Newcastle’s plight towards oblivion

The news that Newcastle were humiliatingly beaten 6-1 by Leyton Orient in a pre season friendly on Saturday further confirms how far this club has fallen. Pre season games should not be over analysed by any means but when your team is soundly beaten by such a large scoreline then it suggests that there are more deeper and inert problems than just ‘having a bad day at the office’.

For one, Newcastle are still lingering on the market looking for a buyer. Mike Ashley is still expecting to get £100m for the Tyneside club and one can’t help but see a Gordon Brown-esque similarity; Ashley appears remote and out of touch with what the Newcastle fans want and expect much in the same way our battered Prime Minister is with the electorate. Perhaps somewhere in

Ashley Protest

his deluded business mind Ashley still thinks he can raise Newcastle from the dead, but Jesus he is not and Newcastle appear to be far past the stage of mortality that Lazarus found himself at.

The more Ashley stalls in trying to find the ‘right buyer’ the more Newcastle are damaged and their hopes of making an immediate return to the Premier League dashed. Anyone in their right mind would see that Alan Shearer, the quintessential man of Newcastle, is the right person to bring the club back from despair – but as this takeover saga rumbles on the less likely it appears he will be back in the managers seat in the dugout come August.

What do Newcastle need? Ashley to cut his losses and sell up quickly. If the club were to find the right buyer, someone in it for the long-term, then hope could be on the horizon for the thousands of Geordie’s who have suffered for so long. Alan Shearer as Manager, a squad clear out and creating a British backbone to the team will go a long way to bringing Newcastle back to the zenith of English football.

Until then the misery of The Toon Army with their frustration and unquestionable loyalty looks set to continue for some time yet.