Newcastle Shoots Self in the Foot

This was going to be one of my favorite posts evah.  The 4-1 win over Preston on Monday clinched Newcastle's promotion to the EPL.  I would talk about the ups and downs of the season and rehash the great trip to St. James' Park in December.  Show a picture of me drinking the bottle of Newcastle Ale that I saved for the occasion.  Then I would speculate about the potential squad changes to put the team in position to compete as opposed to merely struggle not to get relegated again.

Instead, the issue on the table is that Newcastle facilities were raided by authorities in connection with possible tax fraud by club officials.  Managing Director Lee Charnley was arrested. The story is, as they say, still evolving (and might be completely revised by the time this is published) but the potential implications could be staggering.  The sanctions would of course depend on the severity of the violations but they could include massive fines ($50m?), starting next season with a minus 10 or 12 point penalty, or the promotion to the EPL being denied.

Other questions arise, like, will Rafa use this an excuse to bolt?  Of course, the destination most frequently mentioned for him is West Ham, who are under investigation just like Newcastle.  Will this be the event that forces Ashley to sell (silver lining scenario)?

Celebratory pictures like this have been replaced by

pictures of tax authorities seizing documents at SJP

I cannot help but be amused (ha ha) by this article in the Daily Mail, written before the raid, discussing various aspects of the transition, including whether Rafa would stay.  Money quote:

The odds are in favour of him remaining in charge, but this is Newcastle United, where self-implosion is a favourite pastime.  No club has the propensity to shoot itself in the foot quite like Newcastle, and for that reason supporters have every reason to feel nervous heading into the close-season.

How effing prophetic can you be?

A side note - West Ham offices were raided as well and Chelsea may be caught up in this issue too.

UPDATE: According to nufcblog.com, Charnley was released without charge.  It appears the issue is partly related to "image rights of players," which apparently is a gray area in tax law and the amount involved is 5 m pounds.  This sounds a little less scary but still enough to cast a shadow on what was a tremendous promotion effort.


On Second Thought

After watching the Union surrender a 3-0 lead at home vs Montreal, snatching a draw from the jaws of victory, the ledge was calling again.  Really good attacking football but equally soft defending.  It was watchable but frustrating.  Gonna be a long summer.


FA Cup As a Neutral

Is much more enjoyable.  Sure I might have preferred Spurs over Chelsea but it was a great match. Same for Arsenal - Manchester City.  Two competitive and exciting semis.  I must admit though that an Arsenal-Chelsea final sounds kind of boring.  But it has an interesting angle.  The season will be over at that point and Arsenal's fate known.  What if the Gunners finish 5th or worse but then win the FA Cup?  What happens to Wenger?


Updates

Happy to say that for the third week in a row my pick for match to watch turned out pretty good.  Crystal Palace spotted Liverpool an 0-1 lead but got a brace from Benteke for a come-from-behind 2-1 win.  The loss put a top four finish for Liverpool at risk as they lead the Manchester sides by one (City) and two (United) and both have a game in hand.  Thursday's Manchester derby was mostly devoid of serious scoring chances but there was plenty of snarl in the 0-0 draw.  Chelsea (4-2 over Southampton) and Tottenham (1-0 over Crystal Palace) won their mid-week matches and have pretty much wrapped up 1-2.   Chelsea are still in the better position but a four point lead with five to play is not insurmountable.

Sunderland are almost certain to go down at this point after losing to Middlesbrough.  The Black Cats scoring record in the last nine games looks like a baseball line score - 000000020; that's right, two goals in their last nine games.  The good news is they have matches against Bournemouth, Hull and Swansea coming up; the bad news is they could win all three but would still be in 19th place with closing matches against Arsenal and Chelsea.  Despite the win, Middlesbrough's chances also look bleak as their remaining games include Man City, Chelsea and Liverpool.  Swansea and Hull remain the leading candidates for the third relegation spot but teams at risk probably extend up to 12th in the table, which includes Burnley, Leicester, West Ham, Bournemouth, and Crystal Palace.  West Ham have consecutive matches against Stoke, Tottenham and Liverpool and get to deal with the fall out of the tax raids.


Picking an FA Club

A friend of ours has been dabbling with possible allegiances to a single FA club, not necessarily a Premier League side (e.g. Ipswich is still on the table).  He asked if it was acceptable to choose a club based on the "cool people" who are fans of that team.  BFS FA Club Selection Consultant Michael B (he helped me settle on Newcastle but I don't hold that against him although for some reason he can't seem to collect my share of the London traffic ticket) believes this is entirely appropriate.  This is easily searched on the internet although there is no comprehensive data base yet.  Some samples:

Newcastle - Sting and Brian Johnson (AC/DC)
Tottenham - Steve Nash, Shania Twain, Jude Law, Adele
Arsenal - Kevin Costner, Jay Z, Roger Waters
Liverpool - Daniel Craig, Samuel L Jackson, Elvis Costello
Man United - Justin Timberlake, Morrisey, David Gray
Man City - Oasis, Johnny Marr
West Ham - Katie Perry, Keira Knightley, Dave Grohl
Everton - Sly Stallone
Chelsea - Will Ferrell, Bryan Adams
Watford - Sir Elton John
West Brom - Eric Clapton

Hope that helps any of you undecideds out there.


The Weekend

Feature match should be the North London Derby Sunday at 11:30 (NBCSN); I must point out that a Spurs win would mean the Gunners cannot finish ahead of Tottenham.  Everton-Chelsea might be decent on Sunday at 9:05 on CNBC.

Many temporary Man United fans this weekend as a win by them over Swansea would mean that Leicester, West Ham, Bournemouth and Crystal Palace could all escape relegation with wins.  I've been enjoying Crystal Palace matches of late and will probably check in on the Eagles home game against Burnley, the 12:30 NBC match on Saturday.

In the Championship Division, Newcastle play Cardiff with but the slightest hope of catching Brighton for the top spot.  More interesting stuff is who will finish 3rd-6th and be in the playoff for the third promotion spot. Huddersfield has locked up one of those four playoff slots but Reading, Sheffield Wednesday, Fulham and Leeds will play musical chairs for the other three.  All have winnable matches this weekend but next week Fulham play Sheffield Wednesday Sunday which could decide who stays and who goes.

As first place in the Championship slides away, I will remind you of an informed fan who back in December felt that Brighton were a side to watch; his insightful comments are found here. Strange accent, that guy.

Union take on the LA Galaxy 10:30 pm on Saturday; BFS will watch so you don't have to.