Paul Dixon has been following Newcastle United for more than 35 years, 17 of which have been as a season ticket holder in the Gallowgate End at St James’ Park. Each week in his column, he takes a wry look at all things football – from a black-and-white perspective.
WE are spoiled aren’t we? 1-0 suggests a nervy, scrappy win, it actually turned out to be quite comfortable.
Despite QPR’s bohemian attitude to the laws of tackling, we kept disciplined and comfortably strolled over the line.
How satisfying we’re above Liverpool, as they huffed and puffed against Stoke with many of our former employees. I would sacrifice an organ to finish above them in May.
We now head off on the road for a couple of weeks, starting off at Fulham on Saturday. As this coincides with my 56th year on this planet, and accepting that Cameron Diaz is unlikely to appear on my doorstep in a bath of diamonds, I will gracefully accept another victory.
Last week I did Ben Arfa an injustice. After many viewings of his wonder goal against Blackburn, I realise I should have devoted more of the column to him.
If that had been scored by somebody from Chelsea or the Manchesters, we would have seen it projected on to more screens than Jordan’s chest.
Unfortunately it was grudgingly screened by ITV almost by accident, at some point in the early hours.
Weaving and dancing like Anthony Worrall Thompson exiting Tesco, it surely deserved a wider audience than bleary-eyed blokes waiting for the early-hours soft porn film?
I thought that display might have earned him a start on Sunday, he must have been champing at the bit? I sincerely hope he doesn’t turn out to be the David Fairclough of Newcastle, I also hope he isn’t indoctrinated with the British attitude of ‘getting stuck in’ at the cost of his unpredictability.
Wild cards like HBA can be indulged – after all, isn’t that why we bought him? While there are times when we have to roll up our sleeves and grind out results, having somebody who can score goals as he did against Blackburn is a great weapon to have.
I know he frustrates when some of his tricks don’t work, but in the humdrum ‘sweat like a navvy’ world of the Premier League, he stands out like Bob Dylan in a boy band. Why not give him a start against Fulham? It won’t be the same birthday present as a babe in a bath of diamonds, but like the aforementioned Worrall Thompson’s shopping basket, it’ll be worth looking into.
