NEWCASTLE UNITED

In the case of Spurs, I suspect most of the 'pain' comes from having a slightly bumbling, mediocre team with a ever-receding glorious past in the shadow of a club very close to the top of the Englsh game. As an Evertonian, I'm afraid the joy/misery balance of a weekend's football is always a combination of *two* results (unless it's derby day).

True, but there's the absolute failure of relegation (yes, yes, it's also relative - there's a league table after all) and then there's the relative failure of always being second best to the other lot.

I'm not for a moment saying that it's as bad finishing 13th in the top flight, trophyless and with a clutch of disgruntled, overpaid dilettantes while the filth hoover up European glory vs. losing league status and almost going to the wall financially. But, by Christ, it still fucking hurts. There is this sense that you made a choice aged four, seven, nine, whatever - and IT WAS WRONG. I think that's where the lifetime of agony line comes from. Of course, it's nothing compared to your club almost ceasing to exist and I'm not making a plea for sympathy here!

That's bollocks. We're all justified in whinging as much as we like, they're our teams after all.

The Fulham Trust had a massive problem in getting a lot of their fans to give a shit about the Cottage; for many, Fulham was a Premiershite club, and where it played less important. The ones who were there in the dark times had an intrinsic understanding on the importance of the Cottage to the identity of the club, but that didn't seem to be the priority for many of the newer fans.

Newcastle United are the club at the centre of the 2005 film GOAL! which was just on BBC1. Did anyone else see it? I found it interesting in some ways.

Including

• the romance of the journey North, on the train from London, and the lovely shots of the bridges over the the Tyne; when he actually arrived in Newcastle station I wished I could travel to such a place.
• the NE coastline that we then see, where our hero Santiago stays with the coach who has brought him over
• the moment when the coach mentions NUFC - 'that's a big club'!' - 'it's a *very* big club'
• the manager is called Eric something, and initially I thought he was English - but his nationality is never specified, and in fact he seems modelled on Wenger more than anyone.
• NUFC here are battling, down to the last kick of the film, for ... 4th place and a place in Europe. I like the realism of that! They don't bother having our hero actually win the league, just scrape the last CL spot.
• in doing so, they edge out Liverpool on the last day! I'm surprised that Stevie G and Benitez agree to participate in this, but they do.
• Newcastle presented as great hub of irresponsible nightlife - accurate reflection of the years of mayhem with Dyer, Jenas et al (and they both appear in the film!)?
• moment when we see the first team - Shearer above all - with music drifting over the top, they're seen as demigods or rare wild animals ... I get it with Shearer, but I fear that Boumsong is somewhere in the background of this film as well.

I fear that Boumsong is somewhere in the back

a common fear

"I like the realism of that" - hahaha

well, Newcastle USED to be a team in for CL places. this film kind of worked as a reminder of that distant time (I guess when it was being scripted, cast etc they were on a roll by their standards).

SPOILER: the "Ghost Of The Gallowgate" is unmasked as bitter reserve keeper Steve Harper, who had been attempting to drive down the value of the land so that the board would be forced to sell Shay Given to evil Norwegian side FC Baastaad in order to keep the club afloat.

"You'll be getting plenty of first-team opportunities where you're going."
"Yeah, yeah, prison..."
"No - Darlington!"
"NOOOO..."

C N'Zogbia: "LOL"

That train journey between Durham and about Berwick *is* fantastic. I always manoeuvre myself to the east of the train for the best view of those bridges

SPOILER: film ends with bomb-laden Olivier Bernard ascending The Angel Of The North, the entire assembled first-team squad incredulously looking on from beneath, and announcing "Look at me, Laurent, top of the world!" before Nikos Dabizas fells him with a well-aimed punt

PF may be interested in Goal! II, where hero boy is transferred to Real Madrid. There's also Goal! III, which is apparently based around the 2006 World Cup. Given hero boy is (I think) Mexican, don't anticipate too much from that.

Hang on. Hero boy gets surprise transfer from Newcastle to Real Madrid... Goal! II = JONATHAN WOODGATE: THE MOVIE!

Curious, this - I did hear that there were supposed to be other films but was not clear that they had actually been made. The BBC preview for the first film mentions Real and the World Cup which are not in the first film. Instead it takes a good long time talking about NEWCASTLE UNITED.

it'd be lol if i didn't feel for hughton, regardless of residual ill-feeling for him being nominally in charge of set-pieces/defence under jol at spurs

Ant & Dec.

Absolute fucking nonsense.

if i didn't feel for hughton

oh i'm sure he'll find a work environment that isn't populated exclusively by psychopaths and idiots soon enough.

http://media2.inktastic.com/thumbnails/64169.png

Woke up, checked the premier league table, saw my beloved and almighty Sunderland AFC were still above Newcastle, grinned like a cheshire cat and went to put the kettle on. I hope this good mood sustains itself throughout the rest of the day, as it has for many days prior to this :D

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/english-soccer/newcastle-reserve-boss-donachie-suspended-for-allegedly-hitting-player-1.1682759

Alan Pardew's 8-year contract at Newcastle expires today.
In that time:

- Donald Trump elected president
- 3 General Elections
- UK left the EU
- Mandela & Thatcher died
- Ebola, Zika & Coronavirus viruses
- Will and Kate had 3 kids
- 2 World Cups
- Pardew managed 3 clubs pic.twitter.com/BTswp8ac8h

— Peter Davidson (@Peter_Davidson1) June 30, 2020

- Gazza read Finnegans Wake

Even now there is literally nothing better on the internet than the Pardew dancing gif.

Sadly that German teenager's Pardew / Herz an Herz tribute video got taken down for a copyright violation.