Relegation a Good Thing?

If you listen to their supporters - and some areas of the media - Newcastle United are apparently a 'big club': too big to go down in fact. Except they're not - not too big to go down as we saw yesterday with their spineless performance at Aston Villa. A game to save their Premier League status, a game in which they had perhaps one shot on target and, almost without exception, the players performed without commitment or desire. The supporters were magnificent - urging their team on with their constant encouragement and singing from the stands during the game. The players simply didn't respond.

And yet, at the end of the game the supporters applauded the players from the pitch. Today, as the same players left the club training facility they were again applauded to their expensive cars by the few supporters that had gathered. Remarkable loyalty - blind loyalty some would say - given the poor, poor performances that the players had delivered over the course of the season.

I like Newcastle United - they have always been what I think is a 'proper' club: a great stadium, huge support and a rich history - but for the past couple of seasons they've been a circus. Had they escaped relegation I think the temptation might have been to ignore many the problems at the club and just make a few cosmetic changes: a new 'celebrity' manager, fresh faces on the board, one or two new players in, one or two out. Now they have the chance to take stock: finances will probably dictate which players can be retained and which will move on. They'll need to appoint a manager capable of playing his part in rebuilding the club and, within two or three seasons, getting back to the Premier League. They'll need to come up with and, for once, stick to, a long term plan.

Furthermore, once the season gets underway the supporters need to be patient and not expect overnight success, not to turn against the management when results - or performances - aren't going to plan. Judge the manager and players over a prolonged period, not a couple of months.

We'll see.