I Wish I Was A Geordie - The Blog of Newcastle United in the US

The Myth Of The Closed-Minded Geordie

In his train wreck of an interview last week, Joe Kinnear trotted out an old cliché about Newcastle fans and the region: “Geordies are Geordies, and they want Geordies working at the club. I suffered because of that.” Thanks to the protests of Mike Ashley’s decisions as club owner, and a transfer policy which leans heavily on non-Geordie, non-English players, it’s a sentiment often expressed in the national media as well.

But it’s also something that couldn’t be further from my own experience supporting the club. Though we’ve (sadly) still not been to Newcastle for a match, the reaction we get from Geordies in blog comments and on Twitter has been overwhelmingly supportive. Based on the experiences of other American fans who have ventured out to St. James’ Park, I expect that whenever we do make it there, we'll be greeted just as warmly. These are not hallmarks of an insular region which ignores or insults the outside world.

In fact, the response we’ve gotten from Geordies is far better than the one I get here in Boston as someone who moved to the city as an adult. Much like Newcastle, Boston has a reputation as a sports-obsessed pocket of the country, a mindset heavily promoted by the local media and fomented by journalists who have since moved on to the national stage.

But unlike Newcastle, which has not seemed to have any problems embracing outsiders in our case, Boston shuns them to a rather remarkable degree. It’s the only American city where I’d feel unsafe supporting a visting team - in fact, I’ve been threatened both outside the arena and at local bars for doing just that. In New York, I’ve sat in the stands at baseball games cheering for the road team and struck up friendly conversations with the people sitting around me on several occasions. In Boston, I’ve had people say they were going to stab me. And I actually live here!

It’s also the only American city I’ve been in where being from somewhere else in the country is greeted with a mixture of disdain and confusion. (This isn’t just a personal opinion, either. Or if it is, it’s certainly one that’s felt pretty broadly by those of us unfortunate enough to call ourselves transplants to the area.) In short, everything that people claim Newcastle is, I’ve experienced here. From where I stand, Newcastle seems a world apart.

Of course, things are obviously made easier because though we are outsiders, we support Newcastle United, after all. But unless I've seriously misread the character of our Newcastle-based readers, I can't imagine outright hostility towards fans of other clubs, or people from other parts of England, as a part of Geordie character.

In other words, the protests against Mike Ashley's ownership of the club, whether or not I personally agree with them, aren't directed at him as a "southerner." The same goes for agitation against Kinnear: it's not anti-Irish sentiment. It's an expression of frustration from fans who don't agree with the way Newcastle United is being run.

Perhaps Newcastle supporters groups should do more to articulate this, as well as discourage terms like "Cockney Mafia," but some of the blame also lies with those in the media who perpetuate the stereotype. After all, when Liverpool, Manchester United, or Blackburn fans protested their clubs' owners during the last few years, was it portrayed as a byproduct of parochialism? Have other clubs been urged to find local players in order to appease a supposedly insular fanbase? I don't think so.

It's a shame that among Kinnear's many other puzzling statements, he alluded to an inaccuracy that reflects poorly on the region. Whether born and bred on Tyneside, or from anywhere else in the world, Newcastle fans simply want a club whose success matches the passion they've put into supporting it. I hope that one day, the new director of football will figure that out.

Joe Kinnear: What Could Go Right

We've been distributing blame and outlining negative scenarios for Newcastle United since well before Joe Kinnear blundered back onto the scene. The three of us have debated among ourselves and on the blog whether the players, the transfer policy, the tactics, the conditioning or just plain complacency have been most responsible for the club's slow crash, none of us voicing much faith in any of it changing soon. To use the words of one commenter after our latest podcast, "Can one of you post something hopeful so I can come in off this ledge?"

OK.

Let's start with the rather obvious assertion that at Newcastle United decision-making rests with one person: the owner. To some extent, all the other jockeying for titles and positions and duties is rearranging deck chairs on the ship. We read this morning that Graham Carr may leave over being undermined on a transfer deal. Let's hope it's not true. However, scouts evaluate, they don't pick. It's been written that Carr's powers have extended beyond that of a typical scouting director, trending toward Director of Football. What that means is open to debate at a club with reins as tight as Newcastle's. The squad would likely look different if Carr had powers akin to what's normally called a DoF. His situation doesn't seem the same as what was faced by Derek Llambias, whose official job description was cut in half by the appointment of an official football director.

But even Llambias, in the end, was no more than a passenger-seat driver. His ability was to persuade, not to do. And with no prior resumé in football, his credibility with Mike Ashley was likely limited from the start, no matter how many drinks they shared together. It's reasonable to assume Ashley sees Joe Kinnear as knowing more about the game than Llambias and, more important, himself. Which opens a new range of possibilities for Newcastle United almost regardless of Kinnear's actual competence or lack thereof.

Newcastle brought in an impressive array of talent during the Llambias-Carr-Alan Pardew era. The talent has ultimately underachieved. I think a major reason is that the transfer program has been based too exclusively around the one aspect of football Mike Ashley understands best: value. Consequently the squad is long on youth and promise but short on experience and leadership, and the pieces don't fit in any natural strategic way. Pardew and Carr, under whatever organizational structure, don't have the stature with Ashley to change that. And Llambias didn't have the background. With someone the owner perceives as a "football man" in the co-pilot's seat, Ashley might actually listen if Kinnear says, "You know, Mike, so-and-so is 29 years old and we'll never make a killing on him money-wise. But he's not expensive for what he is, and the squad could use his presence." Which would be as likely as anything to help this team live up to the potential of its individual players.

It might not play out that way, of course. Kinnear could turn out to be as much of a train wreck for football and behind-the-scenes relations as he is for PR. But we've been struggling trying to figure out how the previous combination of skills and personalities in management could make things much better, and apparently, so has the owner. Here, at least, is an imaginable scenario for success.

Earth To Newcastle United: People Matter

I was ready to give Joe Kinnear a chance, having next to no prior knowledge of him. His first time around at Newcastle I hadn't yet chosen an English club to support. I had a vague notion of the man as unpredictable ball of bluster, tempered by thoughtful accounts like this piece saying he was underappreciated and unfairly judged as manager. He was portrayed again and again in online accounts as someone who "pulls no punches" and "tells it like it is." Of course someone like that will have detractors, right? Besides, he'd been Manager of the Year three times.

Or not.

Being a long-time practitioner and now a teacher of public relations, schooled in politics where crisis control happens every day, I thought nothing in the realm of official communication from Newcastle United could surprise me anymore. But the only thing more shocking than the fact of this appointment is the way in which it's been handled. Allowing this loosest of cannons to fire across the media landscape for two days against a backdrop of utter silence from the club is worse than incompetent. It is offensive. It is abusive to the players, the manager, the fans - everyone vital to what is supposed to be an organization inseparable from its community and cherished in the hearts of its employees and customers.

Let's suppose, in the absence of a better explanation, that it was impossible to keep Joe Kinnear quiet about this appointment until it was properly sorted behind the scenes. Could he at least have been given some direction? Could he have been asked not to pepper nearly every sentence he utters with easily debunked factual untruths? Could he have been supplied with a better message for fans than "I'm more intelligent than them"? If he's terrible with names, could he at least have been prompted to say, "I'm sorry, I'm terrible with names"? This isn't just basic public relations. This is common decency.

It's apparent Mike Ashley doesn't care what the public thinks. Fine. But this isn't direct marketing. The players aren't merchandise, and people aren't supporting them because it's cheaper. The primary reason for anyone to play for, work for or cheer for Newcastle United is its support. It's the ace card the club holds over its richer rivals. The well of fan loyalty may be inexhaustible, but poisoning it will inevitably drive away the other people it needs to succeed. If this club doesn't care about its people, it is doomed to failure. Enough. Please.

Newcastle Needed A Shakeup ... But Not Kinnear

Mention the name Joe Kinnear around a Newcastle United fan, and you're bound to see a look that's equal parts bemusement and terror.

So the reaction to Sunday's bombshell announcement — by Kinnear himself, no less — that the 66-year-old was returning to Newcastle as the club's new director of football was predictably a mixture of mass confusion and outrage. It was basically akin to finding out your eccentric — and possibly drunk — uncle, who used to be a mildly successful entrepreneur, was taking over the family business.

To be fair to Kinnear, his stint as manager at Newcastle wasn't the outright disaster that some have portrayed it as, considering the bizarre circumstances under which he took over. His record wasn't good by any means and his public relations performance was alarming, but the team at least showed some spark compared to the lifeless corpse it had resembled in the wake of Kevin Keegan's acrimonious departure. Kinnear's claim that Newcastle would have avoided relegation in 2008-09 had he not suffered a heart attack three months before the end of the season is probably credible.

Still, there is very little evidence to suggest Kinnear is a good fit for his new role. He's twice been in similar positions — at Oxford United and Luton Town in the early 2000s — without much success, and apart from his 4½ months at Newcastle in 2008-09, he hasn't worked in the game since 2004.

That owner Mike Ashley decided Newcastle needed a shakeup isn't ridiculous. Adding a fresh set of eyes to the upper management structure — and ones that will bring an on-field mindset to the negotiating table, as opposed to strictly a business mentality — could be hugely beneficial for the club. Too often Newcastle has appeared indecisive in the transfer market under Ashley's regime, with strict player valuations stopping the club from filling holes. Surely a seasoned executive could bolster Newcastle's transfer performance.

Instead, Ashley opted for Kinnear. And now all we can do is laugh, grit our teeth, swear and possibly cry as the black-and-white roller coaster whips us around another bend.

The Kinnear Hire: A Sinister Theory

We pride ourselves here on the blog for shying from speculation. But there's a difference between guessing about something without a factual basis and examining the known facts to fill a logical hole. I can piece together only one plausible conclusion about Joe Kinnear's head-scratching hire today as Newcastle United's Director of Football.

Kinnear, according to his quotes in the press, is being brought in to target new players. Talent identification is not the reason Newcastle United flirted with relegation last season. Graham Carr wasn't the one called in by his superiors for an accounting afterward. And while I'm not a football executive, I'm thinking someone who can't remember his own players' names would not be the best person to put in charge of transfer lists.

It's logical to assume Kinnear's responsibilities will be either broader or different than what he's saying (or being told to say). That's also the conclusion one can logically draw from Kinnear's new and unmistakable job title, which implies both Carr and the man who was called to account for last season - manager Alan Pardew - will be reporting to Kinnear on everything football. 

But if the club were dissatisfied with Pardew, why wasn't he fired? One potential answer doesn't require Holmes-like powers of deduction. Even if Pardew's eight-year contract contains softeners for early termination, it could well be cheaper to scare him away, in favor of Kinnear or someone new under him.

No one outside a club can know exactly what's going on inside it. And logic itself can be a illogical assumption with this club. But given what we know, the above theory is the best I can come up with. Fasten your seat belts for another breathtaking spin on the NUFC rollercoaster, Yohan Goodbye and Andrew Debuchy and whoever the rest of you are.

Should We Be Relatively Content With Newcastle Being Relatively Content?

If the powers that be at Newcastle United are outraged about last season, then they are certainly doing a convincing job of concealing their disgust.

The widely reported early-summer rumblings are that Newcastle will augment its squad with a couple of signings — a striker and a center back — with quality being emphasized over quantity. Perhaps the strategy will change should a sizeable bid come in for the likes of Yohan Cabaye, Hatem Ben Arfa or any of the club's other so-called "prized assets."

By and large, though, Newcastle is portraying the image of a club that is relatively pleased with the tools at its disposal. Manager Alan Pardew has kept his job, with the club reiterating its desire for long-term stability. A widespread overhaul of the squad doesn't appear to be on the agenda, either. Neither does a rethink of the transfer blueprint.

It all seems somewhat strange for a team coming off a 16th-place finish in the Premier League, wouldn't you say?

Granted, you can make the case that Newcastle should improve even without major alterations this summer. Fans may have tired of hearing about the club's swollen injury list and involvement in the Europa League, but it's ludicrous to deny that both played significant roles in the team's underachieving season. We can reasonably expect that better luck in the training room (although, it must be said, that strength and durability don't seem to be major priorities in Newcastle's transfer scheming) and a less hectic schedule will lead to better Premier League performances.

Still, sitting back and banking on a regression to the mean seems like an awfully passive response when you consider the lifeless manner in which Newcastle plummeted into the relegation fight last season.

I can't blame the club for eschewing a total squad revamp, given the time, energy and money that's been invested in the current recruitment strategy. The group looks fairly strong on paper — although, it must be said, you would have thought the same thing at times last season — so a couple of tweaks, both in terms of personnel and on-field tactics, might just do the trick.

However, in light of last season's woes, Newcastle can't afford to behave tepidly during a summer in which Premier League TV money figures to be spent like never before. Operating under a "quality over quantity" philosophy is fine, provided the right players are signed — as opposed to simply the available and affordable ones. 

Two summers ago, Newcastle made bold decisions and brought in impact players who helped take the team to another level. Hopefully Mike Ashley and Derek Llambias will act in a similar spirit over the next 2½ months.

On The Air: A Hard Look Back

In their first post-season podcast, the blog's not-so-medical examiners perform their autopsy on a difficult NUFC campaign. Was the problem tactics? Conditioning? Diet? Was anything not the problem? And what can be done to improve the prognosis for next year's squad? Plus the first rumors of transfer season, sung to the theme of From Russia With Love. Click below to listen, or visit our iTunes page for a personal download.

 

I Wish I Was A Geordie 2013-14