Oh well, that’s the end of that then, Newcastle play Chelsea in the cup, Chelsea win 1-0 and the Carling Cup dream dies for another year at least.
Whether anyone at St James’s Park actually dreams of winning the Carling Cup I’m not sure - the Uefa or FA Cup would surely be the stuff of dreams - but having been slapped in the face by Didier Drogba for the umpteenth time on Wednesday night, it’s difficult to see how the Magpies will triumph in any of them this season.
Cup competitions, so the cliche goes, are a great leveller. Or, if you prefer, upsets are what the cup is all about. Yeah, nice in theory, but it just doesn’t seem to apply where Newcastle are concerned.
In the last four season, Newcastle have lost to Liverpool, Chelsea (three times) and Manchester United in cup competitions to help ensure that football’s established order remains intact and Newcastle’s season peters out into yet another anti-climax.
This isn’t just a problem for Newcastle United. Football’s bubble is in danger of bursting because this is the same sorry scenario for so many other “big clubs� in the Premiership.
Despite all the hype and whipped up excitement, the same few clubs keep on winning everything in English football and all that leaves for the rest is either a challenge for a Uefa Cup place or a battle against relegation.
Of course, we had our usual dose of hard luck stories on Wednesday night. Obafemi Martins’ shot which hit the underside of the crossbar and Chelsea’s clever ploy of moving the free-kick which followed the foul on Arjen Robben four yards to the right to create the angle for Drogba to curl it past Given.
Unfortunately, the truth of the matter is, Newcastle were not good enough to beat Chelsea. They rarely troubled the Blues back four and, I fear, a weakened Chelsea were merely doing enough to ensure they progressed into the semi-finals.
They needed to bring on Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack and Didier Drogba to do so - which is a feather in Newcastle’s cap I suppose - but that merely goes to show the ever-widening gulf that exists between the Premiership’s also rans (i.e Newcastle) and those which, year after year, challenge for silverware.
One defeat should not take away from the fact that Newcastle have done very well recently to pull away from the bottom three in the midst of an injury crisis. However, we must look at this in a wider context and, just as it was at the start of the season, Newcastle’s squad is simply not good enough to challenge at the top of the table.
It will be strengthened in January, although by how much we do not know and given the blunders that were made in the summer in the transfer market, are supporters confident that the right players will arrive in sufficient numbers to give the Magpies a better chance of success in the FA and Uefa Cup?
I’d like to leave you with a question you might be able to help me with. What is Newcastle best central midfield pairing because four into two (Dyer, Emre, Butt and Parker) just doesn’t go?
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