Without the FA Cup, those associated with Newcastle United would be forgiven for wanting the season to end tomorrow.
It’s a shame, at least for the neutrals, that Amazon’s cameras didn’t capture this campaign – calves, hamstrings, warts and all.
It seems Eddie Howe is forced to appear at his weekly press conference at least once a month wearing both a crash helmet and his club tracksuit.
Firstly, there was the Sandro Tonali affair, which saw his £52 million contract banned for ten months due to illegal gambling. He then had his club captain, Jamaal Lascelles, caught in a street fight at 4am, with a gang threatening to shoot him.
In January its CEO, Darren Eales, advertised that the club needed to sell players, so the dressing room became uneasy with approaches from Kieran Trippier, Callum Wilson and Miguel Almiron. None went and, to Howe’s frustration, no new signings arrived.
Bournemouth targeted Newcastle left-back Dan Burn, who should now be rested
Eddie Howe has been forced to wear a crash helmet during interviews as his problems piled up
Your browser does not support iframes.
On Friday the Dan Ashworth saga was over and the likely defection of Newcastle’s sporting director to Manchester United. Howe’s performance in answering those questions was far better than his team would manage 24 hours later. Calm, smart and cutting, he said the club would get on just fine without Ashworth and that if he did go, it would be soon.
Then there are injuries, always injuries. The insult is the strange nature of different people: broken backs, dislocated shoulders and torn pecs. Howe’s players have tagged each other in and out of the treatment room, and rarely has the absentee list dipped below double figures.
Underlying all this is the resistance of their rivals, who fear the rise of a Saudi-backed super club. Howe declared last month: “We have no friends.” It hardly helps when one of those you thought was a friend, Ashworth, then wants to join the enemy.
Turbulence off the field, and turbulence on it. Saturday was an X-rated replay of the defensive shortcomings that, until addressed, will make progress impossible. It’s now one step forward, one sideways and one back. In reality, they are going around in circles, stuck in a leaky spin and conceding goals like never before. The number of 41 shipped this season is already eight more than last season.
Bournemouth should have won here. They targeted left back Dan Burn and took advantage when Antoine Semenyo scored the goal, putting them 2–1 ahead in the second half. Burn was substituted immediately and the time has come for him to be rested, for the sake of himself and the team.
Bournemouth should have won at St James’ Park after Antoine Semenyo put them ahead
A mistake by goalkeeper Martin Dubravka gave Dominic Solanke the first goal, and the loss of Nick Pope has hit Newcastle hardest. Twenty-six of the goals conceded in the twelve games came without the injured goalkeeper.
It said a lot that Newcastle’s two best players would not actually see action this season: Lewis Miley, 17, and Matt Ritchie, 34. The older man rescued a point in stoppage time with his first goal in almost four years.
Supporters started the match chanting Howe’s name and ended the afternoon with the same chorus. They fully support the head coach, but many may be looking forward to the day when this season is also behind them and the team they recognize can emerge again.
However, there is the FA Cup and a winnable trip to Blackburn for a place in the last eight. While that is there, the hope remains that a season to forget can still be a season to remember.
