May 2009 Archives

The end is nigh, the finish line is in sight and a miserable, volatile season is drawing to a seismic, once-in-a-generation conclusion.

Will the sad story have an unexpectedly happy ending or will the end be as agonising as the build up to it.

The bottle is about to stop spinning, the roulette wheel is slowing down, but will it fall on red or black and white stripes. Fates are about to be decided, fortunes made or broken. It's not a time for the feint hearted.

The good news for Sunderland in this dark, relegation haunted time is Ellis Short has decided to take full control of the club no matter what division the Black Cats are in next season. Now that is a comforting thought.

The American's millions are like a warm, reassuring hug from your mum after a nightmare.

Whether his money is needed to help soften the financial disaster of relegation or fund another bold recruitment drive in the Premier League, he is, according to Niall Quinn, absolutely vital if the club is going to have any chance of realising its ambition.

There is a school of thought, an outlandish view for many, but one which has attracted new disciples in recent weeks. Relegation would actually be a good for thing for Newcastle United.

Given the financial implosion it could cause and the long term damage it could do to the club, it is a viewpoint littered with risks and fraught with danger, but perhaps it is not as crazy as you think.

For example, if I could guarantee every Newcastle supporter out there that United would go down to the Championship for one season, and one season only, would it be such a terrible, repugnant and wretched outcome?

There has been a lot of rubbish written and said about Michael Owen through the years but I don't think anything can beat the latest mythical story to have been conjured up. Sensational it may have been, true it was not.

According to one national newspaper the Newcastle captain intended to quit at the end of the season as he no longer felt he could compete at the top level and wanted to concentrate on horse training.

Owen is many things - although I'd question Europe's best player was ever one of them - but he most certainly, most definitely, unwaveringly is not a quitter.

Actually, let me rephrase that. He will quit at some point, every player has to hang up their boots eventually, but at 29 and with ten goals in 24 starts this season in a poor side, surely it is not going to be anytime soon?

It has not been a good start to the season for Durham, on or off the pitch. With a struggling side failing to repeat last year's heroics and empty seats all over Chester-le-Street for their one and only Test match of the summer, Durham's reputation is taking a battering.

It is sometimes called 'Second Album syndrome', the difficult task of trying to replicate the brilliance which brought you so much success and critical acclaim.

It is a frustrating, infuriating situation to be in and one which can seem impossible to escape from as all the things which seemed so easy to achieve suddenly take on Everest-like proportions.

And what a game of football that was! After months of turgid performaces, anti-climaxes and setbacks how refreshing to come away from St James's Park with our faith in football restored.

I'm sure Middlesbrough fans aren't in such a positive frame of mind, but there was something special about Newcastle's display and the result which came with it.

If he isn't laying into teenagers outside McDonalds in the early hours of the morning he is launching himself at Spanish midfielders on the touchline at Anfield. What happens to Joey Barton when he returns to his native Liverpool?

More importantly, has it now become impossible to defend him? Having been forgiven for two separate assault charges and ensuing prison terms last summer, will Barton's ridiculous sending off against Liverpool be seen as unforgivable by those who were willing to give him yet another chance a few months ago?