February 2010 Archives

When Shay Given left Newcastle United last year it was a devastating blow. One of the best goalkeepers in Europe, the loss of the Irishman was profoundly felt.

Given was Newcastle's Mr Reliable, and arguably their best player. When he decided to leave, we knew there was something going badly wrong behind the scenes under Joe Kinnear.

Few blamed him for wanting to leave, even if he effectively went on strike to ensure he was allowed to leave, but has he swapped one basket case club for another one by moving to Manchester City?

Sunderland are on a slippery slope at the moment and as anyone who has been watching the Winter Olympics will know that is always a dangerous place to be.

But this isn't the luge, it isn't even ski-ing, and it certainly isn't curling, which appears to be the only winter sport played by the British with any sort of real gusto - bowls on ice.

It's dull, though, isn' it? I mean, I'm not saying I haven't sat in bed watching it until the early hours because I have, it's still sport and it's on terrestrial television so of course I have, but give me someone sliding down an ice tunnel on a tea tray any day of the week.

He is still on the rotund side, he has still got blood on his hands - metaphorically speaking - after relegation last season and he is still a Cockney in the loosest sense of the word, but is Mike Ashley still a hate figure on Tyneside?

I doubt Newcastle United's owner would win any popularity contests and I doubt very much whether he would be welcome in any Bigg Market drinking establishments anytime soon, but has outright hostility now given away to begrudging acceptance?

It says much about the success of Newcastle's season that, at the very least, Ashley's presence at St James' Park no longer tops the agenda.

Sunderland's position remains a worrying one, but Steve Bruce will be grateful for small mercies because it hasn't actually got any worse since the frustration of another home point against Wigan and the agonising draw at Portsmouth.

Well, it'll make him feel better for a bit because a trip to the Emirates Stadium to face Arsenal this weekend is hardly the sort of fixture you want when you haven't won a league game in more than three months.

In fact, given the 7-2 thrashing at the hands of Chelsea on their last visit to the capital, it is a trip some people might be approaching with an impending sense of doom.

I wouldn't say I was an expert on women's football and I'm still puzzled on a regular basis by matters relating to members of the opposite sex, as my wife would wholeheartedly concur if she ever bothered to read this blog.

I've never seen Sunderland or Newcastle United's female teams play, although I did watch a bit of the Women's World Cup and I did interview England's third choice goalkeeper a couple of years ago.

But I don't need to be an expert or an aficionado on the fairer sex's football exploits to realise the decision not to have a North East team in the Football Association's new Super League is a disgrace.

After the high comes the low and Newcastle's performance against Derby was like cold turkey after a crack cocaine binge against Cardiff.

Sometimes it does not matter how many times you warn footballers - and I'm sure Chris Hughton tried to hammer home the message - it just doesn't get through to them.

I would like to say I saw this coming, but I didn't. To put it plain and simply, I thought Newcastle were absolutely superb against Cardiff managing to be both exciting and resilient.

It was the perfect tonic to the insipid performances which had previously characterised 2010 and has given me renewed confidence in their promotion push.

I wouldn't say I had begun to doubt the team as such, but I had begun to despair at the lack of quality in their football. There are only so many grinding out a result weekends you can take.

I should really thank Liam for reminding me, but just in case any of you are also micro-bloggers, you can also follow me on Twitter. You can find me as LukeEdwards0.

As well as giving you notification of when I've updated this blog, you also get my more random thoughts about Newcastle United, Sunderland and the world of sport!

My first emotion at the close of the transfer window is one of relief because the whole thing is just a month long hype fest, artificial excitement for armchair fans sitting in their pants in front of Sky Sports News.

Come on, let's be honest, the only people who enjoy the transfer window is Sky Sports News. It is tailor made for a 24 hour news channel because it actually gives them something to talk about all day rather than just filling time with the same bits of news on a 20 minute loop. It makes them look important and exciting.