Newcastle United 1, Bolton Wanderers 0

Aug 25 2008 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

THERE has been plenty of talk about credit crunches, but this is crunch time for Mike Ashley and the Newcastle United hierarchy he has created.

A victory in United’s first home game of the season – albeit of the scrappy and unattractive variety – was something to celebrate and rightly so, building as it did on the point secured at Manchester United the previous weekend.

But, as is so often the case at St James’s Park, the joy of victory was tempered by wider worries and unhelpful uncertainties and it is the board, not manager Kevin Keegan, who must find the solutions.

This victory, despite various incentives including a free pint before the game and a £10 ticket with the club’s new silver shirt, was watched by the lowest league crowd at St James’s Park since the stadium expansion was completed in 2000. Although attempts can be made to explain why almost 5,000 Newcastle fans stayed away, economic hardships and school holidays do not cover it.

After almost two decades of unwavering support, Newcastle fans, it seems, have grown disillusioned and disheartened after a series of false dawns and broken promises. There is not a more resilient or loyal set of supporters in the country, but clearly even they can only take so much before season ticket renewal forms are tossed in the bin.

With ticket prices increasing this season and with another bottom half-of-the-table finish to contemplate over the summer, United have perhaps been a little guilty of taking their support for granted.

There has been little media work done over the summer and no obvious attempt to whip up excitement ahead of the new season. The club’s new managing director Derek Llambias remains silent, Ashley retains his suspicion towards both the local and national media and Keegan has also preferred to keep his distance in pre-season.

This is not just Newcastle’s problem, English football in general has assumed fans will continue to pack stadiums even though the Premier League is dominated by the same four teams each year and local ties between clubs and supporters have been severed.

Perhaps now we can understand why Ashley has hinted he will make a “wow” signing before the close of the transfer window in seven days’ time.

While new arrivals, Danny Guthrie, Sebastien Bassong, Jonás Gutiérrez and Fabricio Coloccini look astute buys, they clearly have not convinced fans they will be enough to radically improve the team’s fortunes.

Keegan does not need to be reminded his squad is short on numbers. He was down to his last 19 before the Bolton game and with Obafemi Martins and Damien Duff limping off on Saturday the squad is already stretched to breaking point. That just makes the team’s encouraging start to the season even more impressive. Newcastle have a specialist recruitment team and credit should go to Dennis Wise and Tony Jimenez for the signings of Gutiérrez – who was outstanding against Bolton – and Coloccini. But they now have just a week left to land the two or three quality players who will give Keegan the tools needed to punch at Newcastle’s proper weight this season.

That is not the only issue which needs to be resolved.

No sooner had the club’s captain Michael Owen emerged from the bench to break the deadlock against stubborn Bolton, heading in Geremi’s excellent cross, than fresh questions were being asked about whether he is going to stay at the club. Doubts about Owen’s future have been a constant theme of the England international’s time on Tyneside, but there is a growing sense of uneasiness surrounding his contract negotiations . It is an unwanted distraction for him, his team-mates and his manager.

Owen is Newcastle’s most important player because he provides football’s most valuable commodity – goals – and his wages and bonuses should reflect that status. Ultimately, Ashley’s negotiating team must realise that they will not get a better goalscorer than the one they already have and they must do everything they can to keep him.

The time has come for the talking to end. Of course Owen wants the best possible deal he can get and nobody can blame him for that. But equally if he is merely stalling in order to negotiate an even more lucrative Bosman-style free transfer in January he is treating the club – and the manager in particular – shoddily.

United fans want answers, not just from Owen, but also on the direction in which the club is moving.

A meeting between manager and board on Wednesday will hopefully lead to some explanations emerging, because we should be talking about victories and momentum, not attendances and contracts.