IT’S a fact people remind me of with every passing year — and one I’d love to see overtaken at long last.
When I won the FA Cup with Portsmouth in 2008, I never thought we would still be waiting for the next English manager to lift silverware.
Eddie Howe is dreaming of lifting silverware with the Toon[/caption]
But here we are, 17 years on, and still twiddling our thumbs, which is one of the reasons why I’d love to see Eddie Howe do so with Newcastle on Sunday at Wembley.
Much of that, of course, is down to the infatuation with overseas coaches, which I’ve never understood because we have so many good ones of our own.
And Eddie is top of that list — I would go so far to say as the nailed-on certainty to follow Thomas Tuchel as the next England boss.
Admittedly, the field doesn’t have as many runners as you’d have said back in the day — you can thank owners obsessed with foreign managers for that!
But Eddie is different class and it would be great to see him win something with Toon before he moves on to even bigger things.
Sadly for the Geordie Nation, I don’t think it will be on Sunday afternoon.
Mind you, just imagine the celebrations if they do get over the line.
Yet that would be a disaster for Liverpool fans who were dreaming of a Treble just a week ago. Those same Reds supporters would have snapped your hand off for the Premier League title last summer.
BEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERS
But I guarantee that before their Champions League exit, a few would have been muttering “is that all” too.
Which is why Sunday’s big game has suddenly become massively important for Arne Slot and his team.
Win and it’s the first trophy in the cabinet. Lose and it becomes a week to forget in a season to remember.
Seven days which started with fans buzzing but ending with them resigned to “only” winning the title.
When the one bauble is the Premier League — the be-all and end-all for everyone — then anything else is always going to be a bonus.
Especially when your manager is in his first season, as Slot is.
After going 70 YEARS without a major domestic trophy, if any fans deserve to see their team win one it’s those Geordies.
Harry Redknapp
That’s not to suggest Merseyside has suddenly become the ungrateful capital of the country, though, before anyone gets on my case.
It’s just an indication of how far ahead of the rest Liverpool have been this season and why, only a few days ago, their fans had hopes of winning three.
That all ended with Paris Saint-Germain’s last penalty on Tuesday, when the Champions League went up in smoke.
You won’t find a Geordie who wasn’t thrilled to see the game go the distance, by the way. Let’s not kid ourselves, Eddie will have been delighted with that too.
Arne Slot has done an impressive job in his first season at Liverpool[/caption]
The Reds crashed out of the Champions League in mid-week[/caption]
But the Reds have had five days to recover, Slot won’t have had them doing much in training, and with all the medical staff and care these days, they will be well over it.
And what better way to put a defeat behind you than a cup final at Wembley for the first trophy of the season?
It’s so evenly balanced, though. The Newcastle midfield is on a par with Liverpool’s and their forward line isn’t too shabby either.
Anthony Gordon is banned but Harvey Barnes is no big drop in standards down one wing, with Jacob Murphy on the other. Plus Alexander Isak through the middle.
So although Liverpool will understandably and rightly be favourites, Newcastle go there with a real chance — make no mistake about that.
And let’s face it, after going 70 YEARS without a major domestic trophy, if any fans deserve to see their team win one it’s those Geordies.
Sadly for the Geordie Nation, I don’t think it will be on Sunday afternoon.
Harry Redknapp
But ending that run means beating the best team in the country, because there’s no doubt they are up against the Premier League’s stand-out side.
And Liverpool won’t want a bad week to turn into a terrible one.
The big thing in their favour is the depth in the squad — Slot can make two, three or four changes and it hardly weakens his line-up.
Cody Gakpo didn’t start midweek, so you would imagine he is a certainty for Wembley. That’s not exactly a step down in anyone’s book!
Mo Salah is probably the only one of those forwards whose place is nailed on. It’s any two from four of the rest, and they don’t dip whoever gets the nod.
And it’s not as though Slot has to think about giving players a rest to concentrate on winning the league — let’s not beat about the bush here, that job is already done.
The Kop outfit have such a huge lead it does not enter the equation and of course it’s an international break after today.
Mo Salah is nailed on to start the Carabao Cup final[/caption]
