Eddie Howe's side cannot afford to feel sorry for themselves ahead of the huge Tyne-Wear derby
Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe
Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe(Image: James Marsh/Shutterstock)
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Premier League derbies have been like driving down the A1 without a petrol station in sight. A long and barren run to nowhere.
Newcastle United need to establish Tyne-Wear dominance once again. The happy memories have faded, the natives are decidedly twitchy, bragging rights belong exclusively to those 12 miles down the road.
Unbelievably the Magpies have failed to win a Tyne-Wear top flight derby in their last TEN attempts _ seven defeats only partially relieved by three draws. Dearly me, say it quickly. It's too painful.
The key stats tell us that Newcastle's last league victory was an incredible 15 years ago in August of 2011 on enemy soil by 1-0 (Ryan Taylor over the wall).
I know there was a long break in hostilities due to Sunderland's demotion into the Championship and beyond into the wilderness of League One punctuated only by a fleeting FA Cup tie of unequal proportions a couple of years back duly won by the Mags but when the return to top table combat did come this season it sadly saw normal service resumed.
Our record signing Nick Woltemade headed the winner . . . only into his own net. It was like rubbing a bucket load of salt into an open wound!
So is Sunday's high noon shoot-out about revenge? Restoring pride? Dignity? Relief? Yes, all of those things and more. Much more after midweek.
The class gap has all but gone. Sunderland are not only a PL club once again but in their first season back they flew out of the traps to the astonishment of neutrals and while results are flattening out they still currently stand just two points behind their deadly rivals in the rankings.
Who would have anticipated such parity last season when United sensationally won the Carabao Cup at Wembley against the PL champions elect and qualified for the Champions League while the Mackems needed the play-offs to scrape through the back door into the top flight?
That CL fantasy, the run on the gravy train with burning pride and prestige as companions, shudderingly ended in Barcelona and now it is back to bread and butter. Not that a derby can be accurately dismissed as a staple diet these days.
Sunderland will take genuine hope and delight from United's dreadful scoreline in Barcelona while home fans will be fearful about its effect on morale. Yes, by the end it was total capitulation, a humiliating stain on the history of a great club. A seven-goal rout cannot be wrapped up in any different clothing. It was the most embarrassing exit of all the Premier League clubs on what was a last 16 round of reality.
It must be said, long before the final whistle United had raised the white flag before the 3,000 disbelieving Geordies in the crow's nest at the Nou Camp who had travelled with so much hope.
Yet unbelievably for one and a half games of the two legged tie United had been relentless attackers who had shaken the Spaniards to their expensive foundations.
Having been the better team at SJP they bravely took the challenge to Barca for the first 45 minutes twice equalising but if you fight fire with fire you always run the risk of getting burned and, boy, were we. As good as the Mags were going forward they were twice as bad defensively throughout the hour and a half in Gaudi's beautiful city offering up presents galore and against such an array of attacking talent that is placing your neck upon the chopping board and inviting the blade.
Perhaps United died at the hands of their own bravery. Can they play with relentless intensity for the full 90 minutes? Was going man for man against such elite opposition asking to be ripped asunder? Certainly United's two central defenders were corkscrewed into the ground. Others suffered just as badly.
So what now? Well but the Mackems are far from being Barca. A season on soccer's trampoline of highs and lows must not be allowed to peter out with another derby defeat. Or even a draw.
United need a high. A shell shocked Eddie Howe desperately does. So do Dan Burn and Joelinton, Anthony Gordon, Lewis Hall, and Harvey Barnes. Woltemade needs to rinse his mouth of a bitter taste if he should get anywhere near the action.
The Mags were pathetic at the Stadium of Light and that means they owe us redemption come Sunday. Surrender is a dirty word which should not be in the derby dictionary....or the CL version either for that matter. We've had enough of Paolo Di Canio sliding down the SJP track on the knees of his expensive Italian suit and Gus Poyet saluting the heavens.
Howe about our manager giving it the victory salute? The timing of the derby could actually turn out to be a blessing rather than a disaster after a mauling. United need a prestigious game to spark them to a victory which would send everyone into a three week break not feeling washed up but with something to cling onto that a late run could bring upper table respectability and even Europe in some minor shape.
A run-of-the-mill dowdy fixture would have been a real downer, an anti-climax, which is why I'm glad we face a derby and why I'm taking United to rise to this significant occasion and win at long last. Aye, from the ashes of our dreams I'm looking to gain some self respect.
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