Once again George Culkin proves himself to be the best sports writer on the North East beat

Newcastle have found their soul in the Championship - George Caulkin, The Times

"The fate of peoples is made like this, two men in small rooms. Forget the coronations, the conclaves of cardinals, the pomp and processions. This is how the world changes." Thomas Cromwell in Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel’s Booker Prize winning novel.
Anything could have happened. In the maelstrom which followed their relegation, amid the uncertainty about their ownership and management, with staff being sacked and with players departing, Newcastle United felt like an untethered football club. No anchor, no base. When the first-team squad reassembled for pre-season training, they knew nothing and had been told less. They teetered on a precipice.

The previous few months had, in football terms, been horrific. Underachievement, poor decisions, upheaval in the dug-out, confusion and demotion; if you wanted a wish-list for excuses, this was it. Too many egos, not enough team-work, and every cough and criticism spluttered in the dressing-room had somehow found its way into the newspapers. A grand old club had been sapped of its dignity and vitality.

When Newcastle’s history is updated to include 2009, their annus horribilis, the summer meeting called by Chris Hughton will figure prominently. Granted, more than two men were present, but Cromwell’s words are otherwise apposite; as much as anything which took place on the pitch, those discussions set the club on a course which, as the year turns, leaves them six points clear at the top of the Coca-Cola Championship.

The gist was as follows. We’ve let the club down and have to accept it. Those who want to stay and rectify matters, please do. If you need to go, then fine, but be honest with yourselves and with us. Who knows whether Alan Shearer will return as manager or if Mike Ashley will sell the club, but forget about that; let’s work hard, one day at a time, and put an end to the drip-drip of corrosive leaks.

As a consequence, Newcastle now has something which has been absent for far too long: a team. They have had some good players over the years, but not too long ago were making vanity signings which originated from the boardroom at the expense of building a side based on balance and hunger. In so doing, the foundations installed by Sir Bobby Robson, delicate though they may have been, were eroded.

A team. Newcastle, united. So while supporters have a right to feel aggrieved about the status of their club and would be justified in feeling concerned about the future, they can at least - and at last - be assured that the men blessed with the privilege of sporting their stripes do so because they want to. They can complain about the quality of football, but not about touchstone issues such as motivation and desire.

Newcastle have had to lose their place in the Barclays Premier League in order to rediscover something profound - their soul. Something is now engrained in the changing-room - in an interview for The Times later this week, Kevin Nolan describes it as “a philosophy” - which is intended to serve as the benchmark for whatever happens next. New arrivals will be required to adopt it.

This grasping of responsibility by senior players, this acceptance that things had to change but that nobody was going to do it for them, feels pretty unique. Footballers are rarely so engaged with their surroundings - and scarcely need to be, because so much is presented to them on a gilded platter - but Newcastle is different. Does it make them world-beaters or perfect or brilliant? No. But it makes them better and it makes them decent.

In the likes of Nolan - 11 goals this season, happy and settled in his “home from home,” in the North East - Alan Smith, Nicky Butt, Steve Harper, whose form in goal has been consistently excellent, and others, they have a core of men who care. While that should be the bare minimum at any club, the context at Newcastle over recent times has been of belief-shaking turmoil.

Yet people on Tyneside still believe in their club, or the idea of it, anyway. Just as there has been a kind of renewal on the pitch, off it fans have both demonstrated a startling, humbling level of loyalty to Newcastle - 49,644 in attendance against Middlesbrough on Boxing Day, 47,505 for Derby County on Monday - and coalesced in a mature and heartening manner.

What is now the Newcastle United Supporters Trust (NUST) was born out of love, anger, passion and a weary resignation with the unstable status quo on Gallowgate. Their ‘Yes We Can’ campaign to buy the club will, after a short festive break, pick up again in January having already received thousands of expressions of support and millions of pounds in pledges from both fans and local businesses.

By its nature, their project (whose origins lie in a dedicated fanzine movement, led by The Mag, true faith and nufc.com) is deeply ambitious, but they promise interesting announcements in the weeks to come. While the NUST are not putting limits on their potential, they have already raised enough awareness and money that any owners - including the present one if he makes a fist of things - should bring them on board.

The notion of representation, of greater transparency in the boardroom, is one which could be every bit as fundamental to Newcastle’s long-term as unity in the dressing-room. There can only be uneasiness about what might happen in the summer and beyond - and so there should be - but by continuing to turn up and support their team, there has been a reconnection between the field and the stands.

Two draws in succession, a whittling of their lead, a lack of fantasy football and a need to strengthen their squad in key positions do not feel so disastrous when anything could have happened. Top of the table, even if it is the wrong table, does not seem too bad when anything could have happened. Crowds in the region of 50,000, at Christmas, in a recession, leave you open-mouthed when anything could have happened.

With all the necessary caveats, small-print, fears and footnotes, something important has happened at Newcastle. Players like Harper and Nolan have proved themselves far more worthy of affection and admiration than those rootless ‘Galacticos’ who have passed through the doors of St James’, leaving far richer and without giving an ounce of themselves in the process. For all the team’s faults, it is just that: a team.

Whether it can last is anybody’s guess. Whether they can withstand the brutality of a full season in the Championship, on a limited budget, with a backdrop of continued cost-cutting and with the future so opaque, cannot be predicted (nothing at Newcastle ever can). But to look back at a rotten 2009, eyes peeping through fingers, is to recognise that anything could have happened. And to be content that, against the odds, it did not.

Great read