The sale of the club’s star striker for a relative pittance, a home defeat in a vital Premier League fixture, and sent tumbling out of the F.A. Cup live on national terrestrial television against opposition a division below.
That is a summary of the four days Newcastle United endured between Wednesday 2nd and Saturday 5th January. This isn’t the start to 2013 the Toon Army will have envisaged. It certainly wouldn’t have seemed possible during a heady season last time out, which ended with a fifth place finish for Alan Pardew’s side. For much of that campaign, qualification for the Champions League appeared to be a real possibility.
The denizens of St James’ Park can scarcely have anticipated August’s opening day with as much excitement since Kevin Keegan’s cavalier unit were fighting at the top of the league with Manchester United in the mid-1990s. Ravaged by injuries however, and hampered by their involvement in the labyrinth early stages of the Europa League, the Magpies suffered a slow start to the season, from which they have been unable to recover.
It was hoped that recent home wins against Wigan Athletic and QPR would ignite some momentum, but in actuality those two victories have been the only three point returns in Newcastle’s past twelve matches. Preceding their horror start to January, the Geordies lost consecutive away games at Manchester United and Arsenal, conceding eleven times in the process. If there could be any encouragement taken from those outings it came in the form of the six goals scored over 180 minutes.
Even that positive glimmer must now be tempered, as Demba Ba, who twice found the target at the Emirates and has supplied thirteen of Newcastle’s twenty-seven league strikes to date this season – in addition to the sixteen he contributed in 2011/2012 – is already etching himself in as a Chelsea favourite. During an era in which Daniel Sturridge can cost Liverpool £12m, and Jordan Rhodes, a player with no top-flight experience, commands a transfer fee of £8m, the Geordies loss of a special striking talent for such a comparatively low sum is a cruel blow.
There can be no criticism placed at the door of the club for agreeing to the existence of Ba’s get-out clause. Without its insertion into the Senegalese’s contract, St James’ Park would not have been graced by his presence for 18 months. It is imperative now that Magpies’ owner Mike Ashley, a man notorious for being reluctant to sanction hefty transfer spending, backs Pardew to replace Ba with the requisite quality.
With Hatem Ben Arfa and Yohan Cabaye due to return imminently some much craved guile will be restored to the Newcastle side, but for the two Frenchmen’s influence to bring tangible reward they need an intelligent and prolific frontman to operate ahead of them. Of course, more will be expected of Papiss Demba Cisse who made such a thrilling impact upon his January arrival, scoring 13 times in 14 Premier League appearances. The ex-Freiburg player has been far quieter during his team’s struggles, strangely failing to gel with his countryman Ba, and has struck on just four occasions this campaign.
Newcastle’s performances immediately post-Ba must be causing severe angst on Tyneside. Despite a flying start against Everton, the Magpies were eventually comfortably beaten. Most telling was the six minutes of additional time granted by referee Martin Atkinson in which the Magpies had a chance to pursue an equaliser. Typically, one would expect the team, roared on by their passionate home support, to mount a sustained assault on their opponents’ goal. In fact, the Merseysiders’ were almost contemptuous in the swaggering manner with which they retained possession and saw out the win.
Even more alarming was Saturday’s display at Brighton. Any side can fall victim to a cup upset, but Newcastle’s defeat in Sussex was far more than that. Pardew’s team were comprehensively out-played, out-witted, and unforgivably, out-fought. The starting eleven showed five changes from that which took to the field against Everton, but still contained enough quality to compete with an outfit sitting 9th in the Championship.