The Arrival of the polite Boy Scout and the importance of defeating Newcastle

Newcastle, the FA Cup and I cannot quite believe this.

I am now a fan of a Premier league club who are successful. Thought I might mention that at the very off. Haven’t been able to say it before.

For the last 45 years I have watched City endure disappointment after disappointment with the occasional promotion from the lower leagues back into what I call the Second Division, but younger souls refer to as The Championship. Yeh I know it sounds better. The Championship! Division two sounds a bit, well a bit division 2ish.

But even in the championship, (sorry forgot the capital that makes it something it is not: The Championship),  I gazed up at the world of the Premier League as if it were some sort of heavenly day dream. Malky stepped us up to the big time and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer seems the sort of guy who will, like some young, smiling, courteous boy scout, help us up to the next level. I hope he doesn't come across too many old ladies trying to cross the hectic Cardiff Streets, they could prove a major distraction.

One nil down and cruising to defeat against a powerful Newcastle side at the bear pit called St James Park. Had to check it was still St James. Not the CoCola Ground, or the MacDonald’s Pitch or the Jordan Boobs Ground or some such bankable name. It is still St James Park. So we beat the Geordies, who of course emanate from anywhere around the globe other than the North East of England, on their famous ground.

We scored a disallowed goal – of course. Part of the excuse. We would have sighed, “If only they had let that goal stand. After all it was scored by that wonderful, much missed Mark Hudson. Bastards” But ‘they’ snatched that from us, and from Hudson’s dream return, and we still won. Mark Hudson is like having a slab of gold hidden in the family vault that people forget about until the door is prised open.

On the other hand Craig  Noone can be relied up to be totally anonymous, like the shy guy hiding in the kitchen at a party, and then totally brilliant, usually in the same match. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wisely understood this so kept him anonymous for most of the match by securing him to the subs bench before introducing him for the two minutes of brilliance we have come to expect. Yep it worked. A 25 yard shot and we were back in the match. Why is it called  a sub’s bench btw, when they look the most comfortable chairs in the ground?

Then Campbell was unleashed to hit the post, offering Odemwingie an opportunity to miss  before scoring himself.

And we won. The last time we beat a premier league side was West Brom back in the mists of time – well mid December last year.

So I am a fan of a club that is successful in the premier league. Yes I know. All you pedants shouting that this is the FA cup, that folk don’t play their first teams in this second rate, tarnished competition, that no one cares …. I don’t give a monkeys. We beat Newcastle, we beat them at St James Park and a big thank you to the quietly, polite boy scout Mister Solskjaer I think I am going to enjoy this first year of your rolling contract.