Unexpected, unseen and, possibly unfathomable given recent performances in the Premiership, but Newcastle’s draw at Arsenal has been wholeheartedly welcomed as everything from a point proved, to a point gained to a pointer to the good times ahead for Glenn Roeder’s side.
Let me get one thing clear straight away, the draw at Arsenal was a magnificent result and proof that, after a handful of insipid displays at home, Newcastle’s players are clearly still determined to play for their manager and haul the club out of the terrible league position they have fallen into during the first third of the campaign.
It was a result achieved through grit and determination, but there was also flashes of real quality as well, from the usual suspects, Shay Given, Kieron Dyer and Scott Parker, but also from supposed misfits like Titus Bramble, Nicky Butt and, perhaps most encouragingly of all, from the £10m striker Obafemi Martins.
As regular readers of this site will know, I’m never one to say I told you so (sic), but I told you Kieron Dyer could be the difference between Championship and Premiership football next season! The midfielder has revitalised the side and, if he maintains this sort of form, I honestly don’t believe United will have anything to worry about in terms of relegation.
But, I would also like to single out Martins and Butt. The Nigerian striker was a massive gamble by Roeder at £10m and the mutterings from Newcastle’s manager that he will need at least six months to settle into the Premiership did not bode well. However, there were glimpses against the Gunners of the player who was so highly-rated in Italy and the suggestion that he will enjoy playing alongside Dyer.
As for Butt, this is a big name player who has failed to live up to his reputation on Tyneside - he is not the only one - but this season the former Manchester United midfielder has been the epitome of professionalism; a rock for his manager to cling to whenever he has been drafted into the side to cover for Parker for Emre.
There are those who wear official club merchandise within offices inside St James’s Park or at the club’s Benton training ground who insist there is a constant cloud of negativity hovering around the club which undermines the manager and his players.
Although when you have gone 37 years without a trophy and 51 years since a domestic one, when you have seen so many false dawns you prefer sunsets, when you have seen millions of pounds of supporters money wasted on over-rated, over-hyped players and when you have seen your club press self-destruct button so many times that you fear employees must have blisters on their hands, it is difficult to embrace the hand-clapping, everything is wonderful approach to watching your team.
To an extent, though, the “positive thinkers� are right and at times like this, a draw against a team as talented and as intimidating as Arsenal should be welcomed and whole-heartedly praised.
But, just as things should be put into perspective after defeat, so too should they after a memorable point away from home which lifted the club out of the relegation zone.
This is one point gained, not a point proven. It will mean virtually nothing if, in a fortnight’s time, after three home games against Celta Vigo, Portsmouth and Reading, Newcastle are back in the bottom three and still to qualify for the knockout phase of the Uefa Cup.
If the back-slapping from two successive away points continues for too long, the team will quickly get a kick up the backside if home performances slip back to the same standard as those against Charlton and Sheffield United.
A precious point at the Emirates Stadium should be treasured, but it must also be invested in the future; a confidence booster followed up be equally valuable victories at home against the average Premiership sides who will travel to the North-East before Christmas.
To be fair, Roeder will realise as much, but that is how the true worth of Saturday’s heroics will be measured.
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