Newcastle 3-0 Cardiff: Schar inspires NUFC to monumental win at St James’ Park

It wasn’t a classic but I couldn’t care less. What a monumental win that could prove to be come the end of the season.

We came into this one without hope on so many levels, but the performance was EXACTLY what we were in need of, giving us a much needed victory at home – and a massive three points over our relegation rivals, taking us out of the relegation zone as a result.

Cardiff were poor and failed to get anything going (I don’t think Dubravka made a single save?), but we did our jobs; something we’ve rarely done at St James’ Park so far this season.

Schar was the standout player – scoring twice defending superb too – but there were so many superb displays all over the pitch today. Rondon was invaluable up top, with his hold up play giving us a pivotal platform to build on, Perez was in the mood and deserved a goal, Longstaff and Hayden bosses the midfield battle and Yedlin gave us a great outlet going forward – with Lascelles and Lejeune not putting a foot wrong defensively.

Here’s how the table looks after today’s results:

Elsewhere, a win for Southampton and a good point on the road for Burnley weren’t exactly the results we were hoping for, but that only emphasises what a vital victory this was for us today. It’s worth mentioning that Palace’s loss at Liverpool puts them just 1 point ahead of us now, so there’s several teams in the mix – and we’ve got a good lead over the likes of Huddersfield (10 pts) and Fulham (7 points) now.

Next up we’ll face Watford in the FA Cup a week today, followed by yet another home game against the champions, Man City:

  • Watford (H) *FA Cup*
  • Man City (H)
  • Tottenham (A)
  • Wolves (A)
  • Huddersfield (H)

A huge win for the team and one that was thoroughly deserved.

There’s a long way to go and tougher challenges await, but today could be the turning point in what has been a dismal season so far at St James’ Park.

HWTL!

(Fancy writing for us? Send any articles/ideas over to us at [email protected] & we’ll get back to you!)

About Olly Hawkins

As a Junior Magpie since birth and season ticket holder, I eat, sleep and breathe all things NUFC! Here at the blog, I aim to bring you news, views, match reports and transfer exclusives as and when I get them.

129 thoughts on “Newcastle 3-0 Cardiff: Schar inspires NUFC to monumental win at St James’ Park

  1. So Sala (the missing footballer) was sending messages before they even took off saying ‘if you haven’t heard from me in 1.5hrs, send out a search party’ because of the noises the plane was making … this story gets more sad by the day.

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  2. Sharpy17:
    So Sala (the missing footballer) was sending messages before they even took off saying ‘if you haven’t heard from me in 1.5hrs, send out a search party’ because of the noises the plane was making … this story gets more sad by the day.

    Awful mate, must of been terrified. As someone who hates flying i can only imagine his fear, poor guy.

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  3. Firstly, very sad news about Sala. Fair play there’s been good tributes to him in Cardiff and they didn’t even get to know the guy.

    On us though, I’d actually like to see us play a decent side against Watford, and rotate against Man Citeh. We should have beaten Watford both times this season, and I think another win there would give us some confidence, as well as a bit of Cup joy which we haven’t had in, what, 15 years or so? The Mancs will beat us anyway, regardless of what team we put out, and I think we could still keep it tight like Rafa wants if we’re that bothered about goal difference..

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  4. Really sad story.

    I don’t get what Lineker is on about criticizing Ronaldo for taking a selfie on a plane saying it was inappropriate on such a day. These players take selfies 24/7 wherever they are and I am sure it didn’t even cross Ronaldo’s mind that he was even on his private jet. It’s just another day to him.

    I think it is a weird thing to say from Lineker who I generally like.

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  5. There could be something to this Martin rumour. Wasn’t he one of the ones who walked out on Sporting after that fan attack at the training ground. Athletico were probably being opportunistic and just took a chance because he was free. Now they might want to take a better look at him at somewhere that will give him more playing time. That would not be Arsenal or Everton on loan.

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  6. I mean, if a player dies in a car crash will Lineker then criticize the Daily Mail for showing pictures of Man U players arriving in their cars to training, which they do every day?

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  7. Martins in talks about a £4m loan move!!! WTF!! Isn’t it like paying £2,000 a month to rent a house when you have £500,000 in the bank doing nothing?

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  8. Stuart79:
    Martins in talks about a £4m loan move!!! WTF!! Isn’t it like paying £2,000 a month to rent a house when you have £500,000 in the bank doing nothing?

    Don’t try to make sense in anything the club do mate, it’ll just mess your head up.

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  9. If Rafa is going end of season i reckon we should go all out for the fa cup.
    Stick two fingers up toJabba and play the strongest team possible, try and win the ****** and if we go down so be it.
    On the plus side, didn’t Jabba say he’d leave once we won something 😉

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  10. Eric Sykes:
    I mean, if a player dies in a car crash will Lineker then criticize the Daily Mail for showing pictures of Man U players arriving in their cars to training, which they do every day?

    I think it was more the timing of it really Eric. CR is a massive **** anyway. Also Gary is a massive Messi fan so any digs on CR are fair game to him.

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  11. I think the Martins deal could come off coz AM want Morata from Chelsea and as Higuain is having a medical with Chelsea today – that could free Morata up and see Martins out of AM.

    At £4m – that’s probably the money we get for Joselu going to China.

    The truth of the matter is Ashley wants the club sold. He’s not spend £25m on Almiron because even when he didn’t want to sell, he didn’t spend that kind of money!!.

    But if we loan Martins and N’Soki for example – I think they are quality players coming in to allow Rafa to keep the club up until Kenyon or someone else decides to buy us.
    It’s not the situation I want for our club – but until we are sold, it’s about as good as we can hope for (and I say that with a heavy heart by the way – I’m not suggesting it’s great by any means).

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  12. I think we can assume Rafa will be gone at the end of the season. I would personally like him to release a statement confirming it. Heat on Jabba then

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  13. KIMTOON: I think it was more the timing of it really Eric. CR is a massive **** anyway. Also Gary is a massive Messi fan so any digs on CR are fair game to him.

    One has very little to do with the other except they are both footballers on planes. That is not enough of a connection, which makes it a false equivalency in my opinion. And if Lineker is so petty as to rubbish Ronaldo because he thinks Messi is better then he has gone down in my estimation. I also think Messi is better because I believe he is the best player to ever play the game but think Ronaldo would be in the conversation for who is 2nd. He’s probably top 5.

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  14. Stuart , the club really need to make a statement about the future of the club and Rafa, there are too many if’s and buts at present and it makes people jittery. It was Jabba who opened his trap about possible takeover so it’s up to him to clarify now.
    Ofcourse the silence will continue because they want season tickets sold. Any statement will be made after window closes i suspect.

    Do not understand us loaning players, we are NOT skint as much as he’d have the world believe it.

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  15. Eric Sykes: One has very little to do with the other except they are both footballers on planes. That is not enough of a connection, which makes it a false equivalency in my opinion. And if Lineker is so petty as to rubbish Ronaldo because he thinks Messi is better then he has gone down in my estimation. I also think Messi is better because I believe he is the best player to ever play the game but think Ronaldo would be in the conversation for who is 2nd. He’s probably top 5.

    Agree, also a top 5 d ickhead .

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  16. I want to say one more on Messi. I have watched a lot of La Liga over the past 5 years. The biggest complement I can pay Messi is if you take Peter Beardsley’s best 10 moments in his career Messi would produce something akin to 3 of them EVERY game. And would surpass them in a lot of games.

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  17. KIMTOON:
    Stuart , the club really need to make a statement about the future of the club and Rafa, there are too many if’s and buts at present and it makes people jittery. It was Jabba who opened his trap about possible takeover so it’s up to him to clarify now.
    Ofcourse the silence will continue because they want season tickets sold. Any statement will be made after window closes i suspect.

    Do not understand us loaning players, we are NOT skint as much as he’d have the world believe it.

    We might be skint if he’s siphoning the money out of the club somehow to fund his retail empire… ☹️☹️☹️???

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  18. These articles saying Rafas future at NUFC depends on the signing of ONE player – utter nonsense.
    These ‘journalists’ want shot with $hit!!.

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  19. Looks like Higuain to Chelsea is a done deal. If that means Morata to Athletico then it’s a strong possibility Martins will be loaned out – and if we are ready to pay the loan fee, then he could be at the toon – he’s quality in the final third.
    I think we will get one of the LB targets we have too.
    The age old area that worries me though is up front. If Joselu goes we will definitely need another forward in, but I don’t see who that will be? – have we even been linked with one?.

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  20. Why is the Fatman trying to complicate things?

    Step 1: give Rafa these 2 loan players he wants. They, along with Rondon and Kenedy will be among our highest paid players but can be sent back at the end of the season if they don’t work out.

    Step 2: give Rafa Almiron for the NOT too ridiculous price of 25 million when you consider Hudson-Odoi at 35 million. Make Rafa happy so that he gives his all for the rest of the season and hopefully keeps us up.

    Step 3: if we start to pull clear of relegation, offer Rafa a 1 year extension and negotiate a sale that will keep Rafa at the club and provide new funds.

    Step (3a): if we are relegated Rafa leaves anyway, the loan players are sent back and we have a wage bill that fits PL parachute payments so we can push for immediate promotion under Brendan Rogers.

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  21. Oh, and I bet Almiron would be our best player and we could sell him for close to what we paid if we get relegated. I don’t really see the risk here.

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  22. Martins is off. He didn’t want to come apparently. Well to be honest I really believe the club knew this and wanted a pr exercise. Back to the drawing board.

    We will yet again bring in some inferior players and fans will complain about Rafa’s signings. Forgetting totally they’ll be his 10th choices.

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  23. This is a total repeat of earlier windows. In the end nowt happens.
    Why don’t they just buy Martins? Or Almiron. The money is there. What’s it there for if not to strengthen the team and keep the manager happy?
    NUFC seem to have a lot in common with this government these days.

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  24. Stuart79:
    Martins is off. He didn’t want to come apparently. Well to be honest I really believe the club knew this and wanted a pr exercise. Back to the drawing board.

    We will yet again bring in some inferior players and fans will complain about Rafa’s signings. Forgetting totally they’ll be his 10th choices.

    Stu – I’ve never doubted or questioned Rafa has had a raw deal
    with transfers. The only time I’ve questioned him is when I’ve felt the players he’s brought in weren’t as good as the players we already had.

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  25. Luke edwards was on radio saying that Rafa has no say in transfers and hasn’t for last couple of windows.
    Truth , who knows, nowt is transparent about NUFC nowadays except that the owner is a ***** of the highest order.

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  26. georgio:
    This is a total repeat of earlier windows. In the end nowt happens.
    Why don’t they just buy Martins? Or Almiron. The money is there. What’s it there for if not to strengthen the team and keep the manager happy?
    NUFC seem to have a lot in common with this government these days.

    Georgio – the money is there to pay Ashley’s loan off when we sell the club. The scenario we needed was for the take over to be far enough along for Kenyon to sanction the spends in the Jan window.
    One of two things seem to have happened here – either Kenyon doesn’t even have the money to buy the club – which is obviously bad. Alternatively, Kenyon has the money but has decided to stall the takeover to avoid having to spend an extra £30-50m in Jan. The worst thing for his consortium would have been to buy us then not spend decent money in Jan – to buy us and not buy players would have left the fans thinking ‘here we go again’. But to buy us and buy players would cost his lot say £350m. Miss the window though, and save yourself some money – they are businessmen after all.

    But Ashley was never going to spend money, and we all know why.

    It’s like I said the other day, you don’t spend £30k on a kitchen in a house you are selling. You might spend a few grand giving it a facelift but you don’t spend big. That’s the new owners job.

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  27. KIMTOON:
    Could explain why he now says we don’t talk about transfers.

    Doesn’t explain why he’s stuck around if true though.
    Rafa is no chump, so if those type of restrictions were placed on him, I don’t think he sticks round. He could have left and fought it out in the courts – he could have easily got the Leicester or WHU job.
    I just don’t see Rafa sticking round if he has no say at all. I don’t believe that any of the signings have been his first choice – why makes his job so much harder – but then he is at a club where the owner wants out – not like other clubs where the owners are clearly committed – Everton and B’mth for example.

    I don’t think Rafa will be happy with the players he’s been able to sign, but I do think he’s had a say in it.

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  28. KIMTOON:
    Not according to Luke Edwards Sharpy.

    Kim – I don’t believe he knows the first thing about what goes on behind the scenes – I don’t believe any journo does.
    Let’s face it, if it’s been the case for the last few windows – firstly that’s not very specific for a journalist – and secondly – why only report it now? on a radio show? when you are best known as being a sports writer for newspapers!!. That’s a pretty big revelation that – it would sell newspapers for sure … but he reveals it on the radio.
    But let’s consider that he has just found this out – which is why he hasn’t disclosed it before now. What kind of journalists is he if that has been going on for a few windows and he’s just found out now?!.

    I call bull$hit Kim, but to be fair to him, he wouldn’t be the first journalist to make something up.

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  29. Isn’t it typical though that we have never heard Lukaku’s name mentioned until he signs, even if it is only on loan. The only one’s the journo’s mention that have credibility are the absolutely obvious ones like Almiron where we sent Nixon over to talk to Atlanta.

    What do they do all day?

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  30. Apparently the option to buy is there. Reports now saying he was Rafa’s first choice all along. Strong and fast, a real wing back.
    Just get Almiron and all will be happy for a really small spend.

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  31. Lukaku a left back/wingback? Put some pressure on Kenedy.

    Kenedy needs a good game in the FA Cup to justify his continued loan. We also need to give Shelvey some gametime since he is back in training. Probably worth putting out a decent team since we have City the next week where we will be totally defensive and where we have choices of centre halves, especially.

    You know how conservative Rafa is with new players so I doubt we will see Lukaku even if he is registered in time.

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  32. Eric Sykes:
    Isn’t it typical though that we have never heard Lukaku’s name mentioned until he signs, even if it is only on loan. The only one’s the journo’s mention that have credibility are the absolutely obvious ones like Almiron where we sent Nixon over to talk to Atlanta.

    What do they do all day?

    Eric – it takes me back to my Luke Edwards point mate. They know nothing of what goes on behind the scenes – yet they write or speak with such conviction.

    I’m happy know with the loan to buy for Lukaku – it worked out pretty well with Dubravka. It’s also what Wolves did with a lot of their players last season, so it ain’t a daft move.

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  33. Will supporters remember this when slagging Rafa’s signings? Wonder how far down the list we’re currently down…

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  34. Happy to see some movement at last, but he’s only played about 170 mins this season so may not be fully fit when/if he comes in… owt is better than nowt, as they say… that’s probably our business done then…

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  35. Apparently in the last Fans Forum Lee Charnley said we should be trying to emulate Burnley!!!! Is that our ambition then…? Of course this didn’t make it to the official minutes.

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  36. 21:07ED SYERS

    Would a few loan signings be enough for Rafa to stay?

    Possibly not. He’d want written assurances of what’ll happen in the summer – that would go some way towards bridging the gap. He wants to make changes to the academy and the scouting department. He was told he’d have the final say on signings, but he doesn’t have the last say on budgets. That’s the problem.

    LEE RYDER

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  37. I wonder if those at NUFC took the same bet I did for WBA to come straight back up??? They certainly seem to be doing every they can to help them – Murphy off there now by the looks of it.

    Could be a good thing though coz we only ever get one in if ones leaving ??.

    Any more word on Joselu going to China?.

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  38. Olly: the team you suggested is too weak since we have City the following week. I would at least start Dubravka, Perez and Rondon.

    I would send Woodman out on loan so he doesn’t need a start and it is pointless playing Murphy if we intend to loan him to West Brom. I would also ask Norwich since he is familiar with the area.

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  39. Are we worried about injuries in the FA Cup though? That could be Olly’s logic for the p!sspoor team he thinks we will play?

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  40. Did you hear the howls of derision when the England Cricket selectors took Curran over Broad as opening bowler on a seaming pitch? Not only that, but you don’t need a specialist spin wicketkeeper on a seaming pitch when Bairstow is more than adequate. 2 spinners, when Root now fancies himself as a spinner! BTW, he is not. I used to bowl good legspin in the London Leagues and it comes naturally. You cannot really teach it and he is **** at it. So, they deserve what they are getting.

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  41. FOOTBALL | OLIVER KAY
    january 25 2019, 5:00pm, the times
    Mike Ashley is failing to deliver on and off the pitch at Newcastle United as rivals laugh their way to the bank
    oliver kay, chief football correspondent

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    Even now, the bare facts of Mike Ashley’s ownership of Newcastle United are best digested with a glass of water. Two relegations, a solitary finish above tenth place in the Premier League, a solitary appearance in the last 16 of either FA Cup or League Cup and, just in case you imagined that this highly successful businessman has transformed Newcastle’s fortunes away from the pitch, a mere £600,000 increase in annual commercial revenue over 11 years in which other clubs have been laughing all the way to the bank.

    That £600,000 figure probably bears spelling out. Newcastle made £27.6 million in commercial revenue in 2006-07, the final season under the ownership of the Hall family and Freddy Shepherd. Last season, according to figures released this week by Deloitte, they made £28.2 million. Over the same period, Manchester United’s commercial revenue has risen from £58.1 million (roughly double Newcastle’s) to £280 million (roughly ten times Newcastle’s); Arsenal’s from £42.7 million to £106.9 million; Liverpool’s from £43.1 million to £151.3 million; Tottenham Hotspur’s from £38.5 million to £103.2 million; Inter Milan’s from £25 million to £130.9 million; FC Schalke’s from £35.7 million to £93.7 million; Everton’s from a measly £6.7 million to £30.1 million — to say nothing of those clubs, such as Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain, whose brand value has been inflated so dramatically as to arouse the suspicion of Uefa’s financial compliance department. To put it politely, Newcastle have bucked the trend.

    Newcastle supporters have seen their side fall behind their former rivals
    Newcastle supporters have seen their side fall behind their former rivals
    STU FORSTER/GETTY IMAGES
    All of this would be galling enough for Newcastle’s supporters even if their beloved St James’ Park, one of the great cathedrals of English football, were not splattered with billboards advertising Ashley’s high-street sports retail chain. It is doubtful whether any stadium in the Premier League — not even those bearing the name of a Middle Eastern airline, a credit card company, a health insurance provider or a brewery — screams “rampant commercialism” like St James’ Park does, or for such little benefit. At least Lee Charnley, Newcastle’s managing director, was able to reassure supporters at a fan forum event in October that “there is now an agreement in place whereby Sports Direct pays for all advertising in the stadium”. “Now”? Well, that’s good of them.

    When Ashley arrived in 2007, Newcastle had the sixth-biggest turnover in the Premier League and the fifth-highest wage bill. Full accounts for 2017-18, after promotion back to the top flight, are not yet available, but when they were relegated in 2016, their turnover was the ninth-highest (overtaken not just by Manchester City but by Tottenham, West Ham United and Leicester City) and their £75 million wage bill was only the 16th highest in the Premier League (lower than Crystal Palace, Leicester City, Southampton, Stoke City, Sunderland and Swansea City, among others).

    The fact that Stoke, Sunderland and Swansea have since followed Newcastle down to the Sky Bet Championship — and have shown altogether less gumption in trying to get back — is no justification for the parsimony on Tyneside. None of those clubs had anything like the platform that Ashley has had the opportunity to build on at Newcastle. Yes he inherited a £76 million debt and an underperforming squad, but this was a club that had great potential to move onwards and upwards with the right kind of investment — “one of the jewels, one of the diamonds of the Premier League,” as he put it in 2008. He talked back then of setting the club’s sights high. To have opted for a smaller club, he said, would have been “like settling for the high jump when you really want to do the pole vault. You want more excitement, so you go higher.”

    Ashley inherited a club with the sixth-biggest turnover in the Premier League, they have sinced bucked the financial trendAshley inherited a club with the sixth-biggest turnover in the Premier League, they have sinced bucked the financial trend
    PA
    Ashley wants excitement? Seriously? Because looking from the outside, it has seemed that his sole ambition for Newcastle has been a seat on the Premier League gravy train, which would see the business grow with every new broadcast deal. The only time there has been any notable surge of ambition is when underinvestment has led to relegation, which has led to a more aggressive approach in search of promotion. When Newcastle were promoted under Kevin Keegan in 1993, their ambitions soared. When they were promoted under Rafael Benítez in 2017, it was as if, once again, a place in the Premier League was all that Ashley required.

    There has been some investment over the past three transfer windows, but a total outlay of £70 million on Jacob Murphy, Florian Lejeune, Yoshinori Muto, Christian Atsu, Mikel Merino, Federico Fernández, Fabian Schär, Martin Dubravka, Joselu, Javier Manquillo and Ki Sung-yueng, plus various loans, smacked of a bargain-basement approach in trying to bring a Championship squad up to scratch. That outlay has largely been subsidised by sales in any case. That Newcastle’s three biggest acquisitions (Michael Owen, Alan Shearer, Albert Luque) and indeed seven of their 12 biggest came more than a decade ago, pre-Ashley, is remarkable in an era of transfer-market inflation.

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    So too is the lack of investment in the club’s infrastructure. Whereas clubs such as Everton, Tottenham and Brighton have moved to highly impressive new training grounds over the past decade or so, and others such as Burnley and Wolverhampton Wanderers have revamped theirs at considerable expense, Newcastle’s plans for a new complex at Darsley Park, announced in late 2013 and initially scheduled for completion in early 2016, have not progressed. Newcastle’s accounts suggest that capital expenditure across the first decade of Ashley’s ownership was just £10 million. He said last year that “our training facilities have improved significantly during my tenure” and are “fit for purpose”, but Benítez is as almost exasperated by this issue as by the constraints he has faced in the transfer market.

    In 2015, in the grip of another relegation battle, Michael Martin, editor of the True Faith fanzine, wearily described Newcastle as “a zombie club, half-alive, half-dead, going nowhere.” A year later they dropped down to the Championship. It briefly seemed that there might be a realignment after that, a willingness to learn from past mistakes and to capitalise on the optimism generated by Benítez and a promotion campaign, but no, it remains a club in limbo. No buyer has been found to meet the owner’s £300 million-plus asking price for a club that, having stood still for so long (even pre-Ashley), needs serious investment.

    Whereas managers usually live in fear of a takeover, Benítez has been dismayed to see one potential buyer after another come and go. He is in the final months of his contract and is understood to be highly unlikely to sign a new deal unless something significant changes. No Newcastle fan will blame Benítez if he departs at the end of the season. Many of them are amazed he has stayed this long. They share his sense of disillusionment. That attendances remain so healthy — upwards of 49,000 for every league match this season — is testimony to the fans’ loyalty, which only accentuates the feeling of potential unfilled.

    There is still a perception in some quarters that Newcastle’s supporters, still giddy from the Keegan years, are asking for too much. They really aren’t. A sense of adventure, of hope, would be nice. Victory over Watford, to reach the FA Cup fifth round for the first time since 2006, almost feels like too much to ask in these straitened times. A banner unveiled at St James’ Park a few years ago read: “We don’t demand a team that wins. We demand a club that tries.” Is that really too much to ask?

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