The perfect week for Newcastle United as Eddie's Mags rattle more 'big six' rivals
Two games against “big six” teams. Two convincing wins. Two ultra-satisfying experiences. Eddie Howe’s tricky mags continue to defy expectations and cause extreme levels of fume, and what a joy it is to witness.
The team selection at Man Utd away was met with jeers from the opposition and fears from NUFC supporters, save for a few (including myself) who trusted in Eddie Howe.
We saw a B-side deservedly get past Man City at home, and while this was an even stranger B-side - with two players who hadn’t started a game this calendar year - I had the faith.
It turned out this Frankenstein team had very little trouble in rolling Man Utd over, in one of the best wins this season - and arguably one of he best I’ve ever been to. The fume was sensational. From that clip of Ten Hag seething against a backdrop of 7,000 vocal Geordies to Goldbridge’s videoed meltdown, it was as sweet as they come.
A heavy fixture calendar meant we were back in action just three days later, still floating from that win. I’m often quietly confident against Arsenal at home, but this time I felt the injuries, fatigue and busy schedule might have allowed them to capitalise.
It was a tight, scrappy and feisty affair; something that seems to be true every time we play Arsenal at home. Tempers run high, and it’s starting to feel like this is the new Man Utd at home.
Supporters on all sides are calling for Stuart Atwell’s head, but we’ve got a significantly stronger case. Within 15 minutes of the game, he’d made three terrible calls, all against us. The Havertz tackle, disgusting as it was, galvanised the atmosphere. How on earth we came away with three yellows and Havertz stayed on, I’ll never know. But it lit the touch paper of the crowd. We were ferocious.
We can argue all day long about the goal, but the fact Arteta can’t even tell you the reason it was ruled out tells you everything. What matters is we got a deserved win and caused unholy meltdowns with Arteta and large swathes of the Arsenal supporter base.
We’ve got this great knack of making opposition managers lose their heads. Thomas Frank went off on a bizarre rant this season, and Arteta was pure cinema after the game. The man kicked off about the goal not being disallowed, but when asked by a journalist, “for which of the three checks should it have been disallowed?”, he deflected. He can’t even tell you.
It’s incredibly satisfying to see managers and supporters of “big six” clubs collectively lose their minds over little old Newcastle United. Clubs who get dodgy decisions week in, week out claim we’re buying off referees.
We’re rattling everybody, and I bloody love it. And while Tindall is a walking meme that winds everyone up, Howe is calm, composed and respectable. They’re the perfect pairing.
The team spirit can’t be denied either. Every player in that 25-man squad understands what we’re doing and their role in it - no matter how big or small. We can field an almost entirely different team and you can still see that Eddie Howe magic in them all.
Two ultra-satisfying wins see us go into the Dortmund game with confidence. It’ll be an incredibly difficult one - but we’ve already overcome a few of those this season. To Eddie Howe’s satisfying mags.
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