Drop might be a good thing for Toon

Possibly, Maybe...Perhaps.... as a fan, relegation would actually be a good for thing for Newcastle United. The idea may sound stupid but it’s how I’m feeling at the minute after what has been a difficult nine months. There is a school of thought, a bizarre view for many, but one which has attracted new believers in recent weeks including your columnist. Given the financial effects it could cause and the long term damage it could do to such a magnificent club, it is a viewpoint littered with risks and loaded with danger, but perhaps it is not as bad as many would think. For instance, if there was a guarantee for every Newcastle supporter that the club would go down to the Championship [England’s second division] just for a single season, would it be such a terrible idea given the circumstances? But of course, there is absolutely no way of providing such a guarantee and neither does owner Mike Ashley, interim manager Alan Shearer or anyone else connected to the club want to even think of it. If Newcastle go down, they could stay there for years; they might even follow Leeds United—I don’t want to think about that and I hope it won’t be the case. However, one season in the Championship might not be such a bad thing. A year’s break from the relentless poundings handed out by Arsenal, Chelsea, Man United and Liverpool and a little time away from the same old teams in the Premier League with the same old faces! The English Premiership might be the best league in the world, the most exciting, my experience tells me it is also the most predictable and therefore the most boring because the same four teams finish in the top four positions year after year—save for a few odd years in the mid 90s and early 2000s that Newcastle United gate-crashed the big four territory. It would also, in theory, give Newcastle a chance to rebuild, to clear out the dead wood, to get its house in order, whatever you want to call it. There are too many over-paid, over-rated players on the books at St James’s Park and relegation would mean there was no option but to get rid of them in vast numbers. If disaster struck and the Toon went down, Michael Owen, Mark Viduka, Cacapa, Geremi, Fabricio Coloccini, Jonas Guteirrez, Alan Smith, Joey Barton, Jose Enrique and Obafemi Martins would all be expected to leave. They could well be joined by Habib Beye and Sebastien Bassong, although I would expect Shearer to fight to keep them—only if he also decides to stay on, which is looking very likely. Granted, clearing the dead wood and reducing the wage bill, which is the third in the division after Chelsea and Man United doesn’t leave much behind to work with in terms of getting the club promoted again, but if Shearer can work his magic as I believe he’s capable, the club should be back in one season. If Newcastle went down and Shearer stayed on, he’ll spend whatever little money he has shrewdly and the Magpies fly straight back into the topflight, this would arguably give the club far stronger foundations competitively and financially. Look, nobody wants to be relegated, it would be horrible that’s why Newcastle need to go to Aston Villa on Sunday [today] on the final day of the season and fight like they’ve never fought before. Being the Newcastle I know quite well after 13 years of undiluted support, even a win might not be enough for them against a Villa side that have suffered in the second part of the season. The Toon need to win and hope that other results go their way. Yet one thing is for certain, if Newcastle are relegated at Villa then it’s not down to what happens at Villa Park—the road to relegation started in September, the day Kevin Keagan walked away because he could not stand working under Dennis (Un)Wise. nku78@yahoo.com