Newcastle’s 3-0 win against Cardiff at the weekend has lifted Rafael Benitez’s side out of the relegation zone for the moment. However, rolling over a team with a defence that is practically non-existent and that seems already resigned to its fate of a return straight back down to Championship football next season is no cause for celebration.
In fact, it is the comments heard among fans in London the previous week, following the 2-1 loss to Chelsea, that will really be resonating. Within a minute of the fixture getting underway, the “Ashley out” chants began, and they only got louder as the game stretched towards its inevitable conclusion. Speaking after the game, one fan even went so far as to say he would accept relegation if it meant a new owner.
Odds on for survival
Despite the team’s recent dalliance in the bottom three, the Magpies should be reasonably safe unless they lurch to even greater disaster than they have experienced to date. Following the Cardiff win, bookmakers have shortened the odds on them staying up to 1/5 on. If you take a look at odds comparison sites akin of BettingLounge’s football tips, it is plain to see that little short of a miracle will keep Huddersfield in the top flight, while Fulham are odds on to join Cardiff in yo-yoing straight back down at the end of the season.
This, however, is beside the point for the once proud toon army, and the fact that on the one hand we are mentioning Newcastle and relegation in the same sentence and that in the other, fans are talking about it as a potentially good thing to get their team on track, both speak volumes.
Spin and management speak
Newcastle’s owner Mike Ashley continues to assure the fans that the club remains up for sale and change is coming. The trouble is, they’ve heard it all before and treat every assurance with scepticism. Last week, Rio Ferdinand joined the fray, coming out in staunch defence of Ashley, saying Newcastle fans are “lucky to have him.”
This has led to a Twitter backlash, with one fan going so far as to describe Ferdinand as “totally and utterly thick.” There is no denying that his comments had the ring of a pre-prepared statement, and it is one that could come back to haunt the former Manchester United legend, as his reputation continues to plummet among the passionate north eastern fans.
Benitez continues to fight
One man who still has the fans behind him is Rafael Benitez. His frustration was clear to see over the Christmas period, and in a club in which battle lines have been drawn, he and the fans are on one side, with Ashley and the rest of the boardroom on the other.
Benitez is no quitter, but he needs to be given the tools to do his job. As things stand, Newcastle is falling further behind the rest of the Premier League with every passing week, and something is going to have to give sooner or later.