Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse for Newcastle United, it just did. In the battle of the two bottom teams of the Premier League, Newcastle lost 2-1 at home tonight to fellow underachievers Tottenham Hotspur in the Carling Cup in front of their lowest attendance in years.
The performance by Newcastle was utterly pathetic, lacking any passion, character, pace and commitment. Newcastle looks like a team with nothing to play for and without the leadership of a permanent manager, which is exactly the situation they find themselves in.
At St James’s Park tonight, there were massive pockets of empty seats visible as United fans decided to stay at home instead of supporting their club. In 1992, 14,000 saw a first-round League Cup game against Mansfield. Tonight the attendance was 19,743. This at a club where their average attendance in the Premier League last season was 51,122. The lowest attendance since St. James’s Park was redeveloped, before tonight, was 33,000.
The attendance was so small that oftentimes you could hear the players shouting instructions to each other from the field.
Tottenham, for most of the first half, looked equally as apathetic until Roman Pavlyuchenko scored his first goal for Spurs with a header, and Jamie O’Hara soon followed up with a second for Tottenham. Michael Owen picked up his fourth goal of the season near the end of the match.
If it wasn’t for Owen, Newcastle would be in even deeper trouble in 2008.
Newcastle To Announce New Manager
Things will seemingly get even worse for the club who, according to newspaper reports, seem likely to appoint Terry Venables as Newcastle manager either on a permanent or temporary basis.
Venables hasn’t managed in more than four years since he was sacked by Leeds United in March, 2003. At Leeds, his managerial skills were pathetic. The last person Newcastle needs now is another Londoner trying to sort the club out. Newcastle fans and players are sick of Dennis Wise and Mike Ashley, and Terry Venables will be no different.
The only thing Venables will be able to do is to schmooze the British media.
Newcastle, if they do decide to hire Venables, will drive the value of the club down even more than now.
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