A bit about you:
Name: Colin Whittle
Current home town: Newcastle
Birthplace: Hebburn….of the BBC 2 television series fame!!
How long have you supported your team? I followed the family tradition by supporting Newcastle United and I’ve been going since I was a young lad in the 70’s.Apart from the Kevin Keegan years (playing and managing) and the brief Bobby Robson era there’s not been much to shout home about. My motto is ‘there’s always next season’. Sadly I’m usually saying it by September. I’d love to win a cup but accept I’ll never see Newcastle United win anything during my lifetime.
Overview of your club:
Favourite thing about your home ground: It’s City centre location is the envy of many supporters. You can literally roll out of any number of pubs in the bustling city centre and be at the match within 5 minutes.
Favourite match played by your team & why: As a young lad the game that will always stick in my mind is when my dad took me to Wembley to witness our 2-1 League Cup final defeat against Man City in 1976.Unbelievable occasion to witness as a youngster.
In more ‘recent’ years beating Barcelona 3-2 in the Champions League….seems strange even typing that…was ‘emotional’ as was a 3-1 victory away at Arsenal under Sir Bobby when we broke our ‘London hoodoo’ of never having won in the capital for 20 plus games and as it was a midweek game only 3 of my usual 20 away travelling companions were there to witness it..ha! ha!
Favourite player of all time who played for your club: Malcolm ‘Supermac’ Macdonald-a proper 1970’s centre forward…followed by our modern day hero Alan Shearer a Geordie sticking the ball in the back of the opposition net…something we all dream of as youngsters!
About our forthcoming match against you:
Your favourite current player in your squad and why? I’m not sure I like any modern day footballers but if pushed I’d have to say my current favourite is Cisse …I’m easily charmed by a goalscorer
Player in your squad we should most fear and why? I’m not sure you should fear anyone other than maybe a Tiote tackle. On current form I’d also advise your defenders not to give much room to Cisse as the ball may well end up in the back of the net.
Player in our squad you most fear and why? All of them…good or bad they’ve all got a chance of a good game
Up and coming prospect in your squad? Since we’ve now let Shola go after 15 years as a ‘promising’ player it has to go to Rolando Aarons….a young lad who looked as if he was playing without fear until a recent injury. He’s not going to be fit for Saturday.
What is your initial reaction to the departure of Alan Pardew? Like most Newcastle fans I was never a great fan of Alan Pardew. When Chris Hughton was sacked it was because the club claimed they wanted a manager to take us to the 'next level'. It was a surprise to most fans to see Alan Pardew then appointed. There has been plenty of discussion about the highs and lies of his tenure but our form in 2014 – save for a spell in November- has been awful and ultimately we are in no better position than when he was appointed four years ago. My worry is who will be appointed to succeed him under the present regime?
How does your club tend to approach the FA Cup, is the strongest team put out or is it given secondary status and squad players get a game ? The club have openly declared that the Cups are not of primary importance which has disappointed most fans. Realistically we know we are not going to win the league or even get anywhere so a decent cup run is all we have to hope for. Sadly those in control of the club don't see it that way. Mid – table respectability is the limit of their ambitions – a 'zombie' club as one fanzine has described it. Given the above I can't see us sending out a strong team.
How do you think you’ll do against us? We’ll get beat home and away…maybe a draw …I’m in an optimistic mood.
Any other comments? You’ve not caught us at good time on the pitch. Off the pitch ,as a club we’ve been turned into an advertisement for Sport Direct and there’s a massive ‘disconnect’ between the club and its fans. At the Supporters Trust we are working hard at bringing back that ‘community club’ concept-the first step being the classification of St James’ Park as an Asset of Community Value-as well as putting political pressure on the major parties to include ‘football governance’ into their manifestos as clearly the footballing authorities are not keen on regulating themselves.
Colin Whittle is a member of the Newcastle United Supporters Trust Board, the latest from their Trust can be accessed via this link www.nust.org.uk