A Newcastle fans lament.

With today seeing the sacking of Newcastle boss Chris Houghton, I’ve decided to pen a letter to Mr Mike Ashley. In one of a long list of idiotic and ridiculous moves by those involved in the running of the club I’ve supported since the age of four it has made me angry and made me despair. I’m undecided as to whether or not to send it.

Dear Mr Ashley,

I am writing in response to the sacking of Mr Chris Hughton on the 6^th of December 2010. I am both appalled and angered at this decision and would like to take this opportunity to explain to you why this decision, yet another one which you have made, is so wrong.

First let me take you back to the September of 2004, fifteen days into a new Premier League season. Newcastle have made the Uefa cup semi-final only the year before and European football had become the norm at St. James’ Park, amazing for a team that a few years before had been at risk of relegation. But Sir Bobby Robson had come in and turned the club around and brought in fresh new talent. Freddy Sheppard our chairman at the time then turned round at the start of a brand new season and sacked Sir Bobby for ‘results’.

This was the first moment where I ever doubted the running of Newcastle but it was also the start of a series of decisions at board level that turned Newcastle into a national laughing stock. But then you took over and we had the chance to start again.

It got no better though and we were relegated, still a joke of a club and also pretty disliked across the country. If Newcastle needed the perfect the opportunity to truly start again. We were a club in disarray, with a small squad proven to be not up to scratch at Premier League level. And yet with all these problems, without the backing of you, without the recourses to build a decent squad Hughton was still able to get this club promoted by winning the league with two games to spare.

So why on earth have you sacked him? You’ve claimed you want a more experienced manager. Why? We currently sit 12^th with 19 points, nearly halfway to the all important 40 points total with two games to go until half way through the season. What more could an experienced manager have done? He drew with Chelsea, beat Arsenal, Villa, Sunderland and Everton those are pretty fantastic results for someone, who according to you doesn’t know what they’re doing.

Maybe it was the recent results then? The West Brom game was an awful dispay yes. But Newcastle were missing their two best midfielders, their first choice keeper and centre backs. If you had provided him with the funds to strengthen his squad then this would not have been so much of a problem. And Hughton was clearly angry, he wanted the chance to kept the team winning again and I have full faith that he would have been able to do that.

The thing that annoys me so much about this decision though is that it once again shows your complete lack of respect for this club, for its fans and for those people who work under you. First of all Hughton deserved a longer contract for the wonders he worked last year, the dignity with which he handled himself, and the way he had got the team playing. Secondly the players clearly respect him so you have alienated them, many who have been about to sign new contracts will not want to stay. What message does it send to Andy Carroll, Kevin Nolan and Joey Barton.

You’ve also alienated the fans. This rubbish in the media over the last months that we wanted Hughton is ridiculous. I was at the Fulham game and there were a number of chants of support for Hughton even again during the Brom game. That doesn’t happen if they want you to leave. You of all people should know that.

And perhaps even worse than that you have thrown away the opportunity to bring stability to this club. You have once again made this club a laughing stock, amongst the media, amongst football fans.

I’m not really sure where we go from this. You won’t bring back Hughton, though you should. You’ll claim to bring in experience but you won’t. You could put money into the club to strengthen the team but you won’t. In which case maybe you should sell the club and leave, but unsurprisingly you won’t.

University of Leeds half year sports report

As we come to the half way point of the year it would appear to be a good time to look at the progress of our Universities sports teams and to see how they have been doing and to check whether Leeds is on target to achieve its target of (14^th) in the overall BUCS table this year.

The standings overall so far show that the University of Leeds is 9^th with a total of 98.5 points, 0.5 more than Exeter who are 10^th. These have come in a variety of sports showing Leeds’ strength in depth across the board. The Hill Climb cycling event saw the Men’s Team win their event with the Women’s team coming fourth. Overall the cyclist brought back 33 points from the Hill Climb a great start for the Leeds’ teams this season.

In the Ju Jitsu competition Leeds brought back further points from some excellent performances. In the Blue belt competition Leeds one six points, in the Dark Blue belt a 3nd place earned Leeds eight points and an overall team finish of joint 4^th brought home 4.5 points, a strong total of 18.5.

In the swimming gala Leeds also won an impressive haul of BUCS points. Wins in the women’s 100m fly and women’s 50 metre free, a second place in the 50 metre fly and 3^rd in the 100 metre back meant the Leeds achieved a total of 44 points.

And with the women’s team surfing coming 6^th and winning three points Leeds have made a superb start to the BUCS season.

Results in the weekly BUCS matches have also been good with many of the universities teams competing near the top of their prospective tables. The hockey teams are doing well half way through the season, with 12 teams overall the Gryphons side are showing their strength in depth with the men’s 2nds, women’s 1sts and 5ths all leading the way at the top of their leagues. With the men’s 3rds are second in their league, and the men’s 4ths, women’s 2nds and women’s 3rds all just three points of the leaders in their divisions it is looking a potential golden season for the hockey teams.

Following on from the aquatic success of the swimmers the water polo teams have also made good starts to season with the men’s team topping their league and the women in a strong second.

After a first win for the men’s tennis 1sts last week, university tennis to be in a great place with the men’s 2nds second in their division and women’s 1sts just 3 points off the summit of their league. In table tennis the men’s 1sts are undefeated and top of the Northern Conference 1A by a staggering nine points. Meanwhile the men’s lacrosse 1sts sit atop the Northern Conference 2A, tied on points with Liverpool1sts in what is a hugely competitive division. 

The Gryphons teams continue to improve and the amount of teams who are topping their individual leagues seems to grow week on week. The men’s football 3rds are three points clear in first in the Northern Conference Men’s 5B, the men’s rugby union 3rds and 4ths are number one in their divisions. The women’s squash 1sts are top of their league while the women’s 2nds are in second. Further mid-season success is coming from the netball teams. The 2nds and 4ths are second in their leagues while the 5ths are top of the Northern Conference 7B.

So with so many Leeds teams either leading the way in their leagues or sitting a few points away from the summit of their tables all the players have earned themselves a long rest over Christmas. But with success so close all our sports men and women will no doubt come back determined to push for the league titles straight away. And if that happens, well, it could be an amazing year for sport at the University of Leeds.

To close it may be worth looking at whether Leeds is aiming at the correct target. Loughborough have so far accumulated 638.5 points, 463.5 more than Stirling who sit in second. In light of that, an eventual 10^th place for Leeds is a good target to have.