Laptop out, cup of tea to the side, fingers hovering awkwardly over a keyboard that for some time, I have known I need to stare down.
Sounds dramatic to an extent, but then it is.
Personal Newcastle United backstory is irrelevant, suffice to say I’m as wedded to our football club as most.
My multiple, daily trips to The Mag are not unique.
By definition, it is a place for opinion, a forum to vent, praise, criticise, an outlet for hope and despair in equal measure.
Emotion flows with it in the articles and in the commenting section. Dean’s relentless positivity, Monk’s pining for yesteryear, cheap access and a footballing world that has long since left the station and Wharton’s certainty of destination are to name but three different strands of thought and feeling. All have their rightful place, as they come from the heart of people who share one attribute collectively – that of care for the club.
Care is a great human attribute, but care is inextricably tied to emotional investment. In footballing terms, this means frustration and anger at defeat, poor performance or injustice and unbridled joy and elation when winning. We can all think of pertinent examples of both in recent history.
So where are we now?
Well, if The Mag is a trustworthy barometer, the Newcastle United fan base is divided.
Some are grateful for the journey hitherto, others expect unhindered linear growth.
Irrespective of wealth, people make mistakes. It is how the world is. No one is infallible, no success story exists without failures scattered prevalently on the path.
For all that we seek to interpret what went on, the cold reality is that we simply do not know. Prima facie, all indications suggest we panic bought when faced with the reality that players chose other clubs with larger salaries on offer.
However, all of this notwithstanding, whilst we nitpick over formations, Eddie Howe’s lack of perceived flexibility, the lack of critical executives last year to help with recruitment and whether or not PIF are fully bought in, we fail to focus our energies on the most salient point.
Football at its’ heart, should be a fair and transparent playing field (pardon the pun), where each club and owners get to determine their own direction of travel.
Spending to grow or being thrifty should be a choice.
We all know it, but Manchester City and Chelsea bought themselves a seat at the top table. This is the only way to do it now.
Too many Premier League teams are there to participate. Success has 20 different smells and tastes, dependent on who you are. When Bournemouth or Brighton finish in the top eight, this is deemed to be a magnificent achievement. Did I miss something along the way? When did higher mid-table become a season of folklore for the generations to savour?
Money is king and the framework is carefully designed to maintain the status quo.
So, as Tottenham and Arsenal begin to drool over our midfield players like a pack of wild dogs encircling a herd of impala, we feel rightfully aggrieved. Not because we are impoverished and need to sell, but most perversely, because our current guardians are restricted from paying the going rate to the top talent.
The wall-to-wall coverage of football by Sky and Talksport lends us to believing football has never been better, nor in ruder health.
Far from it. Football at the top level has never been more uncompetitive.
We feel it more than most. A local lad who we may well have built a team around in years to come, is now about to join another team for £116m. Systemic regulatory coercion forced us to sell.
Ditto Alexander Isak, who likely wanted access to what his contemporaries were earning. Sandro Tonali will almost certainly follow suit.
Arsenal deservedly won the league last year &and whilst Chelsea, Man United, Liverpool and Man City had no excuses, due to PSR, teams like Newcastle and Aston Villa were effectively beaten with one hand tied behind their backs.
Arsenal have spent around £1.2bn (on transfer fees, never mind wages…) in recent years in order to get to where they are now. Liverpool spent nearly £0.5bn alone last summer. This is the bar. The bar we are prevented from aspiring to reach and forever will be under these rules.
Participating in an event for the wider benefit of a select few is not sport. Sport is about dreaming and seeking to achieve great things, creating inspiring moments.
We’ve sampled that recently, somewhat against the odds, but the system is designed to prevent that reoccurring regularly.
Our club is rightly open to criticism over the last 12 months, but we ought to be careful not to forget that our margin for error is set to zero. That’s not the same for those who sit atop of the footballing tree.
PSR is a blight on competitive sport. We are simply not allowed to do the best we can.
To many, football is a rite of passage, a commitment akin to raising children. For those people, acceptance of the structure and format will never prevent engagement.
We are all different.
The game has changed and ultimately, like any product, as consumers we can make a choice. Mine is made. I will still watch and take interest, but the emotional attachment the powerbrokers seek from us?
Gone.
It is simply pointless and a waste of time and energy, whilst the Premier League masquerades as a competitive environment. It isn’t and will not, be unless we can galvanise wider support to directly address the financial inequalities that have been intentionally embedded in the game.
