There Are No Points For Looking Good At Newcastle
There are times in this job when you write things on the spur of the moment, caught up in the emotion of events, when everything is raw and sore and your judgement is clouded.
It happens in arguments, particularly when alcohol is involved. Something which seemed a complete injustice, an outrage, the worst insult ever, a shocking turn of events can quickly become something trivial by the time the hangover has arrived.
I feel a bit like that after my Crystal Palace match report. Newcastle were poor, sloppy and slapdash. They were lucky to win and they won't go up playing like that for the rest of the season.
But when the dust settles, when you have walked away from the game and gone home for a cup of tea. When you wake up the following morning and look at the Championship table, you realise the win was all that matters.
The ends justifying the means. Newcastle had a job to do and they did it. It might not have been to the standard we expect and they might have ridden their luck, but the victory came and with it a new three point gap as league leaders.
Had it not been for Steve Harper, tipping the ball on to the post, Palace would probably have got something from the game. True enough, but that is what Harper is paid to do and he did it well.
Football is all about small margins, winners and losers are defined by such moments and Newcastle will argue they are making their own luck this season with hard work, discipline and determination.
Palace were typical of the opposition they face in this division. Every player raised their game that few extra percent and they reveled in their surroundings and the chance to take a Magpie scalp. But they didn't did they!
Newcastle should be playing better than they did on Wednesday night. There were too many players off colour, Kevin Nolan, Jonas Gutierrez, Danny Guthrie and Andrew Carroll being the worst offenders on the night.
Then again, they haven't played that well all season but are still setting the promotion pace. They are able to grind out results no matter what happens and that is an impressive trait.
They aren't going to go up playing cavalier football. This isn't going to be another Kevin Keegan season, but as long as they get up, the season will be a success and we have to remind ourselves of that.
The injury to Jose Enrique is a potentially massive setback if the hamstring strain proved to be a tear and that also soured the evening, but Mike Williamson had a very encouraging debut at centre-back and Wayne Routledge offered a glimpse of the pace and threat he will bring to the side once he has settled.
In fact, the two signings, coupled with the permanent recruitment of Danny Simpson, are positive steps forward by Chris Hughton and as long as they can bring in another striker before the close of the window I think most of us will be happy with what has been done this window which is a first under Mike Ashley.
Leicester City are up next and they will offer an even tougher test than Palace on their own patch.
But Newcastle's unbeaten league run dates back to October and nobody inside the United dressing room will be giving that up without a fight. After everything that happened last season we can at least be content with that.
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Luke Edwards - is Chief Sports Writer of The Journal and uses his blog to give a unique and entertaining insight into events at Newcastle United and Sunderland.
I understand those sentiments Luke, really I do, and I'm also receptive to those people on here who talk about doing away with the negativity. Fine. But there needs to be a balance to the debate. If we play poorly, really poorly, and ride our luck at home to a team who's club is financially crippled, without their star player and with only 3 subs on the bench, you have to ask questions, especially if we hope that upon reaching the promised land of the Premier League, we'll stay there and achieve more than surviving a relegation scrap.
I agree this transfer window has been an improvement on previous ones under this regime, but does anyone really expect us to massively re-model our squad if we get promoted? I don't. I expect the likes of Coloccini, Smith, Nolan, Carroll, Guttierez, Guthrie etc to play prominent roles next season too. If that's in the Premier League, we will get beaten repeadedly, on last night's performance. Actually, as you alude to yourself Luke, last night was pretty consistent with many of the games this season. I'm all for enjoying the good times while they last, but come on, our victory owed more to luck than any particular judgement and it has done on numerous occasions this season.
I'm not satisfied that we are a Championship club, because we definitely shouldn't be (inept leadership has dictated where we are rather than this being the club's natural level). Therefore, I'm not going to do summersaults if/when we beat the likes of Palace at home. We should be building something for the future, and I don't see any real signs that that is happening. Ok, you can point to the recent signings, but how good will they be in the PL? Time will tell, but I'm not expecting them to turn out to be class performers.
Bottom line is we won, fine, but lets not bury our heads in the sand by insisting that was ALL that mattered, because lucky wins in the Championship equates to humbling defeats in the Premier league, and we've been there before.
Jeez, talk about negativity! Though I must say this blog at least tries to critically analyse what was a poor performance, but ultimately a successful result, unlike that muppet Ryder at the Chronicle. Reading his recent blogs you'd think we were headed to league one! All I care about this season is getting promoted, not how we look doing so, and to be honest, CH has made us hard to beat, a trait that has served Birmingham so well this season. IF we go up, investment will undoubtedly be needed in the squad, but there is the core nucleus of a decent side there, and when Joey Barton comes back, hopefully we'll start to see some penetration from midfield. Realistically there are three teams in the automatic promotion race, and there is clear daylight between us and WBA. As long as that continues I'm happy, as I dont fancy another season in this league. P.S Stick to the Newcastle blogs Luke, nobody gives a toss about the mackems!
Hi Luke,
I don't think we have played really well in any game this season, not like Forest or WBA have at times. Having said that we are top and clear so something must be going right, it just isn't good to watch.
Whatever signings we make need to players that can help us get promoted, once that happens we can worry about life in the EPL and not before.
I like the look of Moses, pace and skill is something we don't have aplenty!
Cheers
Mike
good article
i agree, one step at a time will do us fine for now
wins are all that matters
all the top teams, and I'm talking about the premier league, win ugly sometimes at the least, and the ones that win the league make a habit out of being undefeated.
it is the quality and form of the attack-minded players that gives that style, and it looks like Hughton is building the nucleus of one that won't be shamed in the PL by adding more pace.
Qozzie