BEGINNING TO SEE THE LIGHT
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Cont. from pg 9
While the majority of the
support engaged either in heavy
drinking, on line recriminations
or the pursuit of the red herring
of the local press ban, I booked
K127 in the East Stand for
myself.
You see, whenever the
club finds itself in straitened
circumstances, I find the
elemental urge from the very
depths of my soul to go along and
show critical support. That
doesn’t mean moaning or slagging
the team off; it means putting the
team’s performance into a wider
context. Thankfully I didn’t show
this in the way that those risible,
self-appointed uberfan messiahs
in the Strawberry Corner, who
had defected from the Division 92
corpus in the Gallowgate Upper,
decided to. Singing your support
is fucking shit to 2,000 City fans
that’d made the trek up here for a
midweek game that was on the
telly in their 4th most important
competition, is simply beyond
parody.
While we lost the game, to
a score line I predicted beforehand,
we could have won it in the
regulation 90. Certainly if Remy
had started instead of Cisse, I think
we would have done. In addition, I
was greatly encouraged by the
performances of several players:
Anita is a superb, unfussy
distributor of the ball, Williamson
looked very steady, and Yanga
Mbiwa was an assured presence,
while both Sissoko and Tiote
showed a degree of dominance in
midfield. However the least said
about Cisse and Gouffran the
better, while Cabaye and Ben Arfa
had cameos to forget. Worst of all
was Krul; it simply amazes me that
he is still in the team ahead of
Elliott. How much of a
miscalculation was it to keep the
Dutchman and allow Fraser Forster
to leave for Celtic?
Of course, let’s be realistic
about things. Looking at the bigger
picture, my mantra is unchanged;
while Mike Ashley continues to
own Newcastle United, it is
completely irrelevant who plays
for the club, who manages the club
or where we finish in the table at
the end of the season. All that
matters, regardless of populist
window dressing like the proposed
£20 away tickets reciprocal
agreement or the seemingly otiose
Fans Forum, that appears to be
blighted by resignations already, is
getting Ashley OUT and 100%
Fan Ownership IN, though I’ll
settle for 51% as a transitional
demand.
On the pitch it appears that
the squad have enough quality to
overcome both their maddening
inconsistency and the tactical
idiocy of the frankly laughable
Pardew, to ensure a spot
somewhere between 8th and 15th,
giving Ashley the succour and
stability that huge injections of
Premier League and Sky TV cash
can provide. As per his
instructions, we’ll be becalmed in
lower mid table, avoiding any
danger of qualifying for Europe,
with only the merest flirtation with
relegation and dismally exiting the
cups at the earliest opportunities
for the entirety of his ownership; a
situation that will allow him the
Words by
Ian Cusack
chance to harvest money without
undue expenditure. Meanwhile, the
big question is what do the fans do
to register our opposition to this
state of affairs? NUFC Fans United
were instrumental in helping Lee
Marshall set up the Fans’ Forum,
but the pace of events mean this
channel of communication has
much to do to avoid accusations of
being a hollow talking shop.
Additionally, the Time 4 Change
was a huge success in uniting the
support; let us hope that it continues
to be a force for good and isn’t
hijacked by those with a personal
agenda of harbouring grudges and
ensuring their positions of influence
and power are maintained, at the
expense of the involvement of those
who’ve worked tirelessly for the
good of NUFC’s fan base.
Whatever happens, it is
clear that the pace of events will
leave us all scratching our heads at
the ultimate meaning of them. I’m
looking forward to catching up with
the true meaning of both Christmas
and the way forward for Newcastle
United’s support at the Stoke game
on Boxing Day.
11