THRU BLACK & WHITE EYES – Respect – 1/Jan/2025

Another week of Newcastle United ...

Firstly, a very Happy New Year to anyone reading this – I hope you all have a healthy and prosperous 2025. On the Newcastle United front, we all wish for the same thing so here’s hoping ….

Let’s go back a few weeks. The consensus amongst us was Eddie Howe had three games to save the season. We had Leicester (PL) at home, Brentford at SJP in the LC and we were away to Ipswich (PL) at Portman Road. As you all know we won all, drew Arsenal in the two legged League Cup semi-final and breathed a collective sigh of relief. Crisis (cough) averted.

The next trio of games involved Aston Villa at SJP, Man Utd and Tottenham away. Both Villa and Man Utd have been defeated. The mood has changed substantially. And so it should. Spurs next!

This run of five games have seen us dominant in all of them and concede only one goal (to Brentford in the LC). A lot of the turnaround has been attributed to deploying Sandro Tonali in a defensive midfield role and pushing Bruno Guimarães in a more advanced role. That does partially explain our improved play but I don’t see Bruno and Sandro playing in such regimented roles and think they are interchanging more than has been credited with Joelinton who is playing his best football of the season.

We are in fifth position as I write this up. Some commentators believe that might be enough to get us Champions League football next season and that would be a significant achievement were it to happen.

But this is where I’m going to reveal my misery guts tendencies.

We have achieved nothing yet. I’m seeing the same stuff on social media of some Mags gleefully railing against those who were critical (and worse) of Howe a few weeks ago and claiming their unshakeable confidence in Eddie as if a run of games has vindicated them. It’s exactly the same kind of logic which has those who are quick to criticise laying into Howe when we have some disappointing results. Both reactions are equally nonsensical.

We have played 19 games. We are fifth in the PL table. Things are looking better than they were a month ago but nothing has been achieved. Three points separate us from Villa in ninth. A stumble over a couple of PL games can take us back down to mid-table and into gnashing of teeth territory. Calm down.

It is good for us to be in the semi final of the League Cup but with key players missing with suspension ahead of the first leg next week, it is a daunting task at The Emirates. We have it all to do if we are going to get Arsenal back for the second leg to finish the job.

But before that, we have Spurs (a) this Saturday and a game which might be vital for us in reining in Chelsea (or keeping in touch with them) at least and putting pressure on Forest who are doing brilliantly this season. It is a good opportunity to deal a big blow to Spurs ambitions for CL football too.

We have a decent record at the Tottenham Stadium though it is interspersed with hidings as well. They are an unpredictable side with players of real talent and there’s no question their manager is under scrutiny. They will not be relishing a visit from this version of an in-form Newcastle United.

We should be confident going to north London. For all of the disparity in wealth between Spurs and United, we have a better side and manager than them. I said exactly the same leaving Old Trafford this week with a 2-0 win to us that flattered the home team.

We can go to Spurs and win but I don’t think we are good enough to expect that as rote. Our away form hasn’t been transformed by a couple of wins at Ipswich and Man Utd. Our record on the road remains poor over a longer period than the last month.

Our mentality over the last five games has been spot on. In particular at Man Utd where we were completely professional (bar a few examples of sloppiness) and that is a mindset we have to maintain if we are going to achieve what we are all thinking about right now – winning the League Cup and qualifying for Europe (preferably the Champions League).

But we’ve done nowt yet and we need to bear that in mind. It’s not done until it’s done.

TF Match Report - Manchester Utd 0-2 United

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For all of that it is impossible not to luxuriate in that magnificent win over Man Utd at OId Trafford. I was delighted to be in that buoyant away end this week which bounced and ballooned in a corner of Old Trafford from before KO and until after FT. It was a marvelous achievement and looking around at the faces of Mags wreathed in smiles, it felt great to be alive at a stadium that has so often been the graveyard of our hopes and dreams.

I was stopping in Manchester the night and having got the tram up to Old Trafford could hear the conversations from Reds before the game. The lack of respect afforded to Newcastle United and the expectation of a home win surprised me given their form but whilst at one time I’d have found their confidence rational albeit unnerving, on this occasion, I felt it was delusion.

I made the same journey back after the match and was surrounded exclusively by Man U fans. The deflation was palpable but what they made of a grinning middle-aged man sitting ear-wigging their conversations God only knows. It put the cherry on the cake of a wonderful night.

For those who watched the game on TV, there were unifying sentiments. Yes, there was agreement we’d played them off the park and could justifiably have been 4-0 up at HT but the other was the disrespect of SKY TV and its employees towards Newcastle United.

A New Stadium in Leazes Park – Not Impossible

Not only was the TV pundit panel heavily weighted towards the home team, the commentator appeared to be urging the Red Devils on to get into the game. Entirely predictably, the narrative of the game wasn’t how Newcastle United had comprehensively outplayed Man U but how the team in Red had lost the contest. That was entirely the subject of discussion.

I did see Gary Neville, notionally an employee of SKY as opposed to MUTV, describe a “grim night” at Old Trafford and fail completely in any objectivity in his match analysis. That was only topped by the post-match interviewer ask Alexander isak what his transfer fee might be and fail completely to interview the winning Head Coach, Eddie Howe.

The wholly nauseous referencing of Man U as “United” when playing Newcastle United is disrespectful given we carried the moniker a full decade before the artist formerly known as Newton Heath and are currently ahead of them in the PL table. Not that we claim to be the originators of the United name, that honour rests with Sheffield.

I saw club promotional material describing UNITED v Newcastle ahead of the game and maybe I get worked up about the wrong things these days but I do hope at the return fixture at SJP this season, we adopt the same strategy of UNITED v Manchester.

Petty? You’ve seen nowt yet.

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And so the transfer window is open …

In terms of what we need I don’t think that has changed since the summer. For what it’s worth I’d regard our priorities as a right-sided central defender and a right-sided attacking player. For added value I’d hope we could bring in another striker and goalie but that’s probably asking too much given how far the PSR elastic can stretch.

The messaging via the reliable parts of the media is players will have to leave to fund recruitment. That sends hares racing about the likes of Isak, Guimarães, Gordon, Tonali et al but I don’t think there’s a risk of any of those players leaving in honesty.

There are players whose time at United might be up however. Miguel Almiron is favourite to depart stage left and there appears to be interest in him. Other players in the frame are: Martin Dubravka, Kieran Trippier and Sean Longstaff. Callum Wilson would be another but for injury and the same applies to Jamal Lascelles – the latter two are out of contract at the end of the season. There are others too who seem to have no future at the club – Matty Targett, Jamal Lewis and Isaac Hayden. That’s a lot of salary that could be deployed elsewhere.

Finding takers for them is the trick but that’s why Paul Mitchell is on the big bucks at St James’ Park.

NUFC Income Since the Takeover

The squad is at a delicate point. But for the large colony of goalies we have at United, allowing Dubravka to depart might leave us with only Nick Pope as the only ‘keeper Howe could rely on. If he did go, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a new goalie signed.

Over the first half of the season I’d resigned myself to seeing Kieran Trippier depart in the January window given Livramento’s development. But after seeing the former England stalwart perform over the games v Villa (h) and Man U (a) I think it might be a big risk to let him go.

Trippier’s ability, leadership and experience have been superb and I don’t think I’m over-egging it to suggest he could be the difference between Champions League qualification or not. For the sake of six months it might be best to keep him though the lad’s wishes have to be accommodated too. He remains the best full-back I have seen in fifty years plus of following United. Yes, he’s older but he is still class.

If reports are correct, I completely understand why Howe wants to keep him. It’s a very difficult one and I can imagine some challenging conversations between Mitchell, Howe and perhaps Trippier’s agent. For me, the team comes first ahead of everything.

2025 has begun however and we’re largely in a positive frame of mind with conversations about how well we’re playing and the potential of this team. We are in a good place.

But we have graft our bollocks off to stay there and really achieve something this season.

Again, Happy New Year …

Keep On, Keepin’ On …

Michael Martin, @TFMick1892.bsky.social / @TFMick1892