After a lot of careful thought and consideration I have decided quite definitively that, when it comes to the Newcastle United takeover, I am going to sit on the fence.
On the one hand, I can totally understand those people and organisations who are up in arms about it. To all intents and purposes the club is now owned by the country of Saudi Arabia, which has a massively questionable record on human rights.
The money may have officially come from the Public Investment Fund – but everyone knows that that is essentially the Saudi government wearing only very slightly different robes.
A country where women have limited rights, homosexuality is illegal and torture is not exactly unknown should have never been given the go-ahead to buy an English football club. It is nothing more than blatant ‘sportswashing’.
Up to this point, as you can see, I am on the side of those who have been kicking up a stink over Geordie takeover.
On the other hand though, while I agree this deal shouldn’t have happened in a perfect world, aren’t we all kidding ourselves if we are still pretending football is perfect? Certainly, from an ethical perspective it hasn’t been anything close to perfect for a long time.
The masses are picking on this Newcastle deal when the truth is football made it plain and obvious a while back that it cares little about where the money in the game comes from.
Manchester City (UAE) and PSG (Qatar) are essentially owned by states with questionable human rights records, while FIFA saw fit to award the last World Cup to Russia (not exactly squeaky clean) and the next one to Qatar.
The football authorities have made it patently clear that they aren’t bothered who gets deeply involved in the beautiful game, provided their pockets are deep enough.
The football authorities have made it clear they aren’t bothered who gets involved in the beautiful game, provided their pockets are deep enough
Probably the only reason North Korea isn’t the proud owner of a major European football team is because if Kim Jong-un sold all the country’s disposable assets, he would have just about enough for a couple of season tickets to Accrington Stanley.
Otherwise, Kim would likely be welcomed with open arms and a crib sheet on how to pass a “fit and proper owner” test which does very little of what it says on the tin.
Now before someone points out that I should get off my high horse because Sheffield United are now owned by a member of the Saudi royal family, allow me to say I am well aware of that fact and entirely disturbed by it. (Although, in typical Sheffield United style we got the only member of the Saudi royal family on benefits…)
It’s wrong that people and countries with questionable records, and maybe even questionable intentions, are allowed anywhere near our sport. But it has been happening for a while now, and the powers that run the game across the entire continent have done little to keep them away.
So while I agree this deal isn’t in the best interests of football, it’s not Newcastle’s fault that the Premier League, Football Association, Football League, UEFA and FIFA lack the courage to take a stand.
Meanwhile, on a more personal level, Newcastle fans need to quickly adjust themselves to a new reality that won’t all be fun and games.
Being one of the big boys will be thrilling for a set of fans long starved of tangible success. They will doubtlessly love seeing the world’s top players pulling on those famous black and white stripes. And sure, it will be a relief to finally watch the St James trophy cabinet filling up a little.
But along with that success will come a whole new level of dislike, jealousy and possibly even hatred.
The Toon Army is used to being viewed as a loyal, down-to-earth group who have remained dedicated to their club through thin and thin and downs and downs.
As soon as the success starts flowing they will be seen as glory hunters, fans who are only following their club because it has the resources to buy success.
That won’t, of course, be true. I know plenty of Newcastle fans and they are, without a doubt, as dedicated as they come.
But that’s not how the rest of the world will see them now – a jealous rest of the world that will resent their riches.
I suspect that the change in public perception will be a bitter pill for this particular bunch of diehard fans to swallow.
Is it a price worth paying? I guess that’s up to Newcastle fans to decide.
England stumble along under dithering Gareth
You’ve got to admire Gareth Southgate’s honesty.
Speaking before the lacklustre midweek draw with Hungary, the England manager told reporters: “I commit a crime every time I pick a team.”
That, Gareth, is exactly what I and many followers of the Three Lions have been thinking for a while now.
OK, fair enough, Southgate was actually trying to make the point that the squad is so strong he has problems deciding which players not to play.
But I prefer to see his words as subliminal admission that he isn’t very good at his job; that he realises he isn’t up to the task of turning England’s most talented group of players in a generation or two into a tournament-winning team.
This is the man who bowed to public pressure to play all his best attacking players but still managed to get the tactics and substitutions woefully wrong.
This is the man who, last Tuesday, needing to break down a resolute and defensive Hungary team, took off Jack Grealish, arguably England’s most creative player and the only one who was making things happen; and replaced him with someone with bags of speed but nowhere to run.
This is the man who, last Tuesday, kept Harry Kane on the pitch for 76 minutes despite the fact that the Tottenham Hotspur striker, no doubt distracted by his stupid decision not to leave Spurs this summer, is completely and utterly devoid of any sort of form.
My problem isn’t really with the Hungary match because – with games to come against Andorra and San Marino – England’s qualification for the World Cup is all but assured. My problem is that, under nice-but-not-naughty Gareth, England are just ambling along and doing just about doing enough to look good without ever adding up to the sum of their parts.
I’ve said it before but I have no trouble saying it again: any success this England team has now or in the future is despite Gareth, not because of him.
Twitter: @maltablade