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After some good wins in the first months of the year, the Toon has gone back to its inconsistent self. A lot of draws haven't given us much chance to consolidate fourth place in the Premiership, several games being given away by a last minute goal by the opponents. The worst example of this was the Portsmouth match when Lua Lua - on loan to Pompey - equalized for them in the 89th minute. Fortunately the other contenders for fourth place in the Premiership have been just as wishy-washy. The Toon's predicament was well shown in the two legs of the UEFA Cup against Valerenga. Many people said that SBR should have played his best team in the first leg and so put the tie away. As it was, they had to wait until they saw off the Norwegians at St James' Park and now face Real Mallorca in the final sixteen.

There was an interesting commentary in January in the "Mail on Sunday." It was about Chairman Shepherd's statement that the Toon's performance since the start of the season was unacceptable to the Board of Newcastle United. The writer took issue with the fact that the manager was included in the Board's complaints about the team's fortunes, especially after last season's success in which they finished third in the Premiership (after fourth the previous season) and another place in the Champions League. The writer wryly noted that former Chairman Sir John Hall picked up £2.25 million last summer for his Newcastle shares, while Hall family companies shared £1.7 million in dividends. Douglas Hall (he of the Spanish massage episode) was paid over half a million pounds as a "non-executive" Director. And Shepherd himself took a salary of over half a million pounds in 2003 and was entitled to dividends of £982,000. Not that they are not legally entitled to these rewards. But there is a strong suggestion that the Chairman treated a decent football man with unnecessary contempt.

Bob Stokoe has died at age 73. He signed for Newcastle in 1947 as a center forward. Switching to center half he made 287 appearances for the Magpies, including the 1955 Cup Final victory against Manchester City. He then managed six league clubs and was manager of the Mackems when they beat Leeds in the 1973 FA Cup final - the first time in 40 years that a side in the old Second Division had lifted the Cup.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer may be trying to buy control of Moan U. Glazer has increased his stake in the club to 16.31% His partnership is "considering increasing its shareholding." This could include a possible offer for Moan U. Glazer has been steadily increasing his stake since last October. The team has a market value of $1.38 billion. Irish racing owners John Magnier and J.P.McManus own 29% of the team.

The discovery of life on Mars is now 100 times more likely than Wolves winning the Premiership, according to William Hill the bookmakers. They are offering odds of 100-1 that there will be proof of intelligent life on Mars before the end of the year. By contrast, punters can get odds of 10,000-1 on Wolves taking the title.

Harry S
Editor-in-Chief
Harry's Rant