An amazing night, with an amazing atmosphere was capped off on full time when the toon faithful invaded the pitch to celebrate with the Newcastle United players.

I have to say though, the Plymouth fans and officials were amazing sports. Before the game they paraded a banner congratulating Newcastle (see pic below) before handing the banner over to the Newcastle fans, and then on full time our fans were allowed onto the pitch while “The Blaydon Races”, “We Are The Champions” and “Local Hero” were played out on the speaker system. Plymouth fans also came onto the pitch and congratulated the Newcastle fans which was very nice of them.

(Click Image For Full Size)

A summer of rumoured takeovers and mis-management led to a 6-1 thrashing by Leyton Orient in a friendly on July 29th, but that was the day that Newcastle United was reborn and a new era began.

Out with the overpaid mercenaries, Martins, Beye, Bassong, Xisco and Duff, and we were left with a squad of players who wanted what all the fans wanted, and that was an immediate return to the Premier League.

That result on day 1 away against Wet Brom was a sign of things to come. A never say die attitude was well and truly part of this set of players, but even at this stage of the season the fans still didn’t have a clue what was happening off the pitch. Were new owners coming in? Was Shearer coming back? Was Hughton good enough to get us back up?

Slowly but surely though, we got more and more good results and eventually Chris Hughton was given the managers job full time. We were top of the league. Could we stay there?

I’m no fan of Mike Ashley, and never will be, but the best thing he did this season was get rid of all the uncertainty by taking the club off the market and appointing Chris Hughton as full time manager. I think that was a major factor in our eventual promotion. What happens in the big league is another story. Will Ashley invest the kind of money needed to keep us up or will he try and do it all on a shoe string? Right this minute, i’m not thinking about that. I’m enjoying promotion right now, and the feel good factor around this club and city. Our next job now is to get promoted as champions.

Chris Hughton has done an amazing job this season. He has moulded together a squad of players with confidence as low as it could go at the start of the season to a team now brimming with confidence. He has brought in a number of players who have done a job at this level and contributed to this successful season. Simpson, Routledge and Williamson to name a few. Are they premier league quality? That isn’t the point. They were bought to get this club promoted, and they have done their job.

I’m looking forward to the last few games of this season, and after the pain of actually getting relegated last May, i can honestly say i have thoroughly enjoyed this season. Football is a funny game.

The above photo is a panoramic picture of St James Park, after the game with Sheffield Utd on the day promotion was secured back to the premier league. Click the image for a larger version.

It might not be the kind of opposition i thought we would be playing back in 2003 when he was born, but that really doesn’t matter. I’ve been thinking about this day since before he was born, and i wanted to be sure that his first game, would be a moment he would remember. I could have taken him to a game as a baby or a toddler, but honestly….. what would be the point? He’d never remember it. He’s 6 and a half now, and i know he will actually sit in his seat and watch the game, and he already knows 2 songs off by heart. “We are the Geordies, the Geordie boot boys”, and “Theres only one Bobby Robson”.

I still remember my first match my dad took me to in 1989 when we played West Ham, and i’m hoping that this is a moment that my son remembers in the years to come. My biggest memory from that game in 1989, was sitting on my dads shoulders in the Leazes End and almost getting him beat up when i said, “Dad, you’re a West Ham supporter aren’t you?” (He is a cockney. Luckily, i was born in the North East.)

I suppose in years to come, i will have to apologise for introducing him to Newcastle United, as i am sure he will experience years of hurt and disappointed, but i also know that during his lifetime following this club, he will have times that he will never forget and he’ll then know exactly why we follow the toon.

I really hope we get a good game. I wish i had chose the Cardiff game, but the experience of going to the game with my little boy is an experience i can’t wait for, and just being there together is good enough for me.

Now enough of the sentimental stuff…… Come on Newcastle!! We need 3 points.

UPDATE: We won 4-1. An amazing night.

Last night we lost 3-0 away to Derby, which was a huge blow but unfortunately for me, this wasn’t a huge surprise. I’ve got no confidence in Newcastle getting wins away from home and thats a major problem for a club that would like to either win this league or get promoted in 2nd position.

When it comes to home games, i think we can beat every team in this league, but the chances are, between now and the end of the season, we will drop points in at least 2 home games. Our home form isn’t a problem and it doesn’t worry me at all, but something needs to be with our away form. Draws aren’t enough. If we want to get promoted, we need to be able to beat teams like Derby and Leicester. We only got 1 point from those 2 teams.

Last season, Wolves won the Championship whilst winning 12 away games all season. This season, we have won 6 away games so far. We have 9 away games left this season. The question is, can we win 6 out of the 9 away games to match last seasons Wolves record?

We’re playing Swansea this weekend, and we really need to win this game to stop this poor away form. Its been over 2 months since we won an away game, and we’re starting to get a bit of an away day phobia, and this problem will be our down fall.

I’m no tactical genius, so i really don’t know where to start when it comes to setting the team up when we play away from home, but i truly believe it is a mental issue. We started with exactly the same team at Derby that thrashed Cardiff, but then we go and get beat. Football……. don’t you just love it.

I have listed below things that i would like to be brought into our game.

1) Just like a footballer can only play for 2 teams in one season, i would only allow clubs to have 2 managers in one season. Clubs can only sack one manager a season. There would of course be exceptions such as a manager being sacked for fighting or some other serious incident, but for pure footballing reasons, a club should only be allowed to sack one manager per season.

2) Towels on the touchline. I’ve seen it a few times now where the home team get the ball boys to give towels to their player who is taking a long through in, but when the away team has tried to get the same towel they haven’t been able to. If the ball is wet, just use your shirt.

3) Cameras on the goal line or a microchip inside the ball. This is a no brainer. If the ball has a microchip inside of it, then as soon as it crosses the line, the referee will be informed. Simple.

4) At least 6 players in a match-day squad of 18 (Starting 11 and 7 subs) should be home grown English players.

5) Any player who tries to get their opponent booked or sent off by waving an imaginary card at the referee or simply asking the referee to book them should in fact be booked themselves.

6) If any player shows dissent towards the referee, aswell as booking that player, the captain of the team will also be booked for not controlling his team.

7) Rolling subs. Substitutions can be made without the game being stopped.

8) Although i can never understand why they do it, when a player scores and then removes their shirt, they should not be booked. The same goes for when players celebrate by getting to close to their fans. They should not be booked for that.

9) Referees should be miked up. Just like Rugby, it would be very interesting to hear what refs are saying and also hearing their reasons for certain decisions. It would also cut down the dissent shown from players towards the ref.

10) People with the name, Mike Ashley, should be banned from buying football clubs.

The number in the brackets beside each player, is the year they played for England.

1) Chris Kirkland (2006)
2) Michael Ball (2001)
3) Stephen Warnock (2008)
4) Lee Bowyer (2002)
5) Neil Ruddock (1994)
6) Anthony Gardner (2004)
7) Seth Johnson (2000)
8) Joey Barton (2007)
9) Dean Ashton (2008)
10) Chris Sutton (1997)
11) Alan Thompson (2004)

Subs:

12) Francis Jeffers (2003)
13) Nigel Spink (1983)
14) Steve Guppy (1999)
15) David Nugent (2007)
16) Gavin McCann (2001)
17) David Unsworth (1995)
18) Michael Ricketts (2002)

Another interesting fact……….. 5 different players scored a Hat-trick on their one and only appearance for England. They were,

1) Albert Allen – Year: 1888 Opposition: Ireland
2) Frank Bradshaw – Year: 1908 Opposition: Austria
3) Walter Gilliat – Year: 1893 Opposition: Ireland
4) John Veitch – Year: 1894 Opposition: Wales
5) John Yates – Year: 1889 Opposition: Ireland

I know who i would choose, and i know a lot of other Newcastle fans would disagree with me, but thats the great thing about football. We all have our own opinions.

I’ll come straight out…… My choice would be Kevin Keegan, and this is why.

Remember, these are just my own personal opinions and feelings, but from 1992, Kevin Keegan gave me the most enjoyable 5 years as a Newcastle United supporter. Keegan took us to within 1 game of winning the Premier League and this is something no other manager has done since or even come close to. Sir Bobby took us to 3rd in the league, but we were still 14 points away from the Champions Man Utd.

Keegan was the guy that took Newcastle from the bottom of the 2nd Division (The Championship now), to almost Premier league champions, and this allowed our club to build one of the best stadiums in the country and be able to spend £15m on players like Alan Shearer. Had we not been taken up to the premier league, we would never been able to invest in multi million pound players. Had we not been taken to the heights of challenging for the premiership title, we wouldn’t have received the sort of financial income that allowed us to build an amazing training ground and acadamy.

I know Keegan has his down sides, but i truly believe that if he is given the right backing and support and is allowed to actually Manage his team, just like how Mike Ashley didn’t allow him, then i feel that in time, he would of taken Newcastle back upto the top end of the Premier league.

In the 8 months during Keegan’s 2nd spell on Tyneside, there were already small signs of him being able to put together a team that could play and excite the Newcastle fans like he did during his first spell.

Last week though it was proved that Keegan was force out of Newcastle United by Mike Ashley and his cronies, and i just cant help but feel like what a waste. I waited 11 years for Keegan to return, and then it was over in just a few months. If he’d been allowed to just do his job, then we wouldn’t be in the Championship today, thats for sure.

As for Alan Shearer. I know Kevin Keegan wont be coming back to Newcastle back in the real world, so right away i’d love Shearer to be our manager. I think he is the person who can build a team and also plan in the long term to build a club that can challenge in the top 10 of English football again.

Kevin Keegan is my number 1 footballing hero, dating right back to my early childhood, thats why i’m thinking with my heart when i say i’d love him back at Newcastle in a heart beat, but unfortunately i dont think that will happen, so its a win-win situation between Shearer or Keegan as the next Newcastle manager.

Below, i have selected my all time favourite starting 11. I have selected this team using players when they were at their peak during their Newcastle United Careers. I’ve also gone for the bog standard 4-4-2 formation.

Goalkeeper: Shay Given

Right Back: Habib Beye

Left Back: John Beresford

Centre Back: Philippe Albert

Centre Back: Jonathan Woodgate

Right Midfield: Nolberto Solano

Left Midfield: David Ginola

Centre Midfield: Peter Beardsley

Centre Midfield: Robert Lee

Striker: Andy Cole (Very Close To Being Les Ferdinand, but Andy Cole did score 41 goals in one season)

Striker: Alan Shearer

Manager: Kevin Keegan (Again, Bobby Robson Was Close, but for me it was Kevin Keegan that created the Newcastle United that was saved from relegation in 1992, then promoted the next season to the Premier League to finish 3rd in their first season, then to play European football and to be able to spend £15m on players like Alan Shearer. If it wasn’t for Keegan, we wouldn’t have been at a high enough standard to be able to appoint Sir Bobby Robson in 1999).

Owner/Chairman: Not Mike Ashley

The thing is though, i still love my club and i’m still a proud geordie and Newcastle fan. But this summer i really have been pushed to my limits, and first the first time i’m not 100% sure i will be renewing my season ticket for the coming season.

As it stands today, the club has no hope of promotion this coming season. The players obviously have no faith in the way the club is being run, and even the players that most fans would like to stay such as Bassong, Beye and Steven Taylor have all come out publicly and criticized the mess the club is in right now.

Just under £600 is how much my season ticket will cost me, and i’m really finding it hard to justify spending that amount of money on something that really isn’t worth it.

The thing is though, that could change. The club could be sold tomorrow and Alan Shearer appointed the same day. The new owner could be a billionaire who is willing to spend the sort of money that needs to help Newcastle back in the premier league. Then Alan Shearer should be allowed to appoint a totally new backroom staff with an assistant manager of his choice and a load of new coaches. Everything needs to be revamped.

Shearer then needs to move onto the squad and finally allow some of the overpaid mercenaries to leave and never come near this club again such as, Coloccini, Xisco, Geremi, Ameobi and Barton plus a few other. Those 5 players alone would save the club in the region of £250,000 per week in wages if they were gone. Then with the transfer fees received for those players plus in the region of £20m more, the new owner needs to allow Shearer to bring in a whole host of new players who are hungry to get Newcastle promoted. Theres just under a month to do all these transfer dealings, but that means nothing to me as they always seam to be able to do loads of transfer dealings on the transfer deadline days so why not just spread that over the next 3-4 weeks.

Once i see this happening then i will probably  pay for my season ticket but as it stands right now with nothing happening day after day, i will probably just pay game by game and then only choose the games i want to go to.

The FA want us the fans to vote for their favoured cities, so i urge everyone to use the link below and submit your choice.

Obviously i’ll be supporting the Newcastle-Gateshead bid, and i hope you do to, but its your choice.

Click Here: http://www.england2018bid.com/support/register.aspx