I’m glad it’s over – NUFC The Mag

Well it’s over for a few years at least, the Christmas World Cup in Qatar is over for Ingurrlund.

With the red and white flags of St. George descending, we can now begin to appreciate the festive decorations.

It was poetic justice for me when Arry Kane missed his penalty as I’ve always viewed him as a protected species in the EPL, a bit like Alan Shearer used to (remember the respective “challenges” to Florian Lejeune or Neil Lennon, People? ). I’ve always believed in fair play, so if that upsets someone, so be it.

Hopefully in the meantime our Newcastle United trio got a few words in James Maddison’s ear at the World Cup in Qatar, although signing us wouldn’t help his international ambitions as long as Southgate is allowed to continue picking his favourites.

Some of the caustic bile that has been spat on the RTG Sportwashing thread of Sunderland fans since our Saudi heat break has been particularly embarrassing.

I thought that after fourteen months their bitterness at Newcastle United’s astronomical wealth might have eased, but alas, no.

Any decent Sunderland fan who shows any disagreement with some of the nonsensical ramblings will be quickly expelled.

I honestly believe some of them will never recover now.

The Bournemouth Cup game is just nine days away and I see that as a must for our progress.

I think we’re going to win and go into the quarterfinals with our tails in the air.

The Leicester game on Boxing Day will be a test and they have recovered slightly after a slow start.

I’m looking forward to seeing Alexander Isak back in action as soon as possible and I think he will be one of our most important players in the second half of the season.

The resumption of the Premier League can’t come soon enough for me and I expect that with our batteries recharged we can quickly get back to the high-octane football we saw before that stupid break in the football calendar.

As for this World Cup in Qatar…

Well, as Captain Sensible once said, “I’m glad it’s all over”…at least for Southgate’s dysfunctional mob.

(***On Thursday I received the extremely sad news that my great friend Paul “Gypsy” King had passed away. We were both junior boxers in St. Edwards BC in Whitley Bay in the 1970’s. Paul turned pro and became a Northern Area boxer Welterweight Champion. He was a lifelong Newcastle United fan who often fought in our colors and will be sorely missed by all his family and friends.)