“Come writers and critics who prophesize with your pen” (Hard to beat a bit of Dylan)

Saturday marked one year to the day of the sad passing of football Legend Sir Bobby Robson. On the 30th August it will be six years since he was sacked by Freddy Shepherd shortly after a 4 v 2 defeat to Aston Villa. Little did we know then how much would change at the club within a relatively short period of time.

When I sat down to write this I was going to cover old ground looking at the errors of the past and to draw comparisons with how Liverpool progressed by appointing Rafa Benitez shortly before we appointed Souness. Both clubs have endured difficulties in the past 18 months, but theirs nothing like the scale of ours. However, I’m not going to do that – the past is the past so let’s move on but let’s NOT forget it.

Perhaps the biggest change is the attitude and expectations of the majority of our fans going in to this coming season. Once upon a time most of us expected European football – we enjoyed a couple of brilliant Champions League seasons and featured regularly in the UEFA cup. European qualification was expected, though rarely DEMANDED as some of the nations southern based red tops and radio stations like to claim.

This year most of the lads that I sit with or talk to would be happy to stay up – 15th seems to be the most common prediction amongst those that I have discussed this with on Twitter. So much for the ‘unrealistic expectations’ of our fans! I think that 15th is more than realistic.

Days after we were promoted a national sports radio station ran with “Who should replace Chris Hughton?” WHAT? I was outraged. Hughton has done a magnificent job and deserves a great deal of time and patience. It only got better:

Presenter: “Next on the line we have Dave, an Arsenal fan from Essex”

Dave: “New-car-sell are a massif clab. Surely they should be looking at samone like Jose Mourinho to take them forward!” (Very nice of you Dave, but Jose? Really? As if)

-A few calls later-

Presenter: “And now we have Simon from Luton. Simon.”

Simon: “How completely unrealistic are these Geordie fans? I mean for God’s sake – Jose Mourinho? Who the hell do they think they are?”

Did the presenter correct Simon and point out that it was in fact an Arsenal fan who had made that ludicrous suggestion? Of course not. Only one NUFC fan called in – he supported Hughton and was passed over as quickly as he came on.

I also love the claims that we are “impatient” in our demands for success. Impatient? Over 40 years without a major trophy and we can still attract crowds of over 50,000 in the second tier of English football! I think we are amongst the most patient fans on earth.

And what about last season? I expected a lot less than we got. I honestly thought we would struggle, so to sit and watch us go 23 home league games unbeaten was superb. I enjoyed almost every moment of it, but I am in no hurry to drop back down there and go through it all again.

Come on lads and lasses – let’s get behind Chrissy Hughton and all of the lads this season. Let’s not make knee-jerk reactions about the suitability of Chris for the job if we are trounced at Old Trafford. Lets back them to the hilt and play our part as the 12th man in seeing us safely home and having a nice run in the cup. Let’s turn SJP into the fortress that it once was. And lets enjoy being back in the big league.