THE SPECIAL- Leicester Away
Leicester City v Newcastle United, King Power Stadium, Monday, 7/Apr/25, KO 20:00, Premier League. Live on SKY.
Writing this on Sunday night, I’m reflecting on another boring day in this most boring of Premier League seasons.
Brentford, winless at home, drawing nils apiece with Chelsea, winless away. The two Manchesters: bald men fighting over a comb. Tottenham three, Southampton one, in the early kick-off in suburban spring sunshine: well, if ever there was an occasion for which the word “subdued”, that would be it. The title is done and dusted: Liverpool inching towards it by default rather than with anything approaching swagger. Relegation done and dusted with fully seven games to go: Ipswich’s latest implosion putting paid to any remotely watchable mild peril down that end. The three promoted sides, immediately back from whence they came, seeming - as it goes - most likely to be replaced by the three whom they in turn replaced last summer. Wolves, Palace, Everton: turds again failing to flush.
Poor fare all round. And a weird season, too, as we clock up a sixth successive weekend on which we have neither played a league fixture on the Saturday or the Sunday. It was half term the last time we played on a day beginning with S - the 4-3 win over Forest. The bairns will have broken up for Easter by the time it happens again. Maybe someone, somewhere, wearing an embroidered blazer or a company tracksuit, can explain how this has come to pass, towards the business end of - we are told - the “best league in the world”.
Were we neutrals, we might feel ourselves short-changed by this low-rent Premier League. As it is, we are thankful for it: we find ourselves, a somewhat stale outfit, capable in parts but in bad need of reinforcement and fresh thinking, as key players in - hilariously - the only undecided thing which remains: the battle for, erm, fifth.
And it’s in our hands too, after another round of fixtures in which our near neighbours, besides the rapidly improving Villa, have continued to drop points. Beat Leicester - which we really should: they’re a truly terrible side, especially the comical Wout Faes, not so much a defender as a passable Sideshow Bob impersonator who plays as though he’s about six or seven glasses of Westmalle Tripel deep - and we should be favourites to secure that berth. Read the Freeman Mag’s preview, and I guarantee you’ll feel confident of getting a result. I am.
Looking ahead to the match, I’m reminded of how Leicester have often been in the background for key Mag moments of recent years. 1992 was before I started getting into football - I was in Reception and was, according to my school report, “finding scissors problematic” - but without that late Steve Walsh own goal at Filbert Street, we don’t get the years which followed.
I am old enough to remember the 4-3 over them under Dalglish, with Shearer’s fifteen-minute hat-trick featuring the most fearsome shot I might have ever seen. I remember the same player booting Neil Lennon in the face a couple of years later, too. More recently, we’ll remember that Leicester - at that time en route to the most improbable of title victories - were Rafa’s first opponents.
We may also remember that montage of Newcastle players winning seven or eight successive tackles at the King Power a couple of years later: the high water-mark of that particular limited but willing squad. And, of course, it was Leicester who provided the opposition on that night in May 2023 when, for the first time in twenty years, we qualified for the Champions’ League.
Time for the Foxes to feature prominently again in the Newcastle United show - this time, as a crucial scalp on our way towards qualifying for Europe’s premier club competition again. Fail to win games like this, against limited opposition like this, and we don’t really deserve to get there anyway. Ignore the cliche. There are easy games. This is one of them.
It’s three weeks, now, since Wembley. I don’t know about you, but every time I watch the match back on ITVX, I spot something new. The number of headers effortlessly won by Kieran Trippier. The delicious set-piece routine that led to Isak’s (wrongly) disallowed goal. The fact that the referee awarded far too much stoppage time in the first half, let alone the second, so the Reds should never even have had that chance to cancel out BDB’s opener. Every time I watch it, I appreciate something that I hadn’t really credited before. Like watching a repeat of “I’m Alan Partridge” for the seventy-eighth time but still encountering a new joke, the Carabao Cup Final 2025 is a gift that keeps on giving, and probably will forever.
Meanwhile, we can still amuse ourselves in the knowledge that Sunderland have almost given up hope of automatic promotion, and Steve Bruce, despite admitting Blackpool have a “mountain to climb” if they are to have any chance of sneaking into the League One playoffs, has revealed his players will now have “a couple of days off”. Truly, our cup runneth over.
YOUSEF HATEM / @yousef-1892.bsky.social
And now, some other stuff
TF and Company - LIVE!
TF has a fantastic end of season doo at The Stand on High Bridge on Monday 26 May 25 featuring SKY’s Keith Downie, The Athletics’s George Caulkin, Luke Edwards of The Telegraph and Mark Douglas of The i.
Talking points will doubtless include a review of the season and thoughts about what United will do in the summer and going into next season.
These events usually sell out so get a wriggle on and get your ticket now here.
City Spivs
Well in to the City fans fighting against their club finding ways to pull their eyeballs out. Hopefully NUST is all over this as well because it’s not beyond NUFC to try this on … (if they aren’t already).
Talk, Talk
The TRUE FAITH Podcast is one of the foremost fans voices within the Newcastle United supporters family. Varied opinions, of consistently high quality and from the stands home and away by matchgoing Mags. Respected within the more credible sections of fan media and a great companion for your NUFC coverage - sign up at great value to become a patreon - you won’t regret it -
https://www.patreon.com/tfpodcast
Chelsea Girls
Let’s be completely honest here, this is a complete joke and a blatant con. If the PL allow this to happen PSR becomes even more ludicrous and a clear means to keep certain clubs at the top of the PL by any means necessary - this from the BBC explains the current situation.
There are some cutting comments from well known football finance expert Kieran Maguire here in the subject
From The Times:
“The valuation of the team has provoked surprise. Kieran Maguire, the football finance expert, would have expected a figure of between £20million and £30million. That would be about double Chelsea Women’s 2023-24 revenue, and therefore comparable to the £305million for which Newcastle United (men’s and women’s teams) were sold in 2021, when their turnover was £140.2million.
“The women’s game is a start-up so perhaps we would expect a slightly higher multiplier but there still seems to be a big gap,” Maguire said. “The rules are either very poorly written, or Chelsea knows something about the women’s game that other observers are thinking is very ambitious.”
It’s bollocks, everyone knows Chelsea are taking the piss and if the PL let this pass there should be murder on.
Join the Newcastle United Supporters Trust
Newcastle United’s only democratic, members-led, accountable and properly constituted supporters organisation. NUST works with NUFC on behalf of fans through the Fans Advisory Board and with the FSA and other fan organisations on ticket prices, safety and bread and butter issues for supporters.
Insults and injustice
The fight for justice following the Hillsborough disaster and coverup goes on. It continues to be shocking how few in the mainstream media give this the coverage it deserves. Fair play to The Guardian and their journalists, in particular, David Conn for carrying this on. Best wishes to the Hillsborough survivors and their families
Guardian piece here.
Football Heritage
This is a podcast mentioned here before but this episode will be of interest to boring, speccy bastards (hello there) where the words history, community, post industrialisation etc perk up your ears. Mentions Newcastle United and East Durham’s Horden Colliery Welfare FC as a case study an earnest young man from Cambridge University is referring to in his PhD
Suffer Little Children
There’s no question Celtic Football Club is one of the most famous in the world with a fabulous and unique history. There’s much to be admired in Celtic and their support. However, the Celtic Boys Club child abuse scandal is a stain on their great name. This podcast covers the detail of a shameful episode in Celtic’s history and one which should never be repeated. This podcast - often traumatic to listen to but it’s recommended to you to understand the twists and turn of a scandal that extends from the 1960s to the modern day.
Flag Days
Another phenomenal display at the Brentford game to welcome United back to SJP after our brilliant League Cup win … I don’t know how they do it … try to support Wor Flags in whatever way you can … how about a donation whether you’re a match goer or not - https://worflags.org.uk/donate/
Ref Justice
He boiled our piss sending Alan Shearer off for nowt in that game v Villa all those years ago but you’d have a heart like a swinging brick not to wish Uriah Rennie all the best.
Donate to the Newcastle United Fans Foodbank
https://www.newcastlefoodbank.org/nufc-fans-foodbank/
True Faith
You're right about seeing something new while re watching the final. My current favourite is after about 5 mins Liverpool have a free kick and Andy Robertson has a quick admiring glance up at our MAGnificent support when placing the ball down.
So glad 'The Special' is back, helps makes match day specialier indeed.