THE faces have changed and the famous black-and-white stripes have been altered, but the spirit which has become Newcastle United's since relegation remains strong as ever.
It has been a summer to forget for the Magpies, yet no matter how many times you kick them when they are down they still bounce back up. Especially when Sunderland are the opposition.
The biggest fear about the French revolution at Parc des Saint-James this summer was not so much the talent drain (worrying though that was), but the mental edge that looked like it could ebb away with it.
With the likes of Andy Carroll, Kevin Nolan, José Enríque, Joey Barton and Steve Harper in their ranks, Newcastle always appeared greater than the sum of their parts. The same can be said in reverse of their local rivals on derby day.
Only the transfer-listed Barton remains in the first XI – for how long, we do not know – the rest passing a slew of French-speakers on the way out. Two have fleeting Premier League experience, the rest none.
Sunderland took the opposite transfer policy, only Ji Dong-Won of nine senior players added new to English football.
But led by Argentinian captain Fabricio Coloccini, the visitors summoned up the espirits de corps to triumph in an unseasonably early derby.
The pre-match body language would be replicated at the final whistle. Fifteen minutes before kick-off, coaches John Carver and Steve Stone ended the warm-up by taking Newcastle’s players over to the away end.
It got a few early boos out of the system of nearly 45,000 home fans.
At the final whistle they were back, not quite as orderly but wearing more gleeful expressions.
All but substitutes Mike Williamson and Dan Gosling hurled shirts into the crowd. Even masseur Micky Holland joined in at Barton’s insistence.
While Alan Pardew grinned from ear to ear on the bench, lapping up the hostile atmosphere moments before kick-off, Steve Bruce stood grim-faced in Sunderland’s technical area.
Every time the Wallsend-raised manager takes a step forward in the Black Cats’ fans affection, along comes a derby to push him back into his place.
His team’s early football put a smile on those craggy features, Stéphane Sessègnon reveling in the space he found when dropping off Asamoah Gyan.
