#9 v3 | Page 9

Nothing To Play For Lack of ambition leaves Newcastle in crisis once again as summer out-flux becomes increasingly plausible. After another regrettable and forgettable January, the fans of Newcastle United yet again have half a season to look forward to with absolutely nothing to play for. ! Whilst it is obvious we should remain theoretically ‘thankful’ for not being amongst the struggling clubs enduring half a season of doubt about our Premiership survival, for most it is the seemingly never-ending depression this club is caught within that is the most worrying, and it has no signs of coming to an end under current ownership. ! It still remains painfully clear that with even marginal investment, continuity and ambition it could have been a totally different story for the North-East’s sleeping giants- out of all competitions, comfortably mid-table and without one of our lynchpin players yet again it is all too despairingly familiar. 8 It is all well and good keeping Pardew in charge as a statement of long-term intent and stability, but selling our best players, and not replacing them, is just as destabilizing as changing manager every 6 months. ! Some of the stand-out names to have changed clubs in January included Juan Mata, Nemanja Matic, Newcastle long-term target Kurt Zouma, Nikici Jelavic and Shane Long and whilst a number of teams did not strengthen at all during the window for good reason, when Yohan Cabaye was announced to have been leaving Newcastle mere days before the end of the window alarm bells were rightfully ringing for many. With the deal said to have been in place for Cabaye to leave in January for en extended period of time and perhaps even from the end of summer, the club were happy to disregard a clear need to replace one of our consistent performers not only of the season, but of any successful recent period, and leave a massive hole in a weakened team who is now presently finding it impossible to bring anything