Dismal is possibly the best way that you can describe it - yes, we're talking about the Derby result on a Saturday.
But, does the defeat really mean much to the powers that be at St James Park ? I suspect we all know the answers to that particular question. For Newcastle, it was another self inflicted kick in the nuts - a heady combination of selling your best player in the days before the window shut, your loanee talisman forward getting sent off in the fixture before, every other striker being injured and then there's the abject lack of movement in the transfer market. Despite having copious notice that Cabaye would be going at some point, it seems that no effort has been made to try and target or line up someone to replace him. It's pretty basic stuff, but clearly too basic for NUFC.
Was it a shock - not at all.
Sunderland have had a resurgence in results in the past few weeks, but having said that, I watched them on New Years Day against Villa and they where truly awful. Whatever he's done, Poyet's penny seems to have finally dropped at the Stadium of Light.
Newcastle have reached their target - Premier League survival. That's all they want these days - just to survive. The days of swashbuckling, all out football are long gone, we now only deal in the banal of sneaking a lucky 1-0. The way the team lined up and played on Saturday had a look of pre-holidays about it. Newcastle's trip to Dubai in the week before the derby was meant to be to recharge the batteries ahead of the season to come - it looked much more like it had been a warm up for their summer holidays.
So what next for Newcastle United ?
They've moved quickly to can Kinnear, but its all just too little, too late as the horse has already bolted. His contribution has to been to bring in a pair of loanees, both of whom the Toon have been tracking long before Kinnear came on the scene. Plus, he's the man who sold Cabaye.
Typically this week has been filled with the head scratching that you'd expect following a derby defeat, but I suspect that this one has hurt a lot more than people have realised. There's been talk of mass season ticket cancellations this week and I wouldn't be surprised if its true.
Back in the day, having a season ticket was the in thing to do - it was almost a bit of a VIP pass, getting you in for cup games, priority for cup semi's & finals etc. Sadly though as we're not interested in the cup competitions these days, having a season ticket isn't that bigger draw anymore. After all, we're just watching the banal these days where survival is the most important bit and beyond that, they're not bothered. Apart from getting your season's worth of games at a cheaper price, there's no point in having one. You could go less, pick your games and spend less if you wanted or not bother - personally, I'm very close to the not bothering.
It saddens me that we've gone from those swashbuckling days to just wanting to be average and there is becoming a time when I'm no longer prepared to bankroll the banal. There was always a hope that it might be our year in the cup, but now we know that we're not interested in the cups, there seems little point in committing.
With 3 season tickets to shell out for, its a big commitment - one I've made for a lot of years, but one that I won't carry on with forever.
Last year almost lead to our cancellation, but the kids persuaded me to give them another go - now, even they're not happy, so where do we go from here ? I'd be happy to pack it all in as I just feel enough is enough and the club isn't going anywhere with Ashley, other than to line his pockets with his tight arsed business ways. He's fairly taken the wind out of a lot of Newcastle fans sails in the past few weeks and he needs to realise that we won't stick around like the mugs he thinks we are.
Whatever happens, Newcastle United will always be my team, I could never change, but I could very easily stop away. Take note Ashley, the worms are turning !
But, does the defeat really mean much to the powers that be at St James Park ? I suspect we all know the answers to that particular question. For Newcastle, it was another self inflicted kick in the nuts - a heady combination of selling your best player in the days before the window shut, your loanee talisman forward getting sent off in the fixture before, every other striker being injured and then there's the abject lack of movement in the transfer market. Despite having copious notice that Cabaye would be going at some point, it seems that no effort has been made to try and target or line up someone to replace him. It's pretty basic stuff, but clearly too basic for NUFC.
Was it a shock - not at all.
Sunderland have had a resurgence in results in the past few weeks, but having said that, I watched them on New Years Day against Villa and they where truly awful. Whatever he's done, Poyet's penny seems to have finally dropped at the Stadium of Light.
Newcastle have reached their target - Premier League survival. That's all they want these days - just to survive. The days of swashbuckling, all out football are long gone, we now only deal in the banal of sneaking a lucky 1-0. The way the team lined up and played on Saturday had a look of pre-holidays about it. Newcastle's trip to Dubai in the week before the derby was meant to be to recharge the batteries ahead of the season to come - it looked much more like it had been a warm up for their summer holidays.
So what next for Newcastle United ?
They've moved quickly to can Kinnear, but its all just too little, too late as the horse has already bolted. His contribution has to been to bring in a pair of loanees, both of whom the Toon have been tracking long before Kinnear came on the scene. Plus, he's the man who sold Cabaye.
Typically this week has been filled with the head scratching that you'd expect following a derby defeat, but I suspect that this one has hurt a lot more than people have realised. There's been talk of mass season ticket cancellations this week and I wouldn't be surprised if its true.
Back in the day, having a season ticket was the in thing to do - it was almost a bit of a VIP pass, getting you in for cup games, priority for cup semi's & finals etc. Sadly though as we're not interested in the cup competitions these days, having a season ticket isn't that bigger draw anymore. After all, we're just watching the banal these days where survival is the most important bit and beyond that, they're not bothered. Apart from getting your season's worth of games at a cheaper price, there's no point in having one. You could go less, pick your games and spend less if you wanted or not bother - personally, I'm very close to the not bothering.
It saddens me that we've gone from those swashbuckling days to just wanting to be average and there is becoming a time when I'm no longer prepared to bankroll the banal. There was always a hope that it might be our year in the cup, but now we know that we're not interested in the cups, there seems little point in committing.
With 3 season tickets to shell out for, its a big commitment - one I've made for a lot of years, but one that I won't carry on with forever.
Last year almost lead to our cancellation, but the kids persuaded me to give them another go - now, even they're not happy, so where do we go from here ? I'd be happy to pack it all in as I just feel enough is enough and the club isn't going anywhere with Ashley, other than to line his pockets with his tight arsed business ways. He's fairly taken the wind out of a lot of Newcastle fans sails in the past few weeks and he needs to realise that we won't stick around like the mugs he thinks we are.
Whatever happens, Newcastle United will always be my team, I could never change, but I could very easily stop away. Take note Ashley, the worms are turning !
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