the rumour that Mikel Arteta still insists that Arsenal were the best side in the tournament that year isn’t actually true though!

Fast forward some 16 years from the original ‘Goal’ and we actually signed Munez’s near namesake. The subtly different Santiago Munoz was signed on loan from Mexican side Santos Laguna. Sadly, during his 18 months on Tyneside he was only really an academy signing and even then, didn’t make more than a handful of appearances.

For me though, the thing that makes Munoz a cult figure is that his signing was just so typical of Mike Ashley. If ever a signing summed up the Del Boy approach of our former owner, it was this one. A low level of risk, that if it paid off and Munoz was a success, could be milked to the maximum using the comparison between him and the bloke from ‘Goal’! You can almost see and hear Ashley salivating at the prospect of this moment of genius paying dividends! Sadly for Money Mike, Munoz spent most of his time here injured and although he made a substitute appearance in a pre-season game, he was pretty much always destined to return to Mexico. A gamble that was all too typical of Ashley, but one that for a short while captured the imagination of many of Mag!

Of course neither of the Santiagos is really a cult hero. But both, particularly Munez and ‘Goal’, have had an impact on the club and the fanbase. At the time I was fascinated by the fact that we’d be featured in a film and couldn’t wait to see it, especially as I’d been there on occasions when they’d been filming. The film itself will always be synonymous with the city and even now it gets mentioned by players. I could be wrong, but I’m sure it was referenced by Bruno when he signed.

So, Santiagos Munez and Munoz can be classed as Gallowgate Cult Heroes, even if they barely spent more than a few minutes on our pitches!

Middle Aged Moans and Creaking Bones.

It’s been a bit of a difficult start to the year in terms of health and fitness. It started with me catching some kind of bug just after New Year, which pretty much knocked me for six. It felt flu-like (I promise it wasn’t just the mythical ‘man flu’) and really didn’t help in preparing for the term ahead at work, as well as the new year in general. And it’s been largely downhill ever since…

A few Sundays ago, I was meant to be running the Pontefract 10k, easily one of my favourite races of the year. Training hadn’t been going well though and the most I’d ran in over a month had been 4.5 miles, which was a long way short of what I needed to complete for a 10k (6.2 miles). Still, despite the lack of miles in the legs I’d resolved to run and just give it everything I had in order to get over that finish line in a half decent time. And then the Saturday before happened.

On the Saturday before the race, I woke up feeling fine. I’d had a decent sleep and was up and showered early and ready to go. The usual Saturday plan is to head to a local country park in order to volunteer for ParkRun or just get some washing in and then head to the supermarket to do the weekly shop. With my son busy revising, it meant that we wouldn’t be volunteering, so once the washing was in I headed to the supermarket where, up to a point, everything was going swimmingly.

Suddenly though, as I headed to the checkout, I felt violently sick and my stomach was turning more than my washing machine. I dumped my trolley and ran to the toilets, just in case – can you imagine the eternal shame of throwing up in your local supermarket? Nothing happened though and so when I felt a little better I rescued my shopping and went and paid for it.

It happened again though, almost the minute that I walked in through my front door. To cut a long, repetitive story short, I ended up in bed, sleeping like a baby for the next couple of hours. On waking up, I realised pretty quickly that I wouldn’t be making the trip to Pontefract the next day.

This was the second race in two months that I’ve had to pull out of. The first one, in April, was just because I felt extremely tired. I didn’t even really want to race, having done the same one last year and hated every second of it! It was only bloody mindedness that made me enter again!

And so, that Pontefract Sunday was spent trying to pick myself up from feeling low and working out how to put things right. I had four weeks until my next race – the Leeds 10k, which is always fantastic. I decided just to take a slightly different approach and resolved to think less about times and distances and just make sure that I get out and run. No excuses, no pondering and deliberating and talking myself out of things…just get out with a minimum distance in mind and run. Hopefully fitness would come and as the race approached I would be able to start preparing properly and getting some longer distances in.

As I write on 2nd June, it’s been going well. I dragged myself out and did a post work 5k on the Monday evening after having missed out on Pontefract and I’ve been keeping going since then with 4 runs in total as well as several long walks and some yoga. My latest run was a Friday morning 10k which was nowhere near as tough as I’d expected and although I was slightly irritated with my time (just over 56 minutes) I’ve told myself that it doesn’t matter and that if I can run under 55 minutes for the Leeds 10k, then that will represent a bit of a triumph.

Hopefully, by the middle of June I’m approaching some sort of fitness. In an ideal world I won’t be struck down by another bout of mystery illness and so be able to just slowly build my strength back up. It’s been good just to give myself a kick up the backside and adopt a ‘no excuses’ attitude.

Roll on Sunday 15th June and the Leeds 10k! Fingers tightly crossed until the actual day though!

Sell Anthony Gordon? Please, step away from the internet!

Like any fully grown adult I realise that it’s futile to get too bothered by stuff you read on social media. Whether it’s to do with politics, music or sport – particularly football – there’s always someone having a rant or disguising their desperate attempts to get attention by starting with ‘unpopular opinion but…’. Over time, we learn just to move on and don’t engage. However, occasionally, you can’t believe what you’re reading rendering you helpless against actually replying.

I understand that everyone’s entitled to an opinion, by the way. It’s just that sometimes those opinions can’t really be justified, especially when the object of your negative opinion is an integral part of the team who’s actually done very little worth even complaining about. I mean, we’re talking here about a young, gifted player with loads more to give, after all.

On Sunday night, within minutes of the Arsenal match ending Twitter was alive with people telling anyone who’d engage with their madness that Newcastle should be selling Anthony Gordon. See Sven Botman the week before too. Reasons for this ranged from his perceived arrogance and over confidence to questioning his ability, work rate and feelings towards the club. If I saw one person saying “he doesn’t want to be here” then I saw a hundred. How do these people know this?

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I’m replying with this piece.

It’s my belief – and hopefully that of many other Mags of sane mind – that we shouldn’t even give a second’s thought to selling Anthony Gordon. And I really can’t envisage a situation where Eddie Howe thinks that it would benefit Newcastle United to do so. Having spent decent money to buy him and then having had the patience to wait and get him up to speed with the team’s style, Howe created a monster in Anthony Gordon. A force going forward as part of a devastating three and a workhouse going back the other way to help the full back.

I was all for his signing and I’m even more for keeping him. Gordon fits perfectly into Howe’s system and as others have said elsewhere, ‘form is temporary but class is permanent’. People are pointing out that his form hasn’t been the same since the red card against Brighton in the FA Cup. That might be so, but personally, I thought he made a decent impact as a sub in the game away at Brighton and it can’t be said that he’s not capable of a ‘moment’ when one is needed. That blistering form that we’ve got behind in the past couple of seasons will undoubtedly return.

Gordon is clearly an excellent player; a European Championship winner at Under 21 level and now a senior England international, a Champions League player and Carabao Cup winner with Newcastle. A player who more than fits the make up needed for success in the modern era – a grafter, pace to burn, an eye for goal and a team player. Why would we even think about selling?

It’s been quite a journey for Gordon since he signed in January 2023. Despite the price tag, he didn’t walk straight into the team and had to be patient before his chance came. There was even a bit of a tantrum away at Brentford when he was subbed on and then off later when Eddie was looking to protect him from injury. He was quick to realise the error of his ways and apologise. From there he knuckled down and went on to be a vital player as we went on to qualify for the Champions League. Since then, Gordon has largely been a fan favourite and another example of a player who seems to absolutely love life at Newcastle United.

If, like some of the internet ITKs would have us believe, Gordon is sick of life at the club (and I don’t for one second believe this), then he needs to knuckle down and work hard once again. I think the player himself would say exactly the same. I’d be staggered if it came out that he was looking to leave.

Everything about Anthony Gordon is exactly what our club needs. A grafter, a realist, a student of the game who works incredibly hard both on and off the field on both his game and his mindset in order to improve and someone who gives everything week in week out for a crowd who have taken him to their hearts, but also just a very, very good footballer. Imagine selling him and then having to sit and watch as he returned to play against us. I’d guarantee that he’d give our defenders nightmares, however good they might be. I remember being constantly worried about him when he played for Everton – apart from the time that I found myself worried for him as he picked a fight with Tripps and found himself nearly knocked into next week by Fabian Schar and Nick Pope!

There is no way that we should be looking to sell Gordon. Many questioned whether we’d wasted £40m when he signed and have been made to eat their words ever since. Now that he’s having a small dip in form, those same types are back again.

So, rather than typing ‘Unpopular opinion, but…’ when you’re next craving attention and following it up with some ludicrous rant against yet another Toon player, why not just leave the box room and pop downstairs and ask your mam for a cuddle instead?

NUFC: Why we shouldn’t fear Sunday.

Following the result at Arsenal there seems to have been a bit of an outbreak of fear with some of our supporters. And while I understand that it would have been far more comfortable to have a Champions League spot sewn up before now, I also don’t think we should be too worried about Sunday’s game. Your worry or even misplaced anger won’t change anything, after all.

Sunday is without doubt a huge game. A massive occasion that could bring massive rewards for the club in terms of not only financial gain, but also the kinds of trips and occasions that Europe’s top competition brings. Over the years, trips to places like Dortmund, Barcelona and Paris have helped make memories that will last a lifetime for those lucky enough to get there.

So, without doubt, there is a lot at stake this Sunday. But for a number of reasons – while not underestimating Everton at all – I don’t think we should be too fearful. We’re third in the league for a good reason, for goodness sakes!

A quick look at our team is reason enough not to panic. The nucleus of the side has been together since Eddie first arrived and have faced big games on big stages on many occasions. Those who have arrived since have never shied away from those occasions either. The squad is full of quality, big game players. Bruno, Isak (if he’s fit), Sandro, Fabian Schar, Dan Burn, Anthony Gordon…I could go on. Every member of that team is capable of a big game performance and have proved it on multiple occasions in the past couple of seasons. From crucial relegation scraps to cup finals, they’ve been there.

Remember when we worried about how Dan Burn might cope with Kylian Mbappe? Well, he did, pocketing the now Real Madrid star, scoring and leaving him looking a little bit perplexed by his trip to Tyneside as his team were absolutely walloped. And of course, this year it was BDB who scored the first goal at Wembley as we won our first trophy since 1969. He also won the Man of The Match that day today. It feels like he enjoys a big occasion, eh?

In the middle of the park Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali have the quality to run any game they play in and have done for much of the season. Even on Sunday against Arsenal they bossed the game for the first half. Both are capable of moments of absolute magic and both are clearly Champions League standard players, so with three more points needed, I feel sure that we can trust our midfield, whoever the third member is this weekend. I’ve followed Newcastle for over 40 years and can’t remember many better than those two in the heart of our midfield.

Then there’s Isak up top, a doubt at the moment, but a player that, if fit, is capable of moments of magic as Everton have found out in the past. The lad is world class, simple as that. Failing that, there’s Callum Wilson who while he’s struggling for form a little at the moment is always capable of that moment of brilliance that’s always needed from a top striker.

Without a doubt, our crowd has a part to play on Sunday. And again, we’ve done it before on countless occasions. Without banging on about the noise, the effects of yet another incredible Wor Flags display and all the rest, I would just echo what’s already been said on Magpie 24/7 and various other places on social media – make it a bear pit, a horrible seething mass of black and white, backing the lads to the hilt and letting the opposition know that this is St. James’ Park, where next season we’ll be hosting Champions League games.

I’ve heard that Everton will be ‘on the beach’ but I don’t agree. Needless to say, Pickford will be having sleepless nights at the prospect of spoiling the day, but I think whatever eleven they put out will be out there to spoil things and gain at least a point. We need to make sure that they have no say in matters and we’re perfectly capable of doing just that.

When asked about the game and the prospect of gaining another Champions League spot Eddie simply said- “You want it to be in your own hands”. Well, it is and I genuinely believe that we won’t let that slip.

NUFC – The ones that got away: Ayoze Perez

The rumoured signing of wonderkid Antonio Cordero, as well as being quite exciting, got me thinking about another player signed in similar circumstances. With Cordero attracting lots of attention in the Spanish Segunda B and rumoured interest from the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona, I realised I’d heard this kind of thing before.

For Cordero, read Ayoze Perez. Signed in 2014 for around £1.7m from Segunda B club CD Tenerife, Perez himself was rumoured to have attracted interest from some of Spain’s biggest clubs. And yet, despite the club being run into the ground by Mike Ashley, we still had enough appeal to gain his signature. Of course, seeing the scouting reports on Perez alongside the rumoured interest of some of La Liga’s big guns would undoubtedly have the pound signs flashing in big Mike’s greedy eyes! I mean, imagine the profit from that initial £1.7m layout if he was anything like as good as he seemed!

As it turned out, Ashley would see a cracking return on his investment when Perez eventually tired of the club’s lack of ambition and signed for Leicester City in a deal worth £30m.

However, before that Perez would prove to be a valuable asset on the pitch too. Playing largely as either a second striker, attacking midfielder or a left winger Perez always gave his all for Newcastle. And yet, he became quite a divisive figure, often finding himself the scapegoat for losses or poor performances. Personally, I was always pro Perez. I found him to be a cracking little footballer; skillful with an eye for goal and a decent turn of pace and brave when he needed to be.

Ayoze stayed in Toon for 5 seasons, making 195 appearances and scoring a total of 48 goals. But was his time just that of another footballer who came for a spell and then left when he got fed up, having not really produced the goods? Or was Ayoze one that got away?

For me, Perez falls into the latter category and I feel that he could have been an absolute superstar for us. But, he found himself at a club whose only ambition seemed to be to finish 17th or above in the Premier League and in the end it was no surprise that he left. Here was a player that would go on to win an FA Cup winners’ medal, play successfully in La Liga and eventually represent Spain at Euro 2024, picking up a winners medal in the process. In many ways, he fulfilled his ambitions only when he left the club.

Perez had many great moments and performances over the five seasons he spent on Tyneside. And while he wasn’t the most prolific goalscorer – that wasn’t his job by the way – he had a happy knack of producing goals when it mattered. For quite a small player he was also pretty good with his head, scoring a good few flicked near post headers in his time due to his ability to time runs across defenders.

Watching a few highlight reels what struck me most about Perez was his ability to find space and also his vision and the way he’d be able to thread a pass through a small gap when nothing looked on. For me, his best football was played under Rafa and it was then that his passing ability was illustrated perfectly in his link up play with the likes of Salomon Rondon and Kenedy.

For me, Ayoze Perez was definitely one that got away. Yes, he was with us for a relatively long period of time, but I still believe he left us in his prime. To say that he went on to play for the best international side in Europe should tell us enough. He had all the attributes to be a real game changer in the right team, but unfortunately, apart from the Championship winning side of ’16/’17 he was never part of a consistently competitive Newcastle side.

During his final couple of years at the Toon, Perez seemed to become a bit of a scapegoat for some fans. For me, this was unfair to say the least. Perez was a clever player with a positive attitude who always put in a shift for the team. He was both durable and versatile, rarely succumbing to injury and often playing wherever he was asked for the sake of the team. In my opinion, definitely one that got away.

Always look on the Bight Side; Five Things that Made me Smile in April.

This month’s ‘Five Things…’ is a little bit different in that I haven’t really had time to make my usual list. Add to this that for two weeks I was on Easter holidays and out of my routine and it means that this wasn’t something that I gave much thought to. So this month is a little bit off the cuff. But I hope it still serves to show you that we can usually find something to smile about, however simple.

The first thing – and the most obvious – that had me smiling was the Easter break. As a teacher I get a two week end of term break at Easter and this year, because of the timing of the holiday, I also got an extra day for Easter Monday. Now, I know lots of people complain that teachers get too much time off, but I have a number of responses to that. Firstly, I’m presuming that as a child, you went to school. Therefore, you know the drill. When a term or a half term ends, there’s a break. It’s not new. Secondly on this, if it troubles you that much, do the training, invest the time and become a teacher. Thinks of the holidays! But, I digress. Two weeks off gives a person time to rest, relax, reset and reflect. And while sometimes my life feels far too busy and chaotic, rest, relaxation, the chance to reset and reflect are more than enough to make me smile.

My fence. The first week of the Easter break was almost entirely spent in sunshine. And so, being in my middle age that was the cue to do lots of things in the garden! One of these things was to start painting my fence, which hadn’t been painted since we had even better weather during lockdown. Suffice to say that by the end of the break the view into my garden was way better than it’s been for years! Boring, I know, but sometimes – especially at my age – it’s the simple things that raise a smile!

The Bluetones. The Bluetones are one of my favourite bands and have been for around 30 years. If you don’t know, they’re an indie pop band who were big in the Britpop scene of the 1990s and they make wonderful, thoughtful indie pop music. Anyway, I went to one of their gigs last month, in York. They were brilliant, as always, which was reason enough for a bit of a smile. If you’ve never heard them, then I implore you to check them out. However, it was a consequence of writing a review that made me smile even more. Having posted my review on a Bluetones fans group on social media it started to do really well in terms of views. Always a reason to smile. People were leaving positive comments. More smiling. And then, one comment really caught my eye. It was from the father of the singer in the support band, Balter, who said that he was thrilled to see that I’d mentioned them and that his son, the singer was chuffed too. So pleased were they that they actually asked if they could use my comments in their promotional material going forward. I can’t lie; I was delighted! They’re @balterband on Instagram by the way, and well worth checking out.

It’s Spring. The weather’s getting better, the days longer and lighter, the birds are singing and everywhere you look, something is in bloom. Just last night I was able to come home from work and within about half an hour was sat in my garden reading my book and enjoying the sun. So despite the stress of life, Spring and all that it stands for can really make a difference.

Ballpoint pen artist. This relates to an article I read about Cy Baker, a wildlife artist who has partnered with the Wildlife Trust to produce 16 drawings on canvas of various British wildlife, using only black ink. It caught my attention – and made me smile – for a number of reasons. Firstly, I studied Art at school and had a little bit of a talent for it. I still enjoy dabbling every once in a while, although I’m really not that good. I’m keen though! Art kind of runs in the family too, with several cousins and at least a couple of uncles displaying genuine talent for drawing, painting and photography. Closer to home, my daughter is a really talented artist, although like me, is a bit lapsed. I hold out some hope that it’ll be something that she goes back to though. I really admire people who can draw and paint though as I realise what a skill it is having struggled manfully with it for years! So to see Cy’s talent is really quite the thrill. The idea that a person can produce something as amazing as the image below using just a biro is quite incredible to me and a real inspiration.

And with that, and the face of an incredible biro drawn badger, I’ll say, hope you had a great April and have a great May too. Keep smiling!