Category: Sport

A moment’s appreciation for Kieran Trippier.

As we approach the end of another long and frankly glorious season there are a lot of players due a bit of respect and even adulation. Alexander Isaak has continued to be magnificent, scoring goals for fun. Bruno, Joelinton and Sandro have been amazing and Jacob Murphy has surely been this year’s success story with a real feelgood factor.

One man though, has had his ups and downs over the last year with personal problems and then a bit of a nosedive in form featuring strongly at the back end of last season and the early part of this. And in both of the last two transfer windows it’s looked likely that he would leave. However, since early February he’s had a bit of a renaissance and is back performing at the top of his game. I’m talking of course about Kieran Trippier.

Trippier will forever hold a place in fans’ hearts just for joining the club in the first place! We were 19th in the league when he arrived and it felt like a statement of intent. After all, he was still very much wanted by Atletico Madrid at the time and you’d have thought that he could almost have had his pick of clubs. But Tripps took a leap of faith and joined a clearly ailing Toon, captained us to safety and then went on to help us qualify for the Champions League the season after.

Cracks began to appear last year though and there were high profile mistakes away at Everton and in the Carabao Cup defeat to Chelsea. It looked like time might be catching up with our skipper. A closer look at the stats though reveals that Tripps made 39 appearances for the club last year, as well as a further 10 for England. Maybe the start of this season was always going to be a tough one for a player who turned 34 last September.

Trippier is no longer curling them over the wall and nor is he marauding down the line making overlapping runs. His game has clearly been adapted. But he’s still performed brilliantly in these last couple of months. His defending in the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi final was superb and then he trumped that with a cracking performance in the final, picking up the assist for Dan Burn’s opening goal. He was immense that day and it looked like nothing was going to be allowed to get in the way of him picking up that medal. I dare say there were thousands of sharp intakes of breath when he went down holding his hamstring and yet, he just gritted his teeth and played on. And the emotion at the final whistle showed you exactly what it meant to Trippier.

It’s been fantastic to watch Tripps in this latter stage of the season. You can see that he’s using every ounce of experience gained over the years. He’s looked intensely focused and although he’s no longer the captain, his influence is there for all to see. Whatever problems he’s facing, nothing has been allowed to get in the way of his performances.

One thing I like about Trippier is the way he talks others through games. It’s been brilliant to see how well Jacob Murphy has been doing this season, but I have no doubt that we can put a chunk of what’s been making Murph feel ‘juicy’ down to the encouragement of Trippier. Even when a pass is misplaced Tripps is quick to praise the idea or effort. There’s a little clap or a shout of approval. Furthermore, he’s never slow to pull a team mate over and just have a quick word in their ear when the ball’s not in play, like a coach on the field. Some players seem to be shouting and bawling their way through games almost for effect, but Trippier seems more understated by comparison, which to me seems a lot more positive and effective in bringing out the best in those around him.

For me, it’s that element of wise professionalism that might just help with Trippier’s legacy at the Toon. In Livramento and Hall we have two very young and quite inexperienced full backs who will learn a lot from playing and training day in, day out with Trippier. But then looking further ahead into our future and there’s our impressive young defender Leo Shahar. Shahar has been training with the first team on a regular basis this year and I have no doubt that the likes of Tripps have taken him under their wing, which can only be a good thing.

So all in all, it’s been excellent to see Kieran Trippier back to something approaching his best. Yes, it’s taken injury to get him back in the team, but he’s been fantastic for the majority of that time and his performance in the Carabao Cup final especially will live long in the memory.

Having been linked with high profile moves away in the last year, it remains to be seen if Tripps stays next year, but I personally hope so if only so that those younger players can continue to learn from him, but hopefully because he’s still playing his part in the squad.

The reborn Kieran Tripper; definitely worth a moment of anyone’s appreciation.

NUFC The ones that got away: Charles Nzogbia.

Signing young prospects will always have a bit of excitement attached. In the past there’s regularly been the feeling that this one might be the one that makes the breakthrough and triggers something monumental for the team as well as the satisfaction that we might just have beaten all of the other clubs to a bit of a gem. For me, Charles N’Zogbia had all of that and then some. Until we discovered his personality, that is!

Signed from Le Havre after much deliberation and court action, N’Zogbia’s complicated arrival should have been a sign of things to come. But it wasn’t long before he was making his mark on the pitch. I still remember his first appearance as a sub in a game at home against Blackburn and with his pace and what appeared to be a willingness to run at full backs and work for the team, he really made an impression. He didn’t seem afraid to get stuck in and didn’t shy away from hard work. How gullible I was!

Playing as an attacking midfielder or on the right or left wing, N’Zogbia made 41 appearances in the 2005-2006 season and there was much to admire. His pace was blistering, akin to that of former player Craig Bellamy, and he had more than a few tricks in his bag, meaning that he was the kind of player that got the crowd on their feet. I remember him scoring a beauty in the 4-1 away win against the mackems, as well as winning the penalty that saw Alan Shearer score. The club acted fast and Charles signed an extension to his contract that locked down his future. And what a future it looked like being.

Then, it all started to unravel. In his next season, with a new manager in Glenn Roeder, Nzogbia fell a little out of favour with Damien Duff being Roeder’s preferred option on the left wing. N’Zogbia still managed to make over 20 appearances, but didn’t score once. At this point, the first signs of discontent were showing and it looked like the player might be moving on come the end of the season.

However, in the following season, with Sam Allardyce now in the hotseat N’Zogbia was back in favour and made 35 appearances. He signed a new 5 year contract and everything looked positive for the lad. He would continue to produce moments of magic with this season seeing a cracker of a right foot curler at Boro and yet Charles still never quite seemed to be fulfilling his promise on Tyneside.

By late 2008 N’Zogbia’s name would be making the headlines though. Only not quite in the way we might have expected. This was the year when Joe Kinnear, inexplicably named as manager by owner Mike Ashley, called him ‘Charles Insomnia’ in an interview. The player subsequently issued a statement saying that he wouldn’t play for Kinnear again and that he wanted “to reach a higher level of ambition” than Newcastle could provide. Cue late in the January window when he went for £6m to those giants of the game Wigan Athletic and all their higher levels of ambition…

N’Zogbia’s career would see him later join Aston Villa for £10m in 2011. Rumours had suggested that we were interested in bringing the player back to St. James’ Park, but it never happened and instead N’Zogbia spent 5 years in the Midlands making only 80 appearances and scoring just 4 goals. So much for a “higher level of ambition.”

In terms of his time in Toon, N’Zogbia clearly could have achieved a great deal more based on potential alone. However, it seemed to be his attitude that got in the way. N’Zogbia never seemed happy or settled and it always felt like he had a far greater opinion of himself than his managers and coaches had. You wonder what he could have achieved under a coach like Eddie Howe who has transformed the careers of several of our first team squad.

N’Zogbia never seemed like the kind of player who we could depend on. Turns out, he just wasn’t a grafter, preferring instead to pass on the hard work to others in the team. With the ball at his feet he combined electric pace with genuine dribbling ability, but in the end he was living proof that sometimes talent just isn’t enough.

One that got away? I’m inclined to say yes, but am fully aware that only the perfect storm of team mates and manager could have really brought out the best in him. I’m sure that opinion will be divided on this one!

NUFC: Gallowgate Cult Hero number 12 – Kevin Gallacher.

Sometimes a player doesn’t have to stay a long time or do anything remarkable in order to be remembered. Footballing heroes come in many different varieties, I suppose. We tend to cling on to flair players, gasping at their skill or attacking players with a turn of pace. The same can be said for the type of defender who it feels would throw himself into any challenge and perhaps even die for the cause. The workhorse is rarely remembered though.

Kevin Gallacher was very much a workhorse. That’s not a slight and nor is it meant to say that this quality was all he had. Gallacher had pace, even at the late stage of his career when he played for Newcastle. He also had an eye for goal and the quality to beat his marker too. But I think it’s fair to say that it is his work rate and dedication to the cause that left its mark on Toon supporters.

Kevin was 33 when he signed for Newcastle in from then relegated Blackburn Rovers, for £700,000. He had enjoyed a successful career, scoring 100 goals and taking in spells at Dundee Utd, Coventry and Backburn where he was part of their Premier League winning squad in 1995. He was Bobby Robson’s first signing and although he stayed for 2 seasons, his contribution to the cause at a time when we had very real fears of relegation, was very much appreciated.

At times, Gallacher’s work rate galvanised both his team mates and the fans. When Robson arrived at the club we were bottom of the Premier League and the club was in disarray. Players were disgruntled and disillusioned, given what had gone before under Ruud Gullit. The likes of Shearer, Robert Lee and Gary Speed had been undervalued and the club was going nowhere fast. Gallacher was an unspectacular but shrewd signing though; a senior pro, a proven winner and one who would help bring harmony to the dressing room as well as commitment out on the pitch.

In his time at Newcastle Gallacher only made 39 appearances, scoring just the 4 goals. However, his contribution to the team will long be remembered by those of us who watched him play. Playing mostly on the right wing, he led by example, showing energy and a desire to fight that prompted others to do exactly the same. In turn, his energy fed the fans and alongside the obvious changes inspired by Robson who had begun to get the best out of his ‘blue chip boys’ – Shearer, Speed and Lee – the team slowly began to turn the corner and would escape relegation that year.

From Gallowgate he moved on to Preston in 2001 on a free transfer. From there his career took in brief stints at Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield, before he retired. He now works as a pundit for Scottish football.

Kevin Gallacher didn’t leave behind any abiding memories from his time at Newcastle. I’ve sat and tried to think of them and they’re just not there. I even scoured the internet trying to find some of his 4 Toon goals without success. However, just by doing the basics – working hard, chasing lost causes and giving everything he had for the club – he would stick in the memory of many a Toon fan for years to come.

One trophy, two buses and three hundred thousand smiling faces!

In the past, I’ve laughed at train spotters. Standing there, jotting down names and numbers while possibly freezing to death and breathing in numerous different types of fumes. Surely that couldn’t be any kind of fun, could it? Well, on Saturday, I kind of understood where they were coming from because on Saturday I stood and waited hours for a couple of buses to come past and thoroughly enjoyed every last second!

Saturday of course was the Carabao Cup trophy parade and what a day it was. As a resident of Leeds I was up and out relatively early, calling in on my parents before heading across the river and along Scotswood Road to meet friends in town.

I was aware it would be busy, but seeing queues of people standing at bus stops in Sunniside, Whickham and Swalwell was still a bit of a surprise. I felt lucky that I wasn’t using public transport. And then, I got to the outskirts of town where it took me ages to park and when I eventually did I was right down by the river on Monarch Road, opposite Dunston Staithes. Almost a 2 mile walk to Monument where I was meeting my friends! Suffice to say, I was late!

The walk through town, turning into a run at some points to lessen my lateness, felt brilliant though. A sea of black and white, everyone in a good mood and a proper buzz about the place. The positivity felt tangible and after a while I realised that I was just walking along smiling.

At Monument there was a big hug from my best mate, who greeted me with a great shout of “We did it, we did it!” We’ve waited a while for this moment, travelled up and down the country watching our club and although astonishingly there were no tears, it was a close run thing. However, fully expecting to bubble like a baby when the bus went past, I was keeping my powder dry!

The atmosphere continued to gather energy and volume as we made our way through town. We settled on a spot by the new university building on Percy Street, smiling and gawping at the crowds as we went. Despite the fact that the council seemed to have removed the roofs of bus shelters, people were ingenious in their vantage points. The multi storey car parks full of people were a site to behold and then opposite us a load of lads had clambered up onto the Fusilier’s War Memorial, while others had climbed up into the tower of St. Thomas’ Church! All to watch a couple of buses come past!

It was gone 5pm when they eventually did come past. But the wait – we’re good at waiting – was well worth it. We could see Dan Burn from a mile off; in fact I spotted him only seconds after I’d spotted the bus! A beaming colossus, all shaking fists and screaming out his approval of what he saw before him. I didn’t spot Ant and Dec mind. Can’t think why!

A few photos, some applause and a bit of shouting later and they were gone, off into the distance. That was that. We followed everyone else up to the Town Moor, but didn’t last much more than 15 minutes, being as we were about a mile away from the stage. It didn’t matter. We’d come to see the parade, to let out decades worth of raw emotion, to sing, to smile, to laugh and maybe even to cry a bit more! Job done.

This was a city that lives and breathes football and has clung to its team for decades, sometimes in celebration, a lot of the time in blind faith and hope and at others just because the team was the brightest thing we had. Now though, we’ve tasted a little bit of success and I’m sure there’s a healthy appetite for more in the not too distant future.

For now though, there’s the small matter of finishing as high up the league as we can this year before hopefully building on our success with a few decent signings over summer. I’ve always said that there’s never a dull moment supporting the Toon. These last few weeks have been a little bit special though, haven’t they?

NUFC: Reflections on a Wembley win.

So, finally we did it. After over 55 years of hurt – 70 if we’re talking about a domestic trophy – for the club and however many years it was for you personally, we won a trophy.

“We won a trophy…” words I never thought I’d say or type. Even after the takeover, I still found it hard to believe. This was Newcastle United after all; a club of the past almost, we just didn’t win things anymore. I’d spent my whole life hoping for something, but every time we seemed to get anywhere near close, fate intervened. And then Sunday happened.

I wasn’t lucky enough to get a ticket for Wembley. I guess being in Pot Z for the ballot will do that though. I was ok with that. I’d be a nervous wreck at Wembley, I’d be a nervous wreck at home. It genuinely didn’t matter.

There were stories everywhere you looked on Sunday. Be it the players, the management, Ant and Dec, Shearer and family or just the people of the long suffering support. Stories just leapt out, left, right and centre. And while I could bang on – again – about what it all meant to me, I thought I’d focus on some of the stories instead.

I have to start with Eddie, as important as Ant or Dec might be. Now the most successful manager in the club’s modern history, it’s fair to say that he achieved legend status on Sunday. It couldn’t have happened to a nicer, more deserving bloke either. A grafter who instantly ‘got’ the club and who has been taken to the hearts of supporters and the city itself. I’ve said before that he had restored pride to the city and the region, but on Sunday, as the leader of that squad of players, he made the world sit up and take notice. He broke the hoodoo, lifted the gloom and broke all of the curses that we might have wanted to imagine existed – traveller’s curses, Wembley curses, London curses, cup final curses…all of them banished by Eddie John Frank Howe.

Now Eddie is usually pretty cool and calm on the touchline, but he was visibly invested and visibly moved by the events at Wembley. Fists shaking for every goal, joking in the interviews afterwards and brandishing that trophy in front of his adoring public in as animated a way as I think we’ve seen him in his 3 years at the club. It was a joy to watch.

The Carabao Cup Final served as a exemplar for how the club has changed in Eddie’s time. The build up felt different this time. Personally, I was no longer relying on blind hope and although I never told a soul, I genuinely felt quietly confident. I believed that we could do it. Belief; that’s Eddie again, that.

Newcastle United has become a culture, a movement, a belief under Eddie. As supporters we’ve had it for years, albeit at times somewhat fractured, but under Eddie the club is well and truly united.

What struck me as being most illustrative of this unity was the team photos with the trophy. When the squad gathered for the traditional champagne spraying shenanigans, there were something like 23 members of staff aside from payers. When it was done later, elsewhere, even the club photographer was urged to join in. Unity, a culture of winning and belonging right there. Newcastle United is no longer about individual stars, nor is it to be known patronisingly for its ‘magnificent’ fans. And it could be seen all over the place at Wembley on Sunday.

Those photos have been a feature of Eddie’s time in charge from the very start and it’s always been the same – everyone is involved; team, squad, injured players, staff. This is everyone’s effort and the trophy on Sunday was down to every last one of them.

Another story for me was that of those not quite so involved. Firstly, there were youngsters Lewis Miley and Sean Neave. Both looked a little bewildered at the end of the game, but both played their part. As squad members they were shown trust at the highest level. Miley has already experienced a lot in his time in the squad but for Neave, this must have been an incredible boost. It was good to see that this trust was given, rather than just taking the option of naming two keepers on the bench and I’m sure this will pay off in terms of the development of these two players in years to come.

It was a similar story with Will Osula, someone who seems to have settled into the squad very well and was at the centre of the celebrations on Sunday. It’s worth remembering that he’s still a very young and inexperienced player and yet there he was after the first goal in the thick of things with Dan Burn and again at full time carrying and spinning Alexander Isak around the pitch. A definite sign of the unity within the squad. At the other end of the scale was Mark Gillespie, rarely involved in what we might call ‘active service’ but always part of the group and obviously a valued member of the culture that has been created. Even Sven Botman, fresh from surgery, hobbled his way onto the pitch at full time. Everywhere you looked, the pitch was filled by those who had been working hard to get us to this point.

The final story for me belonged with the fans. But it wasn’t just those that were lucky enough to be there. 70 years is a long time to wait and for some, time just ran out. There weren’t many who could say they were alive the last time we won a domestic trophy. Bruno picked up on this in his pitchside interview afterwards. “People have died” he said, referencing the fact that not everyone had got to cherish this moment. This was far more than just a trophy. It meant everything to everyone and I’ve no doubt that there were many of us letting those we’ve lost know what happened this week. So while there were many tears of joy, there was plenty sorrow too. But while many of us spent time looking back on Sunday, we must remember that Eddie and the lads have now given us reason to look ahead.

Like many of you, I was in floods of tears at the whistle. I was fighting them for the whole of the second half, physically shaking for the last 20 minutes. Slumped on our living room floor I was mobbed by my Leeds supporting wife and son, who knew exactly what this meant. Minutes later, my phone rang. My 85 year old dad. I picked up but could barely speak. I wanted to say thank you for taking me to St. James’ Park in the first place and handing this on to me, but couldn’t find the words. Three days later and I still don’t think I can speak to him without emotion!

Now, after decades of hurt, Newcastle United are the latest club to win a trophy in English football. The wait is over and didn’t we enjoy celebrating? Same again next year? I’m sure we’d all love that, but let’s not build our hopes up just yet, eh!

An open letter to Eddie and the lads.

Dear Eddie, Mad Dog and the lads,

Chances are you won’t read this. Some random Geordie pouring out his heart in what might well sound like a bit of a sob story. Why would you want to read that? However, on the off chance that you catch sight of it and find yourself with a spare 5 minutes, here’s my ten pence worth about the final.

I think I speak for the majority of Mags when I say that this cup final matters more than almost anything else. It’s not about glory or bragging rights or anything trivial like that. It’s about dreams. It’s about pride in what and who we are.

Like many others, I’ve supported Newcastle United for a long, long time. In my case it’s well over 40 years. Others have served the cause even longer. It’s like an addiction, Eddie; a birth right and for a lot of us it’s been a cruel curse to be handed down to us by dads, grandads, elder siblings and the like. Like it is with any team. Many a time I’ve joked that I wish my mam and dad had lived in Barcelona or Madrid, giving me a legitimate chance at glory, not glory hunting. But it’s only ever been a joke. I wouldn’t change my allegiance to that badge and that black and white shirt for anything.

Some of my earliest memories are tragically Toon related. I still have a vivid memory of waving my dad off to Wembley in 1976 and then waiting at the window for him to come back home the next day. He’d gone full of hope if not any sense of fashion, dressed in black and white tartan flares and wearing a black and white Tam o’ shanter, no doubt drunk before he got into the passenger seat. That might explain his outfit as well! He returned deflated, a shell of the man who’d walked up the drive the previous day. I now know that it was probably more to do with a raging hangover, than the defeat, but at the time I just thought he was heartbroken. At least he’d seen us win in ’51, ’52, ’55 and ’69. He’d tasted the ultimate victory, sampled silverware.

My dad took me to games from an early age. I was born with a heart complaint and during one of several hospital stays I was sent a letter from the club, telling me how brave I was and rewarding my bravery with free season tickets whenever I was well enough to take advantage of them. I was already in love with the club. Now, I was obsessed. There was not going to be a chance that I’d ever be anything other than black and white from that point. I’d be miserable about it all for a lot of the time, but I’d be black and white. And that’s the point for loads of us. We didn’t get a choice, we didn’t need to be winning all of the time and we’d be loyal without a great deal of reward, but we’d stick with it and we’d never give up hope.

In my early years as a Newcastle fan, I thought it was only a matter of time before we won something. By the time I was a young adult I was already desperate to see us win anything at all and the nagging fear of ‘not in my lifetime’ was already eating away at me. King Kev gave me hope and glory, but in the end we couldn’t even win the Anglo Italian cup. It was Keegan who said that the fans had followed Newcastle through “thin and thin” and he was spot on!

Some years earlier, in 1989 I’d been glued to the radio as Newcastle played in the Football League Centenary Trophy, a tournament played over a weekend at Wembley. Our first game was against First Division champions Liverpool, so I held out little hope. Lo and behold though, we somehow won the game on penalties. This was it…silverware beckoned, I was going to be rewarded for my loyalty. I was finally going to be able to say that my team had won something, even if I didn’t really know what it was. And then we lost the next game against Tranmere of the Fourth Division! Typical Newcastle United!

I learnt to not get my hopes up pretty fast. Supporting Newcastle didn’t need to be about trophies, after all. Good job, really. It became about loyalty, community and a sense of belonging. Newcastle United was a huge part of my identity and year in year out I would give it the majority of my attention. Year in, year out, it let me down. Many managers and board members didn’t seem to care about us and it never really felt like a lot of the players understood what it was to wear the shirt. But I clung to the ones that did; Beardsley, Keegan, McDermott, Quinn, Kelly…the players of my youth. Your lads all seem to get it, Eddie.

We’ve seen Wembley appearances before, of course. Glorious failures in the 90s and the semi final in 2000. And then a couple of years ago against Manchester United. But at some point it can’t just be a day out anymore. In my time I’ve seen West Ham, Wigan, Leicester, Portsmouth, Coventry and even bloody sunderland win at Wembley, albeit it in the pizza cup. But if them, then why not us?

We follow Newcastle because it makes us feel like we belong and it’s a massive part of who we are. It’s rare I’ve felt as welcome as I do stood behind a goal surrounded by fellow Geordies singing my heart out. We support Newcastle because it’s our city, insular and fighting to make itself heard, yet welcoming to almost all. The best city on the planet. We support this team for hopes, dreams, friendship and pride. We support them because it makes us feel good; even when we get beat there’s a certain level of feel good factor. There’s enjoyment to be had, mates to see, strangers to bond with over a common cause.

Just for once, it’d be nice to feel rewarded in the more traditional sense though – being able to watch our players parade a trophy around the pitch. We don’t demand a team that wins, but just this once it feels like it might be the only thing that really matters.

Eddie, you’ve given us back a huge amount of pride. Given us a competitive team that just gets it, like we do and who are loved by the city as a result. Your team has rewarded those who travel thousands of miles to watch their team year in, year out. It’s added even more pride to wearing those famous stripes. It would be beyond words to see us win on Sunday. But I’ll still probably write about it, if you fancy a read!

On Sunday, the opposition doesn’t matter – we demand a team that tries, so get into these! Leave nothing on the pitch, lose your voice on the touchline and get back to Newcastle with no regrets.

Good luck, Eddie. Good luck, lads.

NUFC: The ones that got away – Florian Thauvin.

The old saying goes that ‘if at first you don’t succeed, try, try , try again’. Florian Thauvin was definitely a case of the saying being put into action. Signed from Marseille for £15m in August of 2015, Thauvin was finally joining Newcastle after what felt like years of us trailing him.

From memory, I think we’d tried to sign him from Bastia two years previous, but the player wasn’t keen on the move. Then, when he joined Lille, we were still trying for his signature. Two years later, we finally got our man. He’d forced a move to Marseille, having been in dispute with Lille about a contract and he’d publicly rejected our advances at that time too. We should have know better and just walked away because after just 5 unhappy months on Tyneside, Thauvin was heading back to Marseille on a loan which would then be extended into the next season before being made permanent in a £9.8m move a few months later.

Thauvin made his debut from the substitute’s bench in an away game at Old Trafford. And he came agonisingly close to making himself an instant hero, sliding in at the back post, but being inches away from getting on the end of a cross that flashed across the face of goal. Who knows if connecting with it and scoring might have made Thauvin’s time at Newcastle an entirely different story?

Florian made his first start for the club a few days later in a League Cup tie at home to Northampton. And it was quite the performance as he scored a spectacular, acrobatic goal, getting on the end of a cross at the Leazes end, before bagging three assists. Two of those assists came from fantastic, Lauren Robert style free kick deliveries and the other from a cute pass to play in the overlapping Darryl Janmaat at the Gallowgate.

The future looked bright, but sadly, that was the highlight for Thauvin at Newcastle. He seemingly hadn’t really wanted to join and his form showed that. In all, he made just 16 appearances and scored just the one goal. He never looked comfortable on Tyneside and in the end the club cut their losses and moved him on. He was a player with a wand of a left foot, a bit of pace and the ability to glide past full backs, but it just never looked like working out at Newcastle. The kind of player we love as Newcastle fans; a flair player and a difference maker…just one that never managed to make a difference!

The other abiding memory of Florian comes from the fact that he turned up for a home game against wearing a tuxedo, something that he was widely criticised for. Personally, I kind of liked his style, but each to their own I suppose! The fact was, he joined a struggling team under one of the worst managers in NUFC’s modern history – Steve McClaren. The poor lad was doomed from the start.

Having left Tyneside, Thauvin would go on to show exactly what a talent he was, making a total of 200 appearances for Marseille, scoring 71 goals. Then, in 2018 he became a World Cup winner with France! He was also part of the French Olympic squad in 2020.

Having left Marseille to join Mexican side Tigres in 2021, Florian spent almost two seasons there before joining Udinese in 2022, where he still plays. Overall he has played over 450 career games, scoring 119 goals, but just the one for us!

Clearly, a talented player who could have been so much more on Tyneside. Definitely one that got away, but also maybe a case of Newcastle needing to take more notice of repeated knock backs, I suppose. Thankfully, a lesson we just about seemed to have learned some years later when we were persuing a certain Hugo Ekitike!

A win’s a win, surely?

The home game against Forest will have made a lot of us sit up and think. There will have been an abundance of questions, lots of mulling over the performance and probably not as much celebration as we’d usually expect when we’ve won. I’m sure Eddie Howe and his coaching team have a lot to reflect on too.

And yet, we won didn’t we? We definitely picked up three points; I know because I’ve seen the league table. So why so much angst, anger and head scratching then?

Before I go on, I understand why there was anger, frustration etc. I don’t necessarily agree with it or subscribe to that way of thinking, but I understand where it comes from.

It’s a shame that it all gets so extreme though. In the stadium the crowd seemed quiet and on edge which I think is understandable. There were still bursts of noise and encouragement though in that second half when we found ourselves improbably under the cosh.

In other places though, things were getting a bit daft to say the least. Online (I know, I know…) the reaction was akin to that if we’d been hammered. There were numerous posts saying that people had ‘had enough’, bizarre takes about tactics, substitutions and player performances and metaphorical toys being thrown from metaphorical prams in every direction. I saw posts criticising most players; some even saying that Bruno needs to be sold. I even saw one post demanding ‘answers’ from Eddie Howe, like he might just come round the poster’s house this morning at some point and explain the thinking behind playing Nick Pope or why he Callum Wilson made a couple of silly decisions late on in the game.

I can’t say that I wasn’t frustrated while watching. The amount of passes that went astray in that second half was mind boggling and why we weren’t clearing our lines when no great subtlety was needed, I’ll never know. I was absolutely fraught at times, screaming and shouting like a lunatic, as many others would have been too. But the reality is that a decent side upped their game for 45 minutes and built up enough pressure that meant they were able to grab a couple of – let’s be honest – scrappy goals. Then, after quite a stressful time for all involved when the ref blew his whistle it turned out we’d won.

There were lots of reasons to be cheerful. Isak scored again. Lewis Hall was outstanding and Lewis Miley continued to look like a seasoned pro. After an injury worry, Sandro Tonali came through unscathed. It wasn’t all doom and gloom.

I’m not an idiot. I realise that we can’t continue to perform like we did in that second half. I realise that better sides would have put us away, although Forest are a very good side according to the league table. I realise that we need to be much more first half than second half in the Carabao Cup Final. Our form has to be more consistent because if not, we risk ending up outside the European spots and ending the season in really disappointing fashion. But I’m happy to leave solving any perceived problems to Eddie Howe and his coaching team, as well as the players who have greatly entertained us time and time again over the last few seasons and who managed to score one more goal than Forest when all is said and done.

I’m really not an optimist where football is concerned. A bad result affects my mood, my day and my week as it does for many others. But against Forest we won. We took three points. No one took any away from us because the second half was poor. And we moved back up the table into 5th position. So yes, we weren’t at our best for a good chunk of that game, but let’s all calm down a little bit and adopt a more realistic way of thinking.

Whatever the result or the performance, we move on. We hope that performances get more consistent of course, but we don’t need to be ranting, raving or demanding answers just yet surely? A win’s a win, isn’t it?

Gallowgate Cult Heroes, number 11: David Kelly

David Kelly changed my life. With one sweep of his right foot he changed the fortunes of Newcastle United and more or less saved them from writing the darkest chapter in their entire history. In doing so, he changed my life. And in doing so he might just have changed the life of yourself or someone you know.

David ‘Ned’ Kelly was signed from Leicester City for £250,000 in December 1991. He would go on to make 70 appearances across 3 seasons on Tyneside, scoring 35 goals.

We were in deep trouble when Kelly signed. This was the 1991-1992 season, infamous for how close we came to dropping into the third tier of English football. Kelly was signed by Ossie Ardiles, but ended the season under Kevin Keegan, scoring 11 crucial goals that would help us get just far enough up the table to avoid the drop by a whisker. It was a close run thing though!

Kelly was a workhouse of a striker, a willing runner and a chaser of lost causes. He wasn’t without ability, was blessed with a little bit of pace and had scored goals wherever he’d been; just what we needed at this time in our history.

The goal that changed the course of Newcastle United history was obviously a memorable one. Anyone who was at St. James’ Park that day will tell you. We played Portsmouth at home in the old second division and were desperate for a win. Keegan’s Newcastle made all the running that day, but with 5 minutes remaining it looked like we wouldn’t be able to make the breakthrough. And then it happened.

Keeper Tommy Wright threw out to Ray Ranson on the right side of the pitch in our own half and he advanced a little before launching a long ball up the middle. Kelly glanced it on to Micky Quinn who saw his strike partner going for the return and hooked the ball into his path. Meeting it on the bounce, Kelly lashed at it on the half volley from just inside the box at the Gallowgate and the keeper didn’t get near it as it rocketed into the top corner! Cue bedlam, mayhem, limbs, whatever you want to refer to it as.

I’d travelled up from university that day and was in the Gallowgate on my own. I felt physically sick at the prospect of us slipping into division 3 and had hated every second of the match. But as the ball hit the net, the place erupted. I don’t remember a huge amount; just being lifted off my feet in the chaos, screaming with sheer relief. The place was just a swell of joy; nobody who was there will ever forget the significance of what had just happened.

We would go to Leicester on the following weekend knowing that barring a disastrous series of results elsewhere, we would stay up. We won and Kelly was confronted on the pitch by angry Leicester fans who had raced on from the stands as we got the winner.

I met Kelly that summer in a pub in Cramlington. He was just sat at the bar with a mate, totally unassuming in a purple shell suit. I was loathe to make a tool of myself but still felt I had to say thanks for that goal. Kelly received my gratitude with a little bit of bemusement, clearly thinking that he’d done nothing special. I hope he knows the truth.

History shows that we were then promoted to the new, shiny Premier League in the following season and Kelly played his part then too. In a memorable season that ended with us as Second Division champions, Kelly was top scorer with 28 goals. Most notably, he scored the goal that clinched promotion in the 90th minute of a win away at Grimsby when it felt like three quarters of the crowd were geordies. He then went on to score a hat-trick as we walloped Leicester 7-1 at home in the final game of the season. It felt like the Kelly/Cole partnership were about the reap havoc in the Premier League. And then Kelly was sold.

Keegan decided to bring back Peter Beardsley from Everton and Kelly was sacrificed, heading to Wolves. ‘Ned’ would never be forgotten though and the love he found from those at St. James’ Park was still strong, even when he’d clearly had enough of proper football and signed for Sunderland. In fact, when he returned with the mackems a few years later Kelly was given a standing ovation as he took the field as a sub. A remarkable, instinctive and quite beautiful show of appreciation for a man who, you might just say, played a big part in saving the club.

David Kelly, take a bow.

NUFC: The January transfer window? Feels like a waste of time!

In his poem The Wasteland, T.S. Elliot tells us that April is the cruellest month. It’s a reference to depression and suicide rates. And while I’m a bit of a fan of the poem, I’m afraid I’m beginning to disagree with Elliot’s assertion about April. Surely, in a world of PSR frustrations, January is miles more cruel for us Newcastle fans.

Of course, I’m being a bit dramatic, but I’d defy anyone to tell me that January in Toon terms isn’t at the very least an enormous pain in the arse.

There are many reasons for this, the chief one being those three dreaded letters…PSR. The ludicrous financial fair play rules that make it practically impossible to achieve anything close to fair play. That is of course unless you have to be one of a clutch of clubs that the whole system was designed to favour in the first place. Or that you’re just Chelsea.

In summer, our spending was rendered almost pointless as PSR forced us to sell two bright talents in Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh, two players who would have almost certainly been in and around the first team for these last 5 months and then for years to come. Frankly, we’d all rather have kept Anderson than gained Odysseas Vlachodimos, as funny as his name might be. In fact, it might be argued that Anderson was a better third choice keeper than the Greek, given that he’s barely had a look in during his time at the club. Put simply, what Anderson and Minteh offered was well worth keeping and the rules shouldn’t be dictating that kind of decision when a club simply doesn’t have the financial need to have to make it. Nor should the rules be used against clubs resulting in weakening squads.

The argument about our ‘richest owners in world football’ has been done to death and there’s no point crying about it here, but it’s safe to say that PSR isn’t the thing that’s keeping us financially safe. And that’s the case for many other clubs too. While clubs being in financial trouble is no joke given their status at the heart of many communities, how many have actually gone out of business? Not many in the grand scheme of things and when you are as financially independent as we are and as responsible with spending, PSR is irrelevant.

Face it, PSR is the ruin of the transfer window, a death knell not just for ridiculous spending that clubs can’t afford, but in many cases just spending of any kind. The majority of clubs won’t spend anything because of the PSR deadline in June! It makes the January transfer window almost obsolete and with that begins to threaten the Premier League’s grand claim of being the best league in the world. Clubs can’t buy anyone in order to help change their fortunes, which only goes to add more weight to the anti-competition accusations. In Newcastle United terms, it makes the wealth of our owners just another frustration and helps make January in particular, the cruellest month. To use an idiom, we’re all dressed up with nowhere to go.

Things get worse when you look at the spending of other clubs. As I write, Manchester City – with 115 charges still against them in terms of previous spending, by the way – have so far spent £122m. And I know that their turnover is far higher than ours…but still. Villa have spent money and continue to be linked with players, Spurs have spent money and it looks like there will be more, Ipswich have spent £20m and even Bournemouth, Wolves and Southampton have spent a bit. And there will be more, you can bet. PSRwise, how does this work?

Meanwhile, we’re told time and again that it will be very unlikely that we’ll spend money, despite players being moved on. The reasoning that we’re saving it until summer doesn’t fill me with much hope either. I’ve heard it before. We’ve all heard it before. And given our actual financial situation, it’s all the more frustrating.

Then we get to Chelsea, who so far this January haven’t spent a penny. But they will. And if it was just because they have a huge turnover, that would be ok. But we all know that it’s not. So far, the Premier League have sanctioned the selling of two of their hotels to themselves as well as the sale of their women’s team…to themselves. It doesn’t fill you with much confidence about the whole cartel argument and the way that the Premier League seems to look the other way as Chelsea take the piss. And we could cast our eyes Manchester United’s way for similar shenanigans as ‘allowances’ are made for them because of Covid expenses. Not a privilege that will ever be extended to us by Mr. Masters, I’m sure. And I’m sure that any even remotely similar transactions on our part would come under ridiculous amounts of scrutiny too. It’s enough to bend the mind of any Toon fan as we endure another barren January.

What makes January even worse for me personally though is the constant links and hard luck stories that we get from the press. So far this month we must have been linked to at least 40 different players. The excellent NUFC.com list 20 different links on the Rumours page at time of writing, while the Chronicle seem to have a story saying that we’re either ‘watching, ‘tracking’, ‘monitoring’ or ‘interested in’ several players on a daily basis. What do these things even mean? And if we’re never signing these players who ultimately end up elsewhere, what’s the point in even scouting them at all, let alone ‘monitoring’ them?

The story that really got my January goat was when the agent of Khusanov, the centre half who went to Manchester City, told the Chronicle that we were ‘very close to the deal’ and that we were ‘last to leave the race with City’! The last to leave the race is small consolation when actually it just means that we didn’t sign anyone again!

Despite all of this, I still scan the websites, read the papers and will inevitably be tuned to Sky Sports News on deadline day, as ever, in the hope that something, just something will happen. Despite Eddie Howe being pretty consistent in telling reporters that any signings are unlikely, I live in the same state of hope that we probably all do. Why do we bother though? January is definitely the cruellest month…and that’s before you even give a thought to Arsenal fans and their obsession with Alexander Isak!