Aston Villa 0-0 Newcastle - The 'Index 6'

Well, that’s it then. A thoroughly miserable season in a thoroughly miserable last few years. A demise as likely and deserved as they come. Newcastle drew with Aston Villa, surely one of the worst teams ever to grace the Premier League, leaving them one point behind Sunderland who are in the midst of their typical end of season revival. With Sunderland’s game in hand against Everton, it looks like time is up.

Before we discuss Newcastle, let’s give a special mention to Villa. A completely miserable outfit. Incompetence at every level. This they share in common with us. But unlike us, they surely have some of the most contemptible fans in the league. Revelling for the second time in our demise that reeks of jealousy and insecurity (quite what they have to be jealous of I am not sure), they spent most of the afternoon hurling beach balls in a thoroughly pathetic protest that befits the nature of their support. If ever there’s an example of fans with “big club mentality”, it’s Villa. Constantly invoking their imagined glorious past, their claims to be a set of “great fans” are as empty as half the stadium has been in the last few years.

Villa fans, like Newcastle fans have had a lot to complain about in recent times, but where the former’s support has been questionable, the latter’s has been unwavering. Yet, they delight in the failure of others who, in their twisted minds, have the temerity to think that they are also a big, proud club. They are horrible, vindictive, petty and cowardly. They will not be missed in the Premier League, and I’d be delighted to see them fall even further.

You can’t build a team with individuals:

Trying to list all of Newcastle’s various failures – on the pitch and in the boardroom – requires a full monograph. But one enduring issue that has haunted Newcastle ever since they only signed Vurnon Anita in the summer of 2012 is their transfer policy. There is a lot to be said on this, too. The culture of buy-low, sell-high, which has produced a series of demotivated players keen to move on at the earliest sign of adversity. There is also the refusal to pay top money for players with proven Premier League experience, which has produced a team devoid of character and leadership. But the biggest issue, in my view, is Newcastle’s happy deferral to Graham Carr and his list of potential “gems” he probably compiled using data sets of Football Managers. The problem with Carr is not just his own stubbornness, problem though that might be.

It’s that when you have someone in charge of transfers who isn’t also in charge of building, training and selecting the team, you buy individuals, and not a team. For years, Alan Pardew talked about a lack of balance to Newcastle. Presumably, we all dismissed this as another excuse. But I look at Newcastle, and I think he has a point. When a managers controls the incomings and outgoings, he builds a team. He buys players based on how he wants to play. Graham Carr, by contrast, is given a set of positions, and fills that based on who (he thinks) has the most individual talent. It is not a recipe for success, and it has been proved as so.

Newcastle fans have a difficult decision on Sunday:

Presuming Newcastle are relegated on Wednesday, though that’s yet to be confirmed, how do Newcastle fans approach Sunday’s game against Spurs. Many will not want to turn up, many will want to protest. Both seem reasonable to me. But then there’s Rafa. Will a defiant plea to the Spaniard be enough to persuade him to stay? This, of course, is hard to say. Either way, the reaction will be interesting to witness.

Newcastle need a overhaul. Again.

Last year, the talk was that the Newcastle squad needed a full refresh, a restart. In many ways, it did change quite remarkably, with a significant amount of money invested. But, it continued in the same direction, and has produced the same results. This time, they need a proper overhaul, not just in investment but in the nature of said investment. Give Rafa, or whoever, the bloody control.

Papiss Cisse:

I honestly struggle to fathom how that man qualifies as a footballer. It’s incredible that he has 30+ goals in the Premier League. Rarely do I invoke the cliché “I could do better than that”, but with some of his touches, I genuinely think I can. Awful footballer.

Is there anybody blameless (apart from Rafa)?

In this most dreadful of seasons, we all line up, quite rightly, to dole out blame and accusation to the guilty. But it has me thinking, does anybody deserve to avoid the vitriol? I have a rather short list:

Mitrovic

Lascelles

Elliot

These three have tried every game. There’s nobody at board or managerial level who deserves to escape blame.

What should we do now?

After the inevitable is confirmed on Wednesday, forget about the Toon, for a while. I know it’s difficult. Go enjoy the Euro’s. We all deserve to forget how bad it has been.