Newcastle United: TheHead vs Heart

I received another post from the Mile High Geordie (@milehighgeordie). He perfectly captures the struggle most supporters are going through and this is a must read.

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The head vs heart…

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me, right? However, at this point Newcastle fans have been conned so many times by Ashley I’ve lost count. Staying angry at the situation is exhausting, being angry at Mike Ashley is just normal now for Newcastle fans with apparently no end in sight. Same anger different approach. ‘Support the team not the regime’ ‘BoycottAshley.com’ ‘Walk out’ or ‘Sit in’ and now ‘Boycott Arsenal…’ On and on it goes. Clearly there’s no takeover coming, and Ashley will only spend when he’s forced. So, it’s easy at any sign of optimism to stretch out your arm and fingers reaching for those straws of hope. If you’re not going to boycott or if you just can’t take the constant negativity of supporting Newcastle from a far and instead decide to burry your head in the sand wishing it’ll all work out, I think most people get it. I sympathies with it and have also done the exact same thing.

The new Premier League season is almost here, this Sunday Newcastle will open their campaign at home against an Arsenal team some don’t even think will make the top 6. How times have changed for both clubs. Normally I’d be excited, my plans would be set, the decision on what top to wear would be going back and forth and I’d be allowing my 14-year-old self who grew up watching Ginola and the entertainers, convince me we’ll get a win. Not now, today like most I’m just feeling…. ‘meh’… I grew up spoiled and tortured by Newcastle teams, I witnessed in person some special performances and truly magical matches where someone would just grab the match, controls the tempo and draw whistles and cheers from the Gallogate and Leazers every time they touched the ball. Tino against Barcelona and the hattrick of backflips, Ginola with the control on the knee, chip over the defender then top corner rocket against Ferencvaros, Shearer and his monster volley against Everton. Great times, great memories, I want that back, I want it for my kids, I want more…

Photo by Owen Humphreys/PA Images via Getty Images

The current situation at Newcastle has me torn in two; fighting between my heart finding positivity and optimism for the season ahead and the hope somehow, we finish above 18 th and even go on a fun cup run. Versus my head constantly reminding me, Steve Bruce’s our manager head coach with the poor record he carries and his one shiny FA Cup runners up medal, a couple relegations and several pissed off fan bases to show for all his years as a manager. Never mind Ashley’s total lack of investment to training facilities, academy and for a big part the team. I mean, Jack Colback could be a premier league player this year…? The past couple of months have felt like someone took over Newcastle on FIFA career mode and just started buying players based on their stats with no thought to how they fit with the team or tactics. We know Steve Bruce will throw the kitchen sink at opponents and at Newcastle that goes down well. Keegan after all was never one for defending and we loved it; They score 3, we’ll get 5, Howay!

My head doesn’t expect much from Steve Bruce, if we’re lucky and more so, if he’s lucky, the team will cobble together enough results to give us a relegation fight we survive and thus something to ‘celebrate’? But then my heart keeps telling me to expect Bruce to throw everything at a cup run. He knows it’s his only path to get over the ‘Rafa hump’ and change the narrative of his career. Failing at Newcastle will more than likely mean the end of his managerial career. If he manages to pull off any kind of success, then he’ll almost certainly banish the stink of managing Sunderland, relegating teams and failing with Hull in the FA Cup final.

Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

One thing my head and heart do agree on; I don’t like where Newcastle is. I don’t like having an owner who’s more interested in collecting failing retail brands for tax dodging and liquidation profits, hanging free Sports Direct signs at SJP instead of how to move Newcastle from finishing 10 th , 13 th to 8 th , 6 th … However, I don’t have a choice. It’s literally in my blood, I’ve been blessed and cursed from a young age of watching Newcastle hero’s perform magic at St James’ and I will never stop dreaming of one season seeing the drought of success come to an end. Perhaps it would be so typically Newcastle to find a trophy after 50 years with a washed-up Manger on his last chance and a hated owner when Keegan, Dalglish, Bobby and Rafa couldn’t do it? It is so very Newcastle United to do that to a fan base that is divided between love and hate for a club, to just drop a trophy in the middle of the dumpster fire. Imagine that open top bus ride, cheering on…. Steve Bruce?? Personally, I would much rather that big slice of humble pie than come to the end of the new season looking at relegation and little to no hope. So, what can we do going into Sunday? Stay away to send a message if you want, I would if I was still there. However, don’t ever stop cheering, dreaming and praying for a miracle… In the words of my childhood hero. “I’ll tell you, honestly, I will love it if we beat them. Love it.”