Crystal Palace v Newcastle United, 12/Apr/26, KO: 2pm, Selhurst Park, Premier League. Three Sundays ago, as I stood outside the Trent with the first pint of the day mixing incongruously with the taste of toothpaste in my mouth, I was in uncharacteristically optimistic spirits. There was a buzz about the town. Everything was good in the world. As the subsequent Laphroaig warmed my throat - thanks, Sam - I'd never been more certain in my life that we would win a game of football.As my brother was quick to point out after the event, my sage pre-match observations didn't age terribly well. “I've got absolutely no concerns at all about today”, I'd said. Followed shortly by the confident observation that “Sunderland don't score goals”. You can imagine the post-match WhatsApp reckoning, I'm sure.It seems really bloody stupid now, right? But there were rational reasons. At least I thought there were. But above all, I had come to believe in some great divine footballing karma that couldn't let it happen twice. We’d already faced our worst nightmares. We'd been so poor in the corresponding game. We'd lost to a bullet header from our own striker, for heaven's sake. I just thought it was all destined to be made good. Idiot.Of course, I wrote something similarly optimistic in the last Special to grace these pages, although I also tried to argue that it wasn't a match to be given undue importance. Again, not something I stood by on the final whistle. But one thing I do maintain is the following observation I made back then about a possible defeat:“It shouldn't lead to catastrophic and hysterical overreactions because of the identity of our opponents, although there would be plenty of justification for assessing it critically as part of the wider pattern of results this season.”And I've been good to my word. I've self-consciously not written a line about our last match over the last three weeks, preferring instead to flee to less topical matters. I mean you can't get less topical than a match from 1892, can you? But now we really do need to go back to that sober critical assessment I wished I wouldn't have to make. If it had been a one-off, then we really could have dismissed it and moved on, but as we all know, it very much was part of a much wider pattern. In fact we've lost 13 times in the league already this season, only two fewer than Spurs if you want a marker for comparison. Before the derby, we were still looking upwards, convincing ourselves that a charge at the fifth Champions League place was realistic. Now, as Paul points out in his excellent preview, defeat at Selhurst Park would see us overtaken by a club in disarray whose manager basically resigned months ago. Forget the points differential to the European places, we are deservedly in 13th place, the position that the Ashley regime made its own. We’re often accused here of being unduly negative, but after hundreds of millions of pounds of investment, that must mean something has gone wrong.Yes, there is plenty of mitigation. Given our schedule, players have every right to be exhausted mentally and physically and, yes, we've never got over an utterly botched summer when the club was rudderless and held to ransom by its best player. But individuals throughout the club are also responsible.Individuals actively decided to spend a lot on players who have been objectively poor. Individual players have shown themselves to have a serious mentality and motivation issues; other individual players have shown themselves to be lacking the necessary quality. In both cases, this is despite their generous financial rewards. Meanwhile, for all his many qualities, our manager has been unable to arrest the slump, unable to prevent points repeatedly being lost from winning positions, unable to adjust to tactical changes made by the opposition.Will things be different in the next seven games? Will we go on a charge and seize a chance at redemption? I wouldn't put it past us. But it wouldn't be in the best interests of the club if a successful sprint finish to the end of the season papered over the cracks and convinced everyone that everything was ok, that all we need is more of the same, that things will come good by themselves. We have players whose agents are agitating for moves and who may well be coveted by others. We have players who are not good enough. We have players who are nearing the end of their contracts. We have players who are vastly overpaid and players who are vastly underpaid. We have executives who face pivotal decisions and who need to prove their worth. As yet, their body of work is unproven. They will show their quality one way or another this summer.And we have a manager who stands at a fork in the road. Down one path there is renewal and revival here with us. Down another there is his own decision that he needs a new challenge. Down a third there is a change that's taken out of his hands.What happens in the next seven games shouldn't change anything, one way or another. What the derby defeat brought home is that the pattern of our season is set. No more illusions. Those decisions need to be faced, honestly and realistically, by all those involved, regardless whether we win seven in a row or lose seven in a row.In a way, that makes this run of matches a free hit, at least for us as fans. It's a chance to blow away the clouds, a chance to remember why we go to the match - to watch us win, to celebrate goals, to bloody well enjoy ourselves, instead of agonising over tactics and transfers, over finances and the future.Lucky seven? Magnificent seven? All at sixes and sevens? Seven deadly sins? Gwyneth Paltrow’s head in a box delivered to Brad Pitt in the centre circle? Whatever this seven might be, let's just enjoy it for what it is. The reckoning will come later.Matthew Philpotts Match Preview True Faith - Independent NUFC FanzineTF Preview - Palace (a), 12 April 2026Sunday 12th April – Live and on your Sky Sports screens with a 2pm kick off…Read morea day ago · 6 likes · True FaithFlashback True Faith - Independent NUFC FanzineFlashback Friday - Palace 5-1 United, November 2015PREMIER LEAGUE, 28 NOVEMBER 2015…Read more2 days ago · 2 likes · True FaithMatch Report True Faith - Independent NUFC FanzineTF Match Report - Newcastle United 1-2 Mackems Cowardly, unimaginative, disjointed, shoddy, lackadaisical, embarrassing. Whichever way you look at it, this was a significant low point for Newcastle United and for Eddie Howe, as the home side turned in a performance for the first St James’ derby in a decade that can ultimately only be described as completely and utterly unacceptable…Read more20 days ago · 38 likes · 29 comments · True FaithTF You Tube THRU BLACK & WHITE EYES True Faith - Independent NUFC FanzineTHRU BLACK & WHITE EYES - Five Year Plan? - 7/Apr/26 Another week without Newcastle United kicking a ball didn’t mean the club wasn’t in the news as we saw the release of the latest accounts. Oh and the small matter of Hopkinson’s comments upon the future of Eddie Howe and the plan for the summer. And a new sponsorship deal … and Kieran Trippier announcing he was for the off at the end of the season…Read more5 days ago · 43 likes · 31 comments · Michael MartinChelsea Daggers! How are these fuckers managing to get away with it? This is a decent piece from Political Football via Substack diving into the background of the world of big football inhabits. Political footballCrime And Punishment In Football: Chelsea Show You Can Have Your Cake And Eat ItSEVEN YEARS AGO, Juventus played Atalanta in their final home game of the Serie A season. It was a celebratory day. Juve had sealed their 35th title almost a month earlier…Read more23 days ago · 3 likes · Tony EvansReading List Exporting football I came across this before the Barcelona trip and as someone with a bit of an interest in the history and roots of football, I thought it looked up my autostrada. I’ll get this on my list. Click on the image if you want to buy the book TF Review True Faith - Independent NUFC FanzineReview - THE DEFIANT - A History of Football Against Fascism - Chris Lee I know there are people who might have stumbled across this and are of the view football and politics don’t mix. I don’t particularly dismiss that thought but as I write this I’ve just watched Donald Trump having to be just about surgically removed from Chelsea’s trophy podium as they lift the Club World Cup in the USA, a competition largely bankrolled …Read more18 days ago · 7 likes · True FaithThere’s an interview with the author Chris Lee here - spoiler alert I’ve not listened to it at the time of typing this out so I’m not recommending it in case its a bit shite and you kick off …Football stickers of Tyneside and beyond Castle Keep, Newcastle upon Tyne. Money go round Football finance expert Kieran Maguire gives a succinct summary of the latest Newcastle United accounts - Here We Go! The summer transfer window will soon be upon us and those who scour social media will get excited if Fabrizio Romano mentions Newcastle United. In recent years Romano has been firmly established as the go to source for transfer news … he’s not foolproof but he is pretty accurate. But who is he? A gifted journalist? Apparently not - this piece from Nick Harris of Sporting Intelligence provides a revealing piece on the man who millions of football fans hang onto his every word. Sporting Intelligence"HERE WE GO!": the lowdown on "football journalist" Fabrizio RomanoThis post is free to read for everyone. Because I believe in public interest journalism. Equally this site cannot continue without the massively appreciated support of paying subscribers. If you believe in work like this, please subscribe. Do it for just a month, for the cost of a pint, and then stop if you don’t feel it’s worth it. Thanks…Read morea month ago · 495 likes · 31 comments · Nick HarrisJoin Newcastle United Supporters TrustJoin Newcastle United’s only members based, democratic, supporters representative association and become active in the issues that matter to Mags and fans across the country. Click on the image for more information.Donate to Wor FlagsThey do us proud every season and in every game but they can only do it with our support. Keep the flags flying and donate to Wor Flags - click hereDonate to the Newcastle United Fans FoodbankDonate to the Newcastle United Fans Foodbank and support local people in need - click here The Special is dedicated to the memory of our dear friend and ally Glenn Ashcroft.Art work by Peter Willis.Michael Martin - @tfMick1892.bsky.social