Now the break is over; a quick reflection on the latest Tyne Wear Derby
I have just a couple of things to get off my chest
Phew! The international and FA Cup break is over. We can finally look forward or “look forward” depending on where you’re at.
And... blimey, the last couple of weeks have been really hard. Newcastle, instead of pushing on and consolidating what they achieved last season, have been consistently inconsistent.
We’ve had some highs this year, and some real lows, and the Sunderland result was the worst of the lows. It wasn’t just the result. You can lose to your rivals, and you can be disappointed, you can take digs from the fans, but also take things from the performance. We couldn’t do that after that game.
It was the way we capitulated at home, instead of pressing the advantage we’d effectively been gifted by Sunderland.
We thought that at 1-0 up, we had it in the bag and played like it. It has all brought home the problems we’ve been facing since the summer.
Sunderland deserved the win and have the bragging rights and I want to take nothing away from them.
But I do want to get a couple of things off my chest about the match - because there’s been a lot of time for Sunderland fans to revel in the result and for Newcastle fans to stew on it.
“The Gordon quotes.”
If there’s one thing I don’t like about derby games, it’s the hatred and vitriol that’s brought to the surface. When both teams are in the same division, it’s the game that so much and a lot of emotional investment is put into winning and winning well. When you’re on the losing side, it doesn’t just hurt... you’re searching for reasons, answers, even excuses.
And you want to say something that shows your tribe how much it means to you.
I think that’s what Anthony Gordon was trying to do in his post-match interview.
Now, this was, I think, an “in house” interview - especially as, regrettably, no Newcastle player put themselves forward for wider media afterwards. That, in itself, was disappointing and reflected badly on the players.
But in the club interview, Gordon came out with comments on the lines of “f saying Newcastle shouldn’t have been beaten, and that their squad was better than Sunderland’s.
Now, I think two things can be true at once.
The first is that the comments were “arrogant”, “unfortunate”, “unwise”, “unsporting” or whatever negative you can come up with. I completely understand why his comments were criticised.
He was probably saying things he thought the Newcastle supporters wanted to hear.
On the other hand, there’s a footballing argument somewhere in what he said, however misjudged it was. I remain convinced, as I suspect he does, that a Newcastle United team with its best players playing to their potential should win that game, more often than not.
The problem is that football doesn’t always work like that, and it takes more than self-belief to earn a win against the opposition. His comments didn’t meet the mark.
The point I’m trying to make is that while what he was saying might have been true from a technical standpoint, the formbook and the story of the season were not on his side, and he shouldn’t have said what he did.
But Anthony Gordon wasn’t the only person linked to Newcastle who was accused of arrogance and hubris. Words have also been said about the Newcastle Supporters.
Between rival fans, words are said. Every fanbase will talk up their chances before a derby, how can I put it, certain confidence about who is going to win the game.
Newcastle and Sunderland fans are no different from the other. Both teams, no matter where the derby bragging rights are are going to do it.
“Wor Flags” put together what was, in my opinion, one of the best displays they’ve ever done. It met the occasion and the atomosphere for the first home derby in 10 years was absolutely fantastic. In it was one banner in particular, which read “Welcome to the region’s capital”.
Now, was it cocky? Yes. Was it provocative? Yes, did it make the Newcastle fans look like fools when the match turned out the way it did? Yes.
But to all of that, I say, “Come on… that is not the point”. You don’t hold back in a derby because the match might not turn out the way you want. Newcastle fans came out vociferously to support their team and dished out the verbals to Sunderland fans. Too bad. That is what football is all about.
We will do it all again next season. To attack Newcastle fans for arrogance because a football match didn’t go their way is completely meaningless. If you’re doing that to twist the knife on fans further to go along with the bragging rights, I hold my hands up, “fair enough”. But don’t try to pretend that means you should ever stop getting behind your team with the arrogance of believing that you can win.
Anyway, that’s that. I just wanted to get that off my chest. Sunderland has the bragging rights again. And boy, have they used them. I have absolutely no complaints about the actual football that was played. We deserved what we got and we got nothing. We won’t get over it until we do it all again next season.
And that’s really the heart of my piece. Football is football, and there’s always, always another chance to put our disappointments behind us on the pitch.