Newcastle Have Been Full Of Surprises

Then again, when he left the country, they were heading out of the Premier League with Joe Kinnear literally swearing they wouldn't! Apparently, even in Bolivia, news of Newcastle's relegation had reached him but he hadn't paid much notice since. Why would he? Newcastle were no longer important to the average armchair football fan!

Like most of us, as far as he was concerned, Newcastle were on a slippery path - hey, topical - to impending doom, which would see the Magpies flapping and floundering in the Championship like a, erm, well, a wounded bird with a broken wing.

We are no longer surprised by what has happened. In fact, many of us have already begun to take it for granted that Newcastle will make an instant return to the Premier League.

We shouldn't, of course. There are loads of games left to play and we all know Newcastle have a bit of history when it comes to throwing away big leads over the course of the second half of the campaign.

They are ten points are clear at the top of the table, have lost just three league games all season, are unbeaten at home and haven't lost, home or away, since October 20th.

They have made the division look easy, even when it has been anything but at a time when the majority of observers thought they would find it hard to come to terms with their fall from grace. It has been, and I've not been able to use this word very often covering the club, very impressive.

I'm reluctant to look too far ahead. I don't want to worry about what sort of state the squad will be in to compete in the Premier League if it does go back up and I would urge the rest of you to do the same.

There hasn't been much of an opportunity to enjoy supporting a successful Newcastle side in recent years so, for once, sit back and stuff your faces at Christmas content with events at SJP. It might not last, it may still all end in tears, but for now Chris Hughton and the players deserve the plaudits which come their way.

And finally, being a bit of a smart arse, I would just like to refer you back to a blog I wrote on May 18th 2008, a blog which angered a lot of readers at the time. You can find it on the archive but I will quote for those of you who are too lazy too look.

"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?

......Lots of different grounds to visit, new teams to begrudgingly admire or despise, the whole thing could be a refreshing change.

A year's break from the relentless poundings handed out by Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool and a little time away from the same old teams in the Premier League with the same old faces.

The Premier League might be the best league in the world, the most exciting, but as Kevin Keegan once said, it is also the most predictable and therefore the most boring because the same four teams finish in the top four positions year after year after year.

It is a juxtaposition Keegan was frustrated by long before he spat his dummy out and walked out on the club in protest at its transfer strategy four months later.

It would also, in theory, give Newcastle a chance to detox, to clear out the dead wood, to get its house in order, whatever you want to call it.

There are too many over-paid, over-rated players on the books at St James's Park and relegation would mean there was no option but to get rid of them in vast numbers."

Sometimes I'm not as stupid as a I look!?