Author: Ben
Newcastle United are Going Down but Looking Up
Saturday 7th May. A leisurely, idyllic afternoon spent at the open-air thermal spa-heated pool at our campsite in southern Tuscany. The skies, which had been cloudless and brilliantly blue for days, gradually turned first a bruised purple and then a stunning near-black. And then — just as news filtered through that Newcastle could only muster a 0—0 draw at Villa while Sunderland had twice come from behind to beat …
Football Cities: Newcastle upon Tyne
Perched on a hill, visible from all directions as you head into Newcastle, towering into the air in the centre of town — St James’ Park couldn’t really be much more symbolic. Its location befits its status as an iconic focal point, right at the heart of the city metaphorically and spiritually as well as literally. A compact, soulless, identikit new-build stadium on the outskirts, encircled by acres of …
TTU Go Predicting: A Club-By-Club Premier League Preview 2015-16
Rounding off this year’s week of divisional previews we profile English football’s top-flight which - for all its predictability - will no doubt offer plenty of high-drama during the course of the season.
Arsenal
Am I alone in questioning the narrative that suggests that Petr Cech is the missing piece in the jigsaw that is Arsenal’s pursuit of a first Premier League title since 2004? That’s not to say …
Neil Warnock Week: Book Review: Made in Sheffield
Made in Sheffield: My Story by Neil Warnock with Oliver Holt
Published by Hodder and Stoughton
2008, £8.99
“Anyone who writes an autobiography”, opines former Slits guitarist Viv Albertine in the introduction to her brilliant memoir Clothes Music Boys, “is either a twat or broke.” Made in Sheffield: My Story bears out her theory. While not short of a bob or two (despite being aggrieved at having never gained …
Hot Seat Narratives: Alan Pardew’s Charmed Existence at Newcastle United
“It will be the greatest comeback since Lazarus.”
The late, legendary darts commentator Sid Waddell may have been talking about Cliff Lazarenko, but, had he been alive in 2014 to witness the annus horribilis endured by the manager of his beloved Newcastle United, he might well have been moved to say the same thing about Alan Pardew. And yet, incredibly, the comeback appears to be on.
In …