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Posted by: villafan306
on Tuesday, May 19, 2009 - 09:24 PM
This Sunday we find ourselves with a glorious chance to rid the Premier League of Newcastle. But why is this such a big deal?
The whole country will have its eyes firmly fixed on Villa Park on Sunday. Aston Villa vs. Newcastle United. A match that in the past has had various implications - but probably none as big as this week. If they are beaten, Newcastle United will be relegated.
From most of the posts on this board over the last few days it is clear that we want to see Newcastle go down. This is more than just a case of winning a football match - heck it seems that most of us don't even care that the win may take us into 5th place. However, the prospect of sending Newcastle down to the Championship leaves a warm fuzzy feeling inside us.
I include myself along with the majority and here is my reasoning.
Newcastle United are NOT a big club. To be a big club you have to win things. Now I haven't done my research here but isn't it around 55 years since they last won anything at the top level? They have a very large catchment area for fans - however that does not make them the best/most passionate fans in the country. Now I'm not for one minute saying that Villa have the best fans in the country but I will be interested to see the attendance figures for Newcastle vs. Peterborough should they fail to save themselves on Sunday.
And I surely can’t be the only one who is annoyed and puzzled by the media coverage they get. Granted though, they bring that on themselves. That club is a circus. They have had four managers this season - none of which have managed to get results out of a team put together by their "Messiah" Kevin Keegan. Or was the team put together by Dennis Wise. It's just so hard to keep track of it all. Still, while Joe Kinnear seemed to steady the ship he has been affected by health problems (which of course no-one likes to see - get well soon Joe!) and after a few months the reigns were eventually handed to the might Alan Shearer. It took owner Mike Ashley (who tried to sell the club early in the season before finding out that no-one would meet his asking price) too long to appoint Shearer who has come to a team in a run of terrible form for the last few games to try and save them.
The Times wrote a fantastic article regarding their treatment of James Milner which can be found here . Oh how I'd love for James to score the winner on Sunday, but in truth I don't care who scores as long as we win!
It's also clear that relegation will have catastrophic implications for the Geordies. They will be the new Leeds United - except with the current financial climate this could be on a much bigger scale. Ashley's reluctance to pump more money in the club coupled with their massive debts could take them to the brink of administration. Add onto that the fact that most of their starting 11 will seek pastures new and you come to the realisation that we would see a very different Newcastle team next year.
And take a moment if you will to remember that a win on Sunday could give us fifth place, ending the season on a positive note. This of course means we will enter the prestigious (ahem) Europa League one round later which would be nice. It will also give the fans and players something positive to take into the summer break.
But can we win? We have been shocking of late - especially in defence. So can we withstand a barrage of Newcastle attacks and can we break through a defence scrapping for their lives. But here is another fact. One which has been over looked by most people looking at the big match. Newcastle aren't very good. The table doesn't lie. We are in 6th place and they are in 18th. The players we will be putting out on the pitch will be better than theirs.
So the real question should surely be can Newcastle win? Can they break through a midfield which consists of an England international and the Bulgaria captain? Will they be able to contain the PFA Young Player of the Season and a winger that was their best player at the start of this season? How will their frail defence cope against the pace and power of our attack? And with talk of us bottling this game have we over estimated our opposition? A team whose loses both their first choice Centre Back and first choice Central Midfielder to suspension? A team who have won only twice away from home this season and a team who have everything to lose? Let's face it - we have nothing to lose but they do. And that pressure will be the difference maker in my opinion. I think (and hope) the inexperience of their manager and their inability to win games will be their downfall.
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