No Europe, No Cups, Derby Losses...Why Does NUFC Play?

Those of you who have followed our blog and podcast for a while know that I'm generally the most optimistic of the regular contributors. In January, I defended the club's generally break-even transfer strategy (note that breaking even is definitely not what happened when Yohan Cabaye was sold and not replaced). But after mulling over Saturday's third straight derby loss, I had to come to a disturbing conclusion: what, exactly, is Newcastle United playing for?

In the past, I tended to downplay the importance of the derby. Partly, that's because I'm not from Newcastle, and have never met anyone from Sunderland, and so it would feel fake going totally gung-ho about a rivalry that I don't personally live in the way local fans do. But my views on the derby are also colored by my participation in one of the most storied rivalries in American sports, Duke-Carolina. Obviously, hating your rival is important ("Carolina, go to hell" is in the fight song, at least unofficially), but both schools are often competing for the national championship in college basketball every season. So there is almost always plenty to play for outside of two games against each other in February and March.

In my head, until now, that's what I always told myself about Sunderland. Sure, losing the derby sucks, but there are more important things to think about. But in mulling over this season at least, I'm struggling to think of what that would be. The board has openly stated that it doesn't care about winning either the FA Cup or the League Cup, despite both being completely winnable competitions for a club like Newcastle. It clearly doesn't feel the Europa League is worth qualifying for through finishing in the top six, or it wouldn't have let Cabaye leave town without a guaranteed replacement. Given that situation, what else is there to care about but the derby, really?

This is far from the lowest point in my Newcastle fandom - after all, I did live through relegation in 2009 - but it is a time where I'm seriously questioning the direction of the club in a way I haven't since returning to the Premier League. As demonstrated by its league position, as well as some of the quality wins this season, this club should have everything it needs to compete for Europe. It's got a decent nucleus of players (and cash on hand to replace Cabaye). It's got the most committed fans in England. It's even got name recognition in the States because of Newcastle Brown Ale. But it doesn't seem to have any sort of plan to capitalize on those attributes.

This isn't necessarily about spending money. As mentioned, I've got no problem with a break-even transfer policy, if that's what's necessary to undo years of financial mismanagement. Spurs does perfectly fine operating under this type of arrangement. But given the months that the club had to plan Cabaye's exit, not replacing him is indefensible. It leads to serious questions about what, if anything, Mike Ashley's intentions are as owner. And it's worth putting pressure on him, or whoever he chooses to replace Joe Kinnear, to give the fans some answers on that front.

This doesn't have to be a club that lives and dies by the derby. With everything available to Newcastle United, it should be easy to shrug off a derby loss by saying that we've got bigger aspirations than just beating Sunderland. But given the current state of affairs, it's really hard to guess what those aspirations might be.

Comments

[Headless]

Matt, without wanting to get too philosophical about it, the reason the current situation feels wrong is that it's an inversion of what sport is essentially about. Winning or at least doing the best you can. Our great club has fallen into the hands of a man who has identified that a football club can be a money making machine if you ruthlessly pursue the aim of staying in the Premier League at minimum cost. This means that when you get to January in 8th position, you are (to make up a word) "overplayered". That is to say, you can convert excess playing ability into cash without a risk of relegation.

So here we are, supporting a club that is actively planning (not just accepting) to lose a bunch of games between now and May that could have been won if the owner had been content with, say, a £60M profit instead of £80M. And that's why it's so disturbing.

[Shawn]

As a fellow US Toon supporter here in Florida, I couldn't have said it better myself. I feel the pain of every loss just about equally, including the derby. The losses that get to me the most are the ones against teams that we should be beating, and right now that includes Sunderland. Mike Ashley is the underlying issue of EVERY problem at St. James' Park. And the problem is, that beyond a monetary investment, he just doesn't care about Newcastle United. His ambition is to do just enough to keep them in the Premier League so he can keep capitalizing on the advertising Sports Direct receives. I love this club, but often times its just depressing to put on the Black and White. I don't want some uber rich sheik to come in and buy us a championship (i.e. Man Citeh), I just want someone who believes in this club the way we the supporters do. Especially our compatriots that are actually from Newcastle.

[@Lavanglish]

In feedly the screencap was of Anna Kendrick. I preferred that one

[MNTOONARMY9]

In my opinion we were one player away from being a strong top-6 side. Looking at the victories we had, the roster we had at the beginning of the season was a strong side. We did have deficiencies (Santon's defense, Debuchy's decision making, Colo's health, Ben Arfa's enduring mystery) but in total we were capable.

Then we sold Cabaye...and now we're going to lose Remy. We just went from being one player (a wing/striker type?) away to needing that, another new striker and at least one creative midfielder and maybe two.

Here it is: If we spend $40-50M this summer, and hold onto what we have now, we can still assault the top four next season. We may have to overspend on a few players, but surely the SJP braintrust must see that with a modest investment in 4-5 new players, we can put ourselves into the top 4. Legend has it that there is a lot of money in the CL.

Am I crazy? I support Newcastle United...by choice...so...perhaps that is a rhetorical question.

[Balon d'middle]

....and the mid-table trophy is slipping from our grasp!