Natives are restless

Yesterday saw the start of the new Premier League season. On the pitch incidents involving every lazy journalist's favourite villain, Joey Barton, made the headlines. You do have to ask which other player would get stamped on and slapped and yet still come out as the wrongdoer, but then again, when it's Joey Barton on the receiving end you know that the handwringing press and other club's whiter-than-white fans will demand Barton to be strung up from the nearest lamp-post, despite him being the victim in this. Ok he shouldn't have pulled up Gervinho, but then again it was a yellow card offence and he got a yellow card. End of the story regarding Joey Barton for me!

What was more striking for me than any of the on-field antics was the goings on in the South-East "Strawberry" corner. I used to be in the Leazes corner, a part of the ground specifically given up to people who wanted to sing and make some noise in an ever quieter St James Park. At the end of last season Mike Ashley decided to disband the Leazes corner. Many speculated that this came about because of anti-Ashley chanting. The club put forward the point that they wanted to extend the away fans section, the family section and have a "Youth" area where young uns could congregate together.

Despite assurances from Simon Esland, the Head of Customer operations, that fans would be listened to, and groups such as United for Newcastle and another group fronted by Jordan Robinson, a lad who was behind the "Bring back the noise" campaign were given time to talk with Esland about the moves. We asked the club to consider moving everyone in a block to other areas of the stadium and the Level 4 corner was identified as the area which had the least season ticket holders, and therefore the ideal place to put those being moved.

However rumours came through at the Manchester United game that the previous thoughts of moving us to Level 4 were not going to happen, but that it wouldn't be announced until after the end of the season, leaving the fans affected no chance to voice their discontent at the end of the season. Sure enough, just after the West Brom game it was announced that fans from the Leazes corner would not be moved en masse to Level 4. I know that a lot of fans felt that Esland had strung us along, some going as far to say that they though that he had lied about the situation. What was clear was that the suspicion that Ashley was trying to split up the most vocal fans in the ground up, presumably to try and dissipate the anti-Ashley chanting.

I arrived at the ground at around about 5.10pm last night. After feeling like a total newbie trying to find my seat I finally made my way up into the Strawberry corner. It was obvious that the Leazes Level 4 corner had plenty of spare seats, which was bloody annoying! While Arsenal brought up extra fans, I can't wait to see empty blocks of seats up in Level 7 when the likes of Wigan and Fulham come to town.

There were already grumbles about people standing, before the match started. Once the game kicked off several scuffles broke out between the people who had been previous "corner" season ticket holders and the newcomers. Despite the majority of the newcomers being located in the back rows of the corner, there were some who are located further down.

People who wanted to sit were complaining about those standing impeding their views. People who were standing were complaining as, up in the Leazes corner we were allowed to stand. I saw an older couple who were in the block closest to the East stand get involved in a dispute and end up leaving their seats after about 10 minutes. In front of me, though, was the most shocking incident that I have seen in a long while in the stands of St James Park. A well built, middle aged man and his friends were sitting, two young lads, one aged only 16 stood up briefly as a free kick was taken. A comment was made by one of the men who was sitting and the young lad turned around to look at them. The well built bloke grabbed the young lad by the face and shook him, while his friends shouted horrendous abuse. These men had obviously been drinking, and their reaction to these young lads standing up was completely un-necessary.

Obviously I can understand that there are people who don't want to, or can't stand all match and that was why the Leazes corner was brought into existence. The stewarding up there was relaxed, the atmosphere was one where singing, chanting and (if you wanted to standing in front of your seat was, well not permitted, but tolerated).

There has got to be some give and take in the Strawberry corner, and I'm not talking about the standing really. We all know we are not supposed to stand, and it's against the club's licence, blah, blah, blah! People don't get hurt by standing in front of seats at a football match. They get hurt when fans are moved from areas of the stadium where standing was tolerated and put in to new areas where standing isn't. That isn't the fault of people who have been made to move, it's the fault of the man who orchestrated the move - Mike Ashley!

If the person behind me asked me to sit, I would sit down. Luckily the people behind me are people who have been relocated from the Leazes Corner who were standing too. But if someone behind you wants to sit, and asks you to sit down as they can't see I would say you have to sit too. What isn't acceptable is violence between fans of the same team. Whether it's middle ages fans, or young uns starting on the other it's just not on and it needs to stop.

Come on folks, it's going to take time for us all to get used to each other, but lets not see the kind of violence I saw yesterday. We are supposed to be supporting the same team, getting behind the lads, we are supposed to be Newcastle United!

How much more are we prepared to take?

Lazy journalists like to portray Newcastle United fans as deluded. It's easy to paint that picture, in reality though I have not met a single Newcastle United fan who expects us to be playing Champions League football in two years time, I've not met a single Newcastle United fan who expects us to be signing Messi, Wesley Sneijder or Cesc Fabregas, I've not met one single Newcastle United fan who thinks we will win every game we play.

Real Newcastle United fans are like Labradors, friendly, a bit crazy but loyal to a fault! Over the last four years we have taken more proverbial kicks in the balls than most. We had Keegan appointed, we dealt with the whole "messiah" bollocks that the press spouted, because other clubs don't have a figure or two from their past that their fans think are a cross between Jesus, Superman and Santa Claus, do they, it's just us? Aye right!

We saw Mike Ashley try to castrate Keegan in public, metaphorically of course, by bringing in Dennis Wise as some kind of Director of Football. We saw promising youngster James Milner sold from under him just days after saying he would like to stay at the club, and Xisco and Nacho Gonzalez brought in, which spelled the end of Keegan's second period at the club.  A subsequent tribunal spelled out the shambolic way in which the club was being ran, and that the club was prepared to lie to cover up its dealings. 

We then saw a playing squad ripped apart before our eyes. Shay Given, Andy Carroll, Kevin Nolan and now it looks like Jose Enrique were broken down mentally by Llambias and Ashley before being sold on. Each player sale has seen the fans divided, but a recurrent theme is that the players have left saying that they don't like what has happened at the club and that there are serious problems with the upper echelons of management in the club.

After the blackest day in our recent history down at Villa park when we were relegated happened, we rightly got rid of dead wood and players who were there to simply pick up a huge wage packet each month. What we were left with was Chris Hughton, a bunch of senior players who were prepared to regroup and build something new, and a group of young players who looked as if they could be promising in the future.

Throughout the season in the Championship not only did we get the results we wanted, but we also gained something that had been lacking at Newcastle United for a while, a proper team. Led by Kevin Nolan, Joey Barton, Alan Smith and Steve Harper it was clear to see that what we had was a group of lads all pulling in the same direction, there was not a big ego show, there was not a mercenary feeling, it felt as if the lads who were left were the ones who really wanted to be at this club.

Throughout last season we again had a massive kick in the nads when Ashley decided that Chris Hughton was not the right man to manage the team. This despite a good start to the season, a thumping 6-0 victory over Villa and of course the immense hammering of the mackems at Halloween. Ashley declared that he wanted a manager with more top flight experience, and who did he bring in? Alan Pardew, a man who had been out of the game a while, and who has a CV which is not exactly groaning with success.

However, to his credit he managed to get this team to a mid-table finish, when 17th would have done 80% of the Geordie fans, you know the ones who the press are happy to label deluded?

Andy Carroll was sold, on the last day of the transfer window, for what was frankly a ridiculous amount of money. However details behind the sale are sketchy and there are rumours that leave a very bitter taste in the mouth.

The happenings with Kevin Nolan seem just as shady. I was at a talk in with Nolan and he was open and honest in saying that he wanted to stay at the club. He was a pivotal figure, not just on the pitch where his goals had a major say in our finishing positions in the last two seasons, but off the pitch, where his stabilising demeanour had been a massive factor in unifying the lads. He was a figure who truly deserved the captains role at the club. But dealings behind the scenes left Nolan feeling that his position within the club was untenable and he was sold to West Ham.

Ashley has done his level best to completely destroy this club. Whenever we seem to be doing ok, Ashley presses his destruct button. Boom! Keegan gone! Boom! Hughton gone! Boom! Andy Carroll gone! Boom! Kevin Nolan gone!

And now Joey Barton is being treated like the proverbial leper. Jose Enrique, who has made no bones about his desire to leave the club, used Twitter to announce that he was far from happy with what is going on with the club and the level of ambition shown. The result is a club fine and a possible move to Liverpool.

Pardew was saying what an important figure Joey was and had him in the captains role for a friendly?

I can't help but think that this punishment has been handed out from above Pardew's head, and that the manager has little influence on much at the club.

And it leaves me wondering where do we, as fans stand. We have been lied to by Ashley and his puppets from day 1. Only weeks ago, Simon Esland, the Head of Customer Operations, was talking with supporters groups about the enforced move from the Leazes Corner, and implied that the club would listen to the request of fans to be moved en masse. It was little surprise to me that this did not materialise and Mr Esland is a lot less forthcoming with his availability as he was before. He left the box office staff to break it to fans that they would not be moved as a group, but would be scattered over the ground, and it was only due to the quick thinking of a really decent lad I know that the fans may have recreated a kind of Leazes Corner in the Strawberry Corner.

Protests fall on deaf ears, all Ashley cares about is the bottom line. The fans will not turn their backs on the team, but are still not prepared to cut off the supply of money to Ashley through merchandising or match day bars and kiosks if the queues in the ground are anything to go by. Personally I will pay my money for my season ticket as its the cheapest way I can support the team, I will go to some away games as personal finances dictate, but only because the money goes to the away club. I won't be buying any more merchandise. I won't be buying from the kiosks. I won't be buying cup tickets for home games.

And if someone can come up with an idea that might actually see the departure of Mr Ashley without us doing the "Poznan" in the ground, singing "Get out of our club" or making bedsheet banners I would be happy to help in whichever way I can. Because Mr Ashley, I am sick of this!

Smells like team spirit

On May 24th 2009 I travelled to Villa Park, with the hope that Newcastle would claw enough of a result to see us avoid the drop into the championship. The day did not start well, with me locking myself out of the house, with my match ticket inside, and cutting my hand breaking in through the back door to retrieve said ticket. Almost missing the bus, in the resultant panic, was something I almost wish I had done. Had I known the lack of passion, fight and heart that the lads in black and white would show down in Birmingham on that day then I would have settled for a lie in instead.


We all know how that match panned out. A pathetic showing from the professional footballers representing our club, a deflected own goal off Damien Duff to shatter the hearts of the Geordie faithful who not only travelled to Villa Park that day, but sang their hearts out for over half an hour after the final whistle to show that we still love our club. I saw one lad crying that day, just one, and he was told in no uncertain terms to man the fuck up!


The journey back up from the midlands seemed never-ending. A bus full of lads and lasses who were sombre, unsure of what the future held, lads and lasses who had been dreadfully hurt by the club they adored.


What happened on that day though, and the subsequent weeks and months later, was that a new team was reborn. Like a phoenix out of the ashes. The mercenaries, Owen, Viduka, Beye, Martins, Duff, and others left the club. A core emerged of players, who on paper appeared less talented, but more gritty, more determined. These lads literally stood up in the dressing room and declared that they wanted to stay at the club and bring it back to the premiership.


Steve Harper. Alan Smith. Kevin Nolan. Joey Barton. Jose Enrique. Fabricio Colocinni. Jonas Gutierrez. This group of lads literally stood up and said that anyone who didn't want to be at the club could fuck off, but that they were staying. This group of lads formed the bedrock of a team that decimated the championship, unbeaten at home and impressive away. When the championship trophy was presented at St James Park 12 months after the agony of relegation these lads knew that something had fundamentally changed at the football club.


This group of lads had become a team in the real sense of the word. I, for one, sensed a change up at Gallowgate. During 2010-2011 many expected Newcastle to struggle, when Hughton was unfairly sacked, when Carroll was sold. But they hadn't bargained on the strength of the core of lads who made up the team.

In Kevin Nolan we have a proper captain. Michael Owen couldn't have motivated cement to set when he was given the armband. His lacklustre, gutless, selfish attitude meant that he was unable to think beyond himself both on and off the field. Owen was invisible for most of his time at Newcastle, both on and off the field and in a team which is so deeply involved with the people of the North-East, which belongs to the area, that was unforgivable.


Kevin Nolan is polar opposite to Michael Owen, leading by example. He is a captain in the true sense of the word. He famously had a special relationship with Andy Carroll, taking him into his home when the young lad ended up in trouble. He and Joey Barton are close friends, who have holidayed together. He has offered to work with Nile Ranger after training to improve the youngster's game. On the field his goals have proved vital.

Joey Barton is infamous, for his previous off-field antics. However, the work he has put in, not only to improve himself, but also for Newcastle United in the last two years off the field, should be recognised. This lad asks for nothing but 100%, not only from himself but from his team mates too. He is a catalyst in the team on the field, his football being at times sublime this season. He also acknowledges that he has a lot to give back to Newcastle for standing by him when he was imprisoned. Joey truly has made fundamental changes to himself. But his heart belongs to the team. Joey has offered to take a substantial pay cut to stay at Newcastle United, in the days of greedy footballers, how many others could you name who would do that?


So it has been hard to hear that Nolan and Barton are being told they have no future at the club. Joey Barton's agent, Willie McKay, said recently about Barton's contract negotiations:

"I had a meeting this morning with [managing director] Derek [Llambias] and [football secretary] Lee [Charnley] and there was no offer on the table."

and over recent days rumours of Nolan's contract negotiations stalling have been muted. 

I don't think anyone wants to see Newcastle United to stagnate. But for too long we have had a team that has lacked strength in depth. We also have a team spirit that no amount of money can buy. So why would the club wish to take two extremely important cogs from the machine? Many of us hope for a repeat of the Steven Taylor situation, which saw the defender sign a contract after he was reportedly told he was no longer needed at the club. I've also heard others say, well these lads will be 31 and 32 if we give them 3-4 year deals, but I feel that this is short-sighted on their part. Nolan and Barton offer far more than an on-field presence. 

Llambias refuses to speak about important issues regarding the club, making pointless comments instead about Michael Owen's previous wages. It's about time that Llambias recognised that if we dismantle the foundations then the structure will come tumbling down and we will end up back where we were in May  2009, and may not have the passion and guile to rebuild. 

It's that time of the year again

Here we are again. Another season has passed, and it's been a canny one. After the championship winning season, it was always going to be a nervous first season back in the Premiership and I know I wasn't the only person who said from the start of pre-season training that finishing in 17th place would do. So to end up comfortable in mid-table, not embroiled in a relegation dogfight come May, exceeded my expectations.

There were, of course, some low points in the 2010/2011 season. Losing 5-1 to Bolton, seeing Blackpool beat us at home, the car-crash that was the fixture at Stevenage, Chrissy Hughton's disgraceful sacking, and the circus that was the sale of Andy Carroll all sat uncomfortably with me. Mike Ashley and Derek Llambias have done nothing yet to show me that they have any kind of understanding of how to run this football club, and the closing of the Leazes Corner only highlight's their lack of empathy with the fans of this club.

However, away from Laurel and Hardy, there have been some real positives. Aston Villa 6-0, Chelsea 3-4, Arsenal 0-1, Liverpool 3-1, West Ham 5-0, the amazing comeback against Arsenal at home, and of course the 5-1 humiliation of the unwashed down the road, followed by Steve Bruce making a complete ballsack of himself and the 1-1 draw down at Albania-on-wear, which was celebrated by them like they had won the champions league.

We've seen Joey Barton play like a dream, Nolan end up with more premier league goals than Drogba, Colocinni being on a promise with 99% of the women of the north-east, Leon Best being mint, Shane Ferguson looking like a right bobby dazzler and the promise of Hatem Ben Arfa to come. On the pitch we look like we have a firm foundation to build on, if we can stop selling our best players to our rivals.

In an ideal summer we would tie up Enrique and Barton to new deals, sign up a proven goalscorer, and add some depth to a squad which has shown signs of being quite thin at times. However rumblings are already coming out of the area of Barrack Road which sound like some of the better players could be shipped out.

The lowest point for me this season was seeing the end of the "singing section". The Level 7 Leazes corner has been a breath of fresh air. A place where football fans could stand and sing and really create an atmosphere. However Ashley in his wisdom has decided to relocate the fans, who have been quite vocal in their criticism of him, and thinks this will dilute the negative feelings that have been vocalised about him. What he fails to realise is that no matter where we are in the ground we will not be silenced.

The club seem to feel by not relocating us together in the Level 4 corner of the Leazes stand we will stop making a noise, how wrong can they be! Most of us will now go to the Gallowgate and we will continue to be loud and proud and sing our hearts out for the lads!

My hopes for next season are that we continue to build on a solid foundation, establish ourselves in the mid-section of the premier league and aim higher in the coming years. I have enjoyed this season, something that a couple of years ago I couldn't imagine myself saying.

Let the crazy season of transfer speculation begin. See you all next season.

Talking out of his Llambias

On Saturday at the match I read the latest match programme. Derek Llambias, our Chairman, has a regular page in it, and decided to use his latest spot to rant at the Newcastle fans because they dared to voice their feelings towards Liverpool's Andy Carroll at the game at Anfield. These are the same fans who have steadfastly supported this club since before Dekka even knew exactly where Newcastle was, the fans who have watched Mike Ashley make a mockery of NUFC legends Kevin Keegan and Alan Shearer, the same fans who watched Ashley and Llambias lead our club to relegation.

How many clubs would love to have fans who, despite not having seen a major trophy since 1969, still turn up week in, week out to support their team? Who, in a season in the second tier of football averaged a home gate of 43, 388 and managed a staggering 52, 181 against Ipswich Town? Who have regularly sold out away allocations for years and who have taken over 8, 000 fans to the likes of Blackburn?

These fans commit a significant proportion of their wages to following Newcastle. The majority have just renewed their season tickets for the next season, and some have signed up for 10 more years. Yet Llambias feels that he has a right to have a go at these fans for daring to vent their frustrations at Andy Carroll, a local lad, who only back in November signed a new long term deal to stay at his home-town club, but by the end of January had handed in a transfer request to join Liverpool.

Llambias has no right to criticise anyone, least of all the fans who have backed this club through thin and thinner. He really has no clue what this club means to us, he doesn't realise that supporting Newcastle is a birthright, he has no idea how betrayed we felt by the sale of Andy Carroll. He has no clue what the relegation meant to us, hasn't a clue about the roller coaster of emotions ridden between 2008 and 2011 while supporting Newcastle United.

He stated that "...the abuse he [Andy Carroll] received was difficult to stomach..." Really Dekka, was it? Well try being a Newcastle fan who has had to live with you and Mike Ashley for the last few years. Try living watching you guys humiliate Keegan, watching you admit in court that you've lied to the fans, watching you employ the frankly embarrassing Joe Kinnear, the relegation, the fucking around with Shearer and then, when we were back on the up and up, the sacking of Chris Hughton and the sale of Carroll. All while you pick up a wage that a lot of us could only dream of. That is sickening Dekka, that is difficult to stomach.

Since Llambias' appointment as Chairman many fans have asked what qualifications the former casino manager had to run a football club. Fans have been staggered by Llambias' scorn towards the fans, the distaste he has shown when dealing with us, the lack of respect, the stories of him drunkenly running naked over the hallowed St James' Park turf for a laugh, the barely disguised marionette controlled from above by Mike Ashley. The man really has no class.

Many of us asked whether a man like Llambias even knew anything about football at all. One quote from our most recent programme sums up to me that he hasn't got a clue. Llambias says "To go from hero to villain simply for moving clubs...is beyond me." Unbelievable, the man has no clue! How he cannot see that not only the move, but the manner in which it unfolded, hurt the Newcastle fans and detailed to us our lack of future ambition is baffling. Why he cannot see understand that we are still sore about seeing a young lad who could have been the future of our club pulling on the jersey of Liverpool shows that the guy should stick to managing roulette tables.

Andy Carroll, like Michael Owen when he returned to St James Park with Manchester United, got exactly what he deserved. He put money before the club. Carroll, as a young Geordie lad, had his dreams come true when he was awarded the coveted number 9 shirt. He was in a position that every Newcastle fan would give anything for. But he decided that the Anfield grass was greener, and by doing that he burned his bridges with a lot of the paying fans.

Llambias needs to remember that he and Ashley have it lucky. He has 52, 000 people who still flock to St James Park to worship the black and white. Criticising them for expressing their feelings towards someone who has turned their back on our cause just shows that he hasn't got a clue. The sooner Llambias moves on to manage Aspers and leaves running a football club to a football man the better.

EMO meltdown

In my time watching Newcastle United I can't remember a former player getting such a hostile welcome back to St James' Park as England's Michael Owen (EMO) got last night. From his tweets later that night Owen seemed rather surprised that he was not welcomed back with open arms. What did the lad, whose main concern during his time at Newcastle was collecting England caps, expect?

On the 24th of August 2005 Owen was greeted at St James' Park by thousands of fans. Most of those, I guess, are the idiots who stand around Strawberry Place whenever David Craig and his Sky Cameras appear, with badly spelled bedsheets, bottles of alcopop and dodgy haircuts, rather than the match goers. Myself, I was at a charity fundraiser, and was appalled by the signing, seeing it immediately as a trophy signing with very little real value.

Owen did little to endear himself to the Newcastle fans. Whilst picking up over £100,000 a week, he helicoptered himself to and from training in the North-East, refusing to set up home here. His interaction with the fans was not just minimal, but completely non-existent. His involvement with local community schemes, such an important part of his job, was completely ignored. Owen ensured he spent as little time in the North-East as possible.

As a captain of the club he couldn't motivate cement to set. As he wandered, uninterestedly around the pitch, young lads around him were unable to look to him for guidance and motivation during a game, he couldn't look less interested if he tried.

Plagued by injuries, he only ever seemed to care when he was attempting to make it back into the England squad, only to break down again. In his final season here, having earned over £20 million since 2005, he guided us to relegation at Aston Villa, a game he missed due to injury, surprise surprise.

Never has a player looked more mercenary, and never has a player had such a negative response from Newcastle fans to his appearance on the St James' pitch. On Twitter Owen moaned:

"Knew I would get booed as that's what a lot of fans do but if they knew the facts then they may have a different opinion."


Then later on:


"From what most of you Newcastle fans are saying you should be pleased I left the club! If i had known that earlier I could have left sooner!"


Poor little rich boy couldn't understand why the Newcastle United fans took umbrage with his greedy, lazy attitude. I'm more than sure that that the majority of Newcastle United fans would have been delighted if he'd have left earlier too. It would have saved us over £5 million a season, £1.3 million pound per goal scored. Even Freddy Shepherd, a man who has vigorously defended his signing of Owen, to end his nightmare at Madrid, spoke this week about how little value Owen represented. Owen's hilariously petulant reaction on twitter just shows how removed from reality he is. Hopefully he'll retire from football at the end of this season and disappear up his own arse. 

Everybody needs a nutter in the middle

Due to the suspension of Kevin Nolan, one Joseph Anthony Barton led out Newcastle United at Villa Park on Sunday. Joey has, in the past been a very naughty boy. His offences are both violent and shocking and something that I do not condone in any way shape or form. The midfielder has brought shame on himself from his actions since getting himself sent off at half-time in an FA Cup match playing for Manchester City against Tottenham in February 20. Since that incident Barton's list of offences include sparking a mass brawl, stubbing a cigar out in a youth player's eye, assaulting a 15 year old, exposing his backside after a match, assaulting a team-mate and a drunken assault on a member of the public and a youth at 5.30am in Liverpool city centre.

The actions are inexcusable and rightly Barton was sentenced to six months in prison for the assault in Liverpool, which had left one victim unconscious and the younger victim needing dental work. Barton also admitted to being an alcoholic and made the decision to chose total abstinence from alcohol to attempt to curb his unacceptable behaviour with the help of Tony Adams' "Sporting Chance" clinic.

Since Barton's decision to abstain from alcohol, his behaviour has certainly improved. He is an avid supporter of the "Get Hooked on Fishing" campaign which encourages children who would have otherwise find themselves getting into trouble to take up Fishing. He has also been made patron of the Tamsin Gulvin fund, which aims to help young people with addictions but no funding to help address the problem. He has also successful maintained his sobriety, admitting that he has to stay away from alcohol and "live like a monk" to keep his life on a level plane.

As someone who has also successfully admitted that they cannot handle their alcohol and has had to make the decision to permanently abstain to avoid the destructive path that alcohol was taking me down I admire Barton for his hard work. An alcoholic lives an unstable and chaotic life. A successful reformed alcoholic finds a peace and serenity that can help them overcome their previous problems. Unless you have been down the path of admitting your alcoholism, dealing with the problem and realising that you can never drink alcohol again, you will not understand the decisions and epiphanies that are made and experienced in this process.

Barton's decision to become sober, to improve his life both on and off the field was a massive one. He is a clearly intelligent bloke. Just read some of his interviews, watch some of the candid television spots he has done. Of course he is arrogant, a lot of the best footballers are, and it is a trait that allows the success to grow, but there is also a humbleness about Barton. He doesn't forget where he came from. He knows all to well where his path has led him in the past, and how quickly he could be back on that path if he allows alcohol to become a major player in his life.

Since the game on Sunday I have seen some ridiculous comments regarding Barton, slating the lad for a poor game, saying that the old Barton was creeping back to the fore, that the interview that had been published earlier on, where Barton claimed that he was the best midfielder in England, that he deserved his chance in the England team, was better than Ashley Young and that Gareth Barry was a teacher's pet had come back to bite him on the backside. They gleefully rubbed their hands as they derided the midfielder, saying it was only a matter of time before he let everyone down again. These are the people who would delight in seeing Barton crash and burn.

However I see it as another step on Barton's learning curve. Personally I think the lad was trying to hard. With a squad depleted by injuries and suspensions we were unlucky to lose to a goal that came from a soft decision to give Young a free-kick. Barton goes into every game knowing that opposition managers have targeted him, and knowing that opposition players will try to wind him up to provoke a reaction. The Barton we have seen this season is far removed from the Barton who has lashed out in the past.

It's time that people allowed Barton to get on with the game he loves. Barton acknowledges that his father and grandmother gave him the grounding in life that allowed him to become the successful footballer that his is. His interviews are always interesting, intelligent, thought provoking and far removed from the usual dirge of stereotypes that are usually spewed out by footballers who don't have a brain cell in their heads. His football is always passionate, he always gives a committed performance. His life now is in a calmer, more peaceful place. People who are waiting for his next fall from grace should really find something better to do, because nothing would please me more than to see Barton to keep them waiting.

Much aroo about nothing

At the weekend Manchester United were trailing 2-0 to relegation threatened West Ham at half time. Within the space of 14 minutes Wayne Rooney scored a hat-trick to ensure that the Red Devils maintained top spot in the league, but instead of his three goals making him news on the back page, his rant at a Sky Sports TV camera which was broadcasting live to the nation ensured he was making front pages for all the wrong reasons.

After scoring the third goal from the penalty spot Rooney screamed some not so pleasant words directly into the camera. The nation exploded into a complete moral meltdown, with Radio 5 Live inundated (apparently) with complaints, although why people felt the need to phone the BBC when Rooney was swearing on Sky is beyond me.

I can see why some might be offended. In fact some people reading this might presume that as a woman I would be offended myself. You don't really want to be sitting watching the football with your children/mother/granny/vicar* and have a Shrek impersonator scream obscenities in their faces now do you?

*delete where appropriate

However, what has the lad done really? Think about it for a moment. He's playing in an important game, his team has come from 2-0 down to take the lead, he has been abused for nearly 70 minutes by West Ham fans, he's frustrated with the form he has shown this season. He has just scored a damn important goal for the team we all love to hate (and believe me I hate Manchester United as much as anyone). He has a camera shoved in his face and he shouts some words that some might not feel necessary to use.

Without being derogatory to young Wayne, he is not the most intelligent and articulate young man. He was brought up on one of the toughest estates in Liverpool. People mock him for what he is, a rich charva. But the lad doesn't pretend to be anything he's not. He's a millionaire, but strip away the money he's made from football and he's the young lad who would probably be labouring on a building site, or hanging around the Job Centre had he not been given his footballing ability.

Wayne's reaction showed me that the lad has felt under pressure in a season where he probably feels himself that he's under-performed. His swearing was not very pleasant but for me the more distasteful thing about the whole event was how men, who probably have no problem questioning the parentage of the referee, or calling their local rivals worse than muck, came over with a huge case of the vapours when Rooney swore. I've heard much, much, much worse come from supporters, not just as individuals, but as groups of fans chanting. For me chantings about the Munich air disaster and Hillsborough are far more offensive than one charva saying "fuck" to a TV camera.

I've heard several people say that Wayne Rooney is a role model, but hang on one minute, who made Rooney a role model? I'm sure he didn't set himself up as a role model, and as a parent I can think of many examples of people I would prefer my children to see as role models before Wayne Rooney or just about any footballer to be honest. I'm also quite sure that children hear worse than what Rooney said in their everyday lives. I know that I have heard some sentences and words coming from children (not my own I might add) that would make a stripper blush. Where do these children hear these words? Usually from parents and peers I would hazard a guess. Parents have a responsibility to bring children up to know what is acceptable and what isn't and children who witnessed Wayne Rooney's rant on saturday but who have parents who explain that it's not polite to scream obscenities in people's faces will not suddenly go out screaming and cursing at others just because Rooney did it.

Really in this life there are far worse things happening than a bloke who has an uncanny resemblance to a green ogre with a scottish accent swearing on the telly. I know when I go to the football there is the likelihood that I will swear at some point. If I have had a stressful week, the match is a great opportunity for me to vent those frustrations. If any of you are offended by the thought of me swearing I would apologise but to be honest I really don't give a fu.......

You've got to be jokin' 'ere

Just when you thought it was safe to open your newspapers, yesterday saw the re-emergence of Joe "Fucking" Kinnear and his fantasy football world.  Yesterday JFK spoke to the Journal and made some ridiculous claims that he deserved more praise for his role as manager at Newcastle United.

JFK's reign at Newcastle started in tumultuous fashion. Appointed after Kevin Keegan's departure, in 2008 on an initial one month contract which then became a rolling month to month contract, he immediately endeared himself to the press by publicly calling Simon Bird of the Mirror a cunt in a press conference which saw him swear 52 times, and declare that he wouldn't deal with national media in the future and would only be speaking to the local press.

As Geordies everywhere cringed at the crassness of the bloke, we really had no clue what we were about to endure in a season which ultimately ended in the relegation of a team that on the whole lacked class, dignity, fight or dedication. A season which saw Shay Given sold to Manchester City, a season where JFK publicly mispronounced Charles N'Zogbia's name, and in calling him "Insomnia" managed to piss off the moody Frenchman even more than usual and which directly led to him joining a big club Wigan, a season in which he confronted referee Mike Riley to remonstrate with him after a 2-2 draw with this weekend's opponents Stoke City, and a season which saw Kinnear taken into hospital prior to the match with West Brom. JFK needed a  heart bypass operation, and after time with Chris Hughton at the helm as caretaker, Alan Shearer was appointed to steward the club until the end of the season, which finished with the relegation at Villa Park.

Despite JFK's remarks during the 2009 close season that Mike Ashley wanted him to come back to manage Newcastle, Hughton was appointed manager during the Championship season. That didn't stop Kinnear making comments about how there was a contract for him on the table, or claims that the club would be sold.

Much to the relief of Geordies everywhere Hughton managed to stabilise the club, get rid of the mercenaries and much of the deadwood and bring in the passion and camaraderie that had been lacking the previous season. This stabilisation effectively ruled JFK out of a return to the club, but like a bad smell, memories of JFK lingered.

In October 2010 former Newcastle player Mick Harford told the Sunday Sun:

 “Joe is absolutely certain...that he would have kept the club up if he hadn’t had his heart condition when he had it.”

“When you look back at it his results were good..."

Personally I wouldn't call a win rate of 19.23% and a run which saw us win only 2 game in 15 including the FA cup matches good myself, but obviously Mick Harford knows far more about football than me!

And JFK's heart problems also seem to have affected his memory. In this week's piece he angrily denied Steve Bruce's claims that the current Sunderland manager wanted to take Andy Carroll to Wigan but were outpriced at £4.5 million. Kinnear says:

“Andy Carroll was a kid I’d given his debut to..."

which is interesting seeing that Andy Carroll made his debut as a 90th minute substitute in Palermo under Glenn Roeder, nearly 2 years before Kinnear's appointment. 

Why JFK sees it fit to make any comments regarding Newcastle now, seeing that it's over 2 years since his last involvement, is questionable, but within his whinging he has also resurrected the alleged Geordie hate for southerners. Despite this hatred of southerners Geordies have taken the likes of Rob Lee, Supermac, Gavin Peacock, Les Ferdinand, Warren Barton and Chris Hughton into their hearts.

However JFK either ignores this, or more probably fails to see why these former Newcastle men are thought of with warmth while others including himself bring nothing but distain from the Newcastle fans. In 2009 JFK told the Guardian:

 "I think Mike Ashley got a lot of unfair criticism last year, I think anybody from London does, that's the way life is up there."

and this was repeated in the article from the Journal when he claims that his achievements (what achievements are these) were ignored "because I'm a cockney". He continues to say: 

"...it was me who brought in Kevin Nolan for £4m. He was Newcastle’s player of the year last year but do I get any credit for signing him? No, because I’m a cockney."

Sorry Joe, but in my opinion you've used three letters to many at the end of that sentence. 

Embarrassment of riches

This weekend Alan Pardew has admitted that he has a huge decision to make in the summer. Our current goalkeeping situation sees three men fighting for one place and Pardew has come out in the press to say that he has to decide whether to let one of the young 'keepers leave the club.

Steve Harper has been with Newcastle United since 1993, after signing from local non-league team Seaham Red Star. As Newcastle's longest serving player, he has spent the majority of his career acting as back up to Shay Given. Some cite a lack of ambition for Harper not moving away from Newcastle in that time, personally I see it as loyalty. Whenever Harper has been asked to step up to the mark he has shown that he is worthy of the number 1 shirt and he could have walked into the goalkeeping role at a number of other Premier League clubs and possibly have gained some England caps.

Harper is the model professional. Having completed an Open University degree while playing for Newcastle reserves, Harper is also an FA approved referee. He attends reserve team matches and keeps himself well out of the media spotlight. He is also reported to be a big fan of darts and a joker in the dressing room. He is certainly a fans favourite and deserves his place between the sticks but as he celebrates his 36th birthday today time is not on his side.

Coming up fast behind Harper Newcastle United are lucky enough to have two superb young 'keepers. Tim Krul currently holds the spot on Newcastle's bench, after 19 appearances this season. Signed from his hometown team, Den Haag, Krul had a cameo role in the 2006-2007 season when he starred in the UEFA cup game against Palermo making some astonishing saves due. Since then, with the two 'keepers in front of him, Krul has spent time on loan at Falkirk and Carlisle before returning as back up when Given moved to Manchester City. Krul is highly rated by his country, where he has represented Holland at Under 17 and Under 21 level and is now involved with the senior squad and is tipped to be Holland's future number 1. He has also courted interest from the likes of Juventus and Feyernood, and if he was to leave Newcastle would have no trouble finding a club to play for.

Meanwhile Fraser Forster has not been resting on his laurels. The young, Hexham-born 'keeper has spent time at Stockport, Bristol, Norwich and Celtic on loan where he has impressed both fans and managers. At Norwich he kept an astonishing 50% record for clean sheets, which earned him the Macron Golden Gloves award. Norwich were promoted from league one, and Forster earned the Players Player Award and came second in the Fans Player Awards. Forster then joined Celtic at the start of the 2010-2011 season, and has so far made 30 appearances for the SPL club.

It will have been invaluable for Forster to have played in front of 50, 000 fans every other week, as if he is to step into the 'keeper's role at St James Park, it will be something he has to face up to. Nothing teaches a young goalkeeper better than experience, and Forster has played his role in the Old Firm games this season showing that he can withstand the high pressure matches.

Come pre-season training Alan Pardew knows that he will have 3 goalkeepers banging on his door to show them why he is worthy of the regular goalkeeping spot at Newcastle. Personally I would like to see Forster given a chance to show that he can step up to the Premier League, with Harper in a player-coach role, and Krul being given a spell on loan at a high-level Championship/lower Premier League club. It's an interesting dilemma for Pardew to have, and one which I will be watching closely.

Snood believe it?

We have seen a remarkable week in football. Since last Saturday we have seen air-rifles being shot at work experience lads, referees giving free kicks for incidents they didn't see, ignoring incidents they obviously did see, Wayne Rooney clattering opposition players, dodgy penalties being given, stonewall penalties not being given, Alex Ferguson saying referees are superb and then saying they are crap, dubious offside's being flagged, managers squaring up to each other, player brawls on the pitch, owls being kicked and subsequently dying and Kolo Toure facing a ban for chugging his wife's slim-fast or whatever it was.

Fifa are footballing's highest body. They control world, if not universal, football and this week they held a meeting. You would think that they had some serious footballing matters to discuss. However what they decided was that snoods, the things that aren't quite a scarf, aren't quite a hood but are definitely a fashion faux pas and definitely something that young men playing football shouldn't be seen dead wearing, are to be banned. Fifa, in their wisdom, have ruled that the snoods are a health a safety risk, and that players could be choked by opposition players grabbing their woolly neck protectors.

There is nothing more hilarious than a player wearing a snood! It's laughable when you see a professional footballer wearing a short sleeved shirt and gloves. I have tried to imaging players such as Brian "Killer" Kilcline or Ron "Chopper" Harris in a snood, but my mind won't let such a preposterous thought. A professional footballer should be running around, the body heat keeping him warm. Gloves? Snoods? What next? Legwarmers? 19th Century handmuffs? Bodywarmers? Earmuffs?

Newcastle United fans have a reputation of being completely mental at times. It's not uncommon to see lads, like those pictured at the top of the blog, with their tops off for 90 minutes of the game in the middle of December, bouncing like loons. Some of them could definitely do with a trip to Sadie the Bra lady but they manage to make it through the game without thermal vests despite not having the physical exertion of a football match to keep them warm.

It beggars belief though, that in a week where there has been multiple problems with referees not being able to control players, making huge mistakes on the field, where players have assaulted other players and where managers have incited crowd problems with their behaviour football's world governing body has nothing to say but to ban a stupid item of clothing that no self-respecting man should wear anyway.

A level playing field

At the weekend Ryan Taylor was sent off in the game against Bolton. A rash, two-footed challenge over the ball on Elmander saw the midfielder get his marching orders from referee Chris Foy. And rightly so, it was a needless, potentially leg-breaking tackle. Everyone in St James' Park knew it was a straight red, you could tell that from the gasps from all four corners of the ground.

Meanwhile down at the JJB stadium Wayne Rooney was caught on camera deliberately elbowing James McCarthy in the head in an off-the-ball incident. Similarly to the gasps at St James' Park, the crowd at Wigan also gasped. But far from a red card, referee Mark Clattenburgh put his arm round Rooney, shared a smile and gave a free kick. Indeed from the video evidence it is clear that Clattenburgh hadn't seen the incident at all. He was clearly looking at the ball when Rooney jumped to elbow McCarthy. Had he seen the incident, then Clattenburgh would have, should have stopped the game immediately, but it's only when he hears the shocked intake of breath from the crowd that the whistle is blown.

After the game, Manchester United's manager and coaches were quick to jump to Rooney's defence. Mike Phelan commented that he didn't want to see a witch-hunt, Sir Alex Ferguson claimed that there was nothing in it, and that the media would see to it that Rooney would be "electrocuted or something..." However the rest of the football supporting world knew that the incident would probably be swept under the carpet, come on this is Manchester United after all!

Come Monday, the FA were allegedly left powerless to take further action as Clattenburgh claimed that he had mentioned the incident in his match report and felt that he had taken appropriate action. Unlike incidents in the past where players such as Ben Thatcher have had punishment imposed retrospectively for similar incidents, Clattenburgh's insistence that he was right has left Rooney free to play Chelsea tonight and in the next 2-3 games that he should have missed. The FA claim they are unable to take any further action, however under section 77 (b) of Fifa's disciplinary code states that "the disciplinary committee is responsible for

b) rectifying obvious errors in the referee's disciplinary decisions;"

So the FA are able to act if they want to, but they seem scared to offend Sir Alex Ferguson and his cronies. How dented would Manchester United's title chances be without Rooney in the squad? Especially as they are due to play Chelsea tonight? How furious would Sir Alex Ferguson have been if the incident had seen James McCarthy deliberately elbow Wayne Rooney? I'm more than certain that Fergie would have been berating the fourth official, storming over to Clattenburgh at the break and appearing all over the media to complain about how unfair the system is.

It's not the first time that the FA and referees have showed preferential treatment to one of the "Big 4" clubs. Earlier in the season Blackpool were playing Manchester United when a clear-cut penalty was denied to Blackpool, similarly defender Gary Neville went unpunished when he should have been sent off against Wolves. Only a few weeks ago the FA were ready to make an example of Nile Ranger, who pulled out of the England U20 squad with a bad back. Threats were made to enforce Ranger to miss the next Newcastle match, but these were quickly shelved when the FA realised that Manchester United's Chris Smalling had dropped out of the England U21 squad also and so were unable to single out the young Newcastle striker for punishment.

Referees are no better. In the Manchester City game earlier in the season Nigel De Jong made a shocking tackle on Hatem Ben Arfa which broke both bones in the young lad's shin. Ben Arfa is still out of action, De Jong did not receive a booking. In the league cup final Lee Bowyer was brought down, and should have received a penalty early on for Birmingham City against Arsenal, but the referee did not give the spot kick as the linesman incorrectly flagged that Bowyer was offside. Had Arsenal gone on to win the game 1-0 then the Birmingham City fans would have had no problems in complaining about the incident which was ignored.

As a supporter of a team that includes the notorious Joey Barton it's easy to complain about refereeing. However, I'm not asking for referees or the FA to be lenient to players who deserve to be punished for their actions. Just make it a level playing field for all of the teams and not just the "Big 4" who seem to scare the FA into ineffectuality.

Not worth the paper it's written on

On Friday we Newcastle fans awoke to the news that Cheik Tiote had put pen to paper and signed a new 6.5 year contract. I for one was over the moon at the news. Tiote has been phenomenal for Newcastle this year, his 35 yard wonder-goal against Arsenal crowning his debut season for us. Stats show that with Tiote in the side we have won 42% of the games we have played while without him we have only won 12.5%.

However, some cynics have pointed out that it doesn't matter how long a contract he has signed, he'll be off in the summer if we get a decent offer for the Ivory Coast international. It's hard to argue against them, as Andy Carroll is an all too recent reminder that players are loyal to whoever pays them the best wages.  Even youth players display little loyalty, with Ryan Donaldson putting a comment on his facebook how "anyone would do the same" as Carroll, just after the deadline day deal was completed.

All too often now players are orchestrating moves to ensure that their bank balances are well padded, with little consideration on how long left they have on their contracts. Cristiano Ronaldo signed a five year deal at Manchester United but was pulling on the Real Madrid shirt just over a year later. Glen Johnson was happy to sign a new deal committing himself to Portsmouth but a little over 8 months later he signed for Liverpool. In 2008 Stuart Downing put pen to paper at Middlesbrough in a deal which should have seen him contracted to his local club until 2013, but just a year later became Martin O'Neill's first summer signing of 2009 at Aston Villa.

Its really hard not to take the news of these players signing with a pinch of salt. As much as I would love to see Joey Barton and Jose Enrique committing themselves to Newcastle United for another 3-5 years each, it's difficult not to be cynical. I am in no doubt that even if Enrique signed a new deal and then Chelsea, Liverpool or Inter put in a bid for Jose that he would be on his way regardless of how long was remaining on his time here.

Newcastle fans have just been sent out their season ticket renewals. They have an option to secure their season ticket at a guaranteed price for the next 10 years. I'm not naive enough to believe that footballers have anything like the loyalty to a club that the fans have, but its disconcerting to have to decide whether to commit to your club long-term when you don't know if the stars who earn more in a week than we do in a year are prepared to do the same.

We are considerably richer than yow!!!!

Awww it's the stuff dreams are made of. Non-league minnows Crawley Town taking on the might of Manchester United at the Theatre of Dreams, a potential giant-killing on the cards and the biggest game in memory for their players and fans. We all love a David and Goliath fixture don't we?

However, the romance of the cup is soured somewhat if you look at Crawley Town's recent history. For me they are nothing more than, ironically, a poor man's Manchester City. As a Newcastle United fan I have watched, with undisguised jealousy, as Manchester City have used Sheik Mansour's considerable wealth to buy challenge for a Champions League place. For me it's like watching Michael Carroll, the 2002 £9.2 million lottery winner, as he publicly spent vulgar amounts of money unashamedly.

Crawley Town are the Blue Square Premier League equivalent of Manchester City. Back in 2006 the club were on the brink of extinction as they went into administration, with a debt of over £1.8 million. However they managed to stave off several attempts to wind-up the club with various rescue-packages, the latest being in February 2010 and they now sit in second place, and are on an 11 match unbeaten run in the league.

In July 2010 the Crawley Town co-owner, Bruce Winfield announced that all the clubs debts had been cleared by a consortium of investors. The club now have enough money in the bank to pay all fees upfront, and they are currently buying themselves out of non-league football. Matt Tubbs and Richard Brodie were the joint top scorers in the Blue Square Premier League and so Crawley Town bought both of them. Sergio Torres dropped down two divisions to join the club for a suggested fee of £100,000 and club captain Pablo Mills reportedly turned down league club offers of a contract to join them.

9,000 residents of Crawley are making their way to see the team play at Old Trafford. There are unabashed reports of the tickets being bought by people from the South East who support not the non-league Red Devils, but the global franchise which is Manchester United and who want to see their heroes. This can be backed by looking at the attendance figures for Crawley's home games which see an average of 1,800 through the gates. I'm sure that the Crawley Town directors won't mind as it all adds to their massive payday.

The West Sussex team spent more than all the teams in League 2 combined in the summer. Other teams in the Blue Square Premier simply cannot compete with that kind of spending and now, with a reported pay day of £1,000,000 from their day out at Old Trafford it is now unlikely that any club in League 2 will be able to compete with them financially next year.

Sit down, shut up!

It's the time of year when the season ticket renewal packs start hitting the doormats again and this week saw Newcastle United announce through a press release their plans for the coming season, and the longer term. Initially the noises were good. A pledge to freeze season ticket prices from next season for the next ten years. An extension of the family area. A young person's area for fans aged 18-21. A direct debit scheme to make the price affordable over a 12 month period. As for the most important thing in most people's minds, the prices, the club stated "Over 18's season tickets are being raised in price by £15..." but that covers a 12th man membership which is now to be automatically included. Excellent!

However what the club failed to make clear was something that affects directly about 3000 fans, but indirectly affects the whole ground. 

3 years ago, Mike Ashley decided to set up a "singing section" for fans who wanted to make a noise at the game. This area was situated in the "Leazes corner" and fans were moved from the Sir John Hall stand Level 7 and could join this area from other parts of the ground. This area has, arguably, been consistently the loudest part of the ground for fans who want to stand and sing. It was also the most affordable seat in the ground at £390 for an adult season ticket which made it an attractive prospect for the fans who had the least disposable income to spend. 

Lets not kid ourselves, St James' Park is no longer the fortress of noise and hostility that it used to be. The Tyne-Wear derby and the Arsenal comeback game are exceptions rather than the rule for blistering atmospheres at St James Park. There are pockets of fans, especially in the back of the Gallowgate and in the "Strawberry Corner" who like to make a noise, but the "Leazes Corner" has tried its utmost to create some kind of away-game atmosphere for the home fans. 

But the singing corner is being disbanded. The family section and the young person's section is being extended directly into that corner, and with away fans allocation being increased to 4000, it means that the fans who sit (sorry we stand) in that corner are being forced to move. It's hard to understand why a 4000 allocation is needed for away fans, especially when the likes of Fulham, Wigan, Bolton and Blackburn regularly only bring 2 men and a dog to away games. How wonderful are 3000+ grey seats up in the gods going to look?

It's impossible to not believe that Mike Ashley is disbanding his idea of a singing corner for no other reason than he has been getting dogs abuse from the fans based there for the past 3 years. Songs like "Get out of our club"and "I don't care about Ashley" and banners which read "Cockney rapist" have emanated from the Leazes corner. Ashley probably believes that by splitting up the most vocal fans will stop the negative chanting about him. However all it does is further alienate the owner from the fans. Some plans are being mooted by fans to develop a new "singing corner" in the Leazes corner Level 4, but how viable this is going to be remains to be seen, as Ashley has the final word on whether it will be allowed. 

However, not only are the "Leazes corner" regulars being displaced, but what wasn't disclosed in the press statement was that the people who are being moved now have to pay a higher price for their ticket. Those who bought a season ticket for the Championship season are getting a 10% discount on next year's ticket, but even with that, to move to any other part of the ground will see a season ticket price increase by at least £120 a year. So while other fans are getting a £15 increase, the most vocal fans, the fans who probably have the least money too are getting a £120 increase. It makes the decision to renew that much harder. Already one friend of mine, a lad who has had a season ticket for the last 12 years, has said that he cannot renew his ticket, he just cannot afford the price increase. 

The fans of Newcastle United have tolerated a lot from Ashley in his short tenure here, but they will not continue to be shafted by the owner. Mike Ashley is playing a dangerous game. Forget about players, they come and go, the lifeblood of any club is their fans.

Andy Carroll's massive payday

The transfer window slammed shut (mind your fingers) at 11pm yesterday. 15 minutes before the deadline an announcement was made that Geordies all over the world weren't letting themselves believe. Andrew Thomas Carroll, local lad, brought up through the academy at Newcastle and wearer of the coveted number nine shirt had signed for Liverpool for £35 million pounds.

When the day started there couldn't have been many Newcastle fans who would have predicted the Carroll would be helicoptered down to Melwood to sign for Liverpool. Over the past fortnight Harry Redknapp (him of the twitchy face) seemed to be trying his best to unsettle Carroll, much to the disdain of the Newcastle forumites.

When the bids started coming in the roller coaster started. Emotions went up and down, not dissimilar to a penalty shootout as a £25 million bid from Tottenham was received. Harry Redknapp steps up to the penalty spot, took a run up and joy abounded! The shot was saved and the bid was rejected. Saggy face would not be happy at that. Then a bid was reported from Liverpool. £30 million. Nerves started jangling. Up stepped Kenny Dalglish, but the shot went wide over, Geordies celebrated. Then Kenny stepped up again, slammed his £35 million penalty shot at the goal, but it's rejected. The shot is saved! Again the Geordie faithful go wild. But what is this, the referee is signaling that the penalty needs to be taken again, Andy Carroll has turned in a transfer request, and it's been accepted, Kenny starts his run up and this time the £35 million bid is in the back of the net. Just like in many matches I've seen involving Newcastle, we are out of the game on penalties.

Immediately a blame game started. Mike Ashley, who has to be one of the most odious, despicable men in football, in my opinion, has just sold our golden chalice. However £35 million plus add ons is mental money for a 22 year old who has only had 6 months in the Premiership. The biggest problem, though, is the re-investment of the money into the team. Ashley has still to convince me that he gives two tosses about NUFC, and until I see money being spent to improve our team I will remain unconvinced.

Andy Carroll, though, has taken a lot of flack today. I am probably not the only person who cannot understand how a lad who was born only a couple of miles from St James Park, who is on, reportedly, £40,000 a week and who is wearing the number nine shirt at Newcastle could possibly want to move away. Especially a local lad who at the end of last year signed a new contract with Newcastle, and spoke about spending the rest of his life at the club.

Money talks. Liverpool have reputedly doubled his money. Ashley was not prepared to renegotiate a new contract with Carroll at this time, and why should he. Just a few months ago Carroll was offered, and accepted a lucrative new contract. Why should Ashley, who is trying to trim the wage bill, break the wage cap to keep a 22 year old happy?

Carroll has spoken to both the Newcastle and the Liverpool press today, and given different lines dependent on whether he is speaking to the North East fans or the North West fans, both of which I could have predicted before they were printed. To the Liverpool fans its all about how pleased he is to be there, how wonderful it is to have the Liverpool number nine shirt, how he wants to win things with Liverpool. To the Newcastle fans he is saying that he didn't want to leave, his arm was twisted, he was driven into a corner.

Well Andy, answer this, if you didn't want to leave why did you try and re-negotiate on a contract you signed just a short while ago? If you didn't want to leave why did you hand in a transfer request? If you didn't want to leave why did you agree personal terms with Liverpool? If you didn't want to leave why did you sign a contract with Liverpool? No-one forced you to, no-one held a gun to your head. You saw the cash on offer and you chose, like so many footballers do, to go where your bank balance would be fed better.