A Newcastle United supporter, calling into BBC 5Live, has revealed his belief that the club can challenge for Europe next season.
No, that’s not a joke, it really happened.
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Chronicle Live, provide the transcript for the call, with a Newcastle fan going by the name of ‘Dougie’ having the following exchange with co-hosts Robbie Savage and Chris Sutton.
S – “What do you make of recent performances, are things looking up a bit?”
D – “Yeah, definitely. We’ve just been hit by injuries.
“Earlier on in the season, the results were iffy and the performances weren’t great. After the Sheffield United game, I thought we were down.
“We looked like the worst team in the league. But in recent few weeks, we’ve been playing some really attractive attacking football, but then we’ve been hit by injuries.”
S – “It’s had a massive impact. Even the game against Aston Villa last night, you’re not having much luck. You’ve had the injuries, the Villa goal was fortunate. You’re not having much luck with injuries are you?”
D – “Nah. We’ve always been struck down with injuries through the years, it’s always been a downfall for us. When that goal went in last night, I thought that’s our luck and it looks like we’re going down.
“But a team that’s going down, I don’t think would have got that equaliser.”
S – “If you do stay up this season, would you like to see Steve Bruce start the next season? If so, where do you think you’d finish next season?”
D – “I would like him to stay even if we go down. If we do stay up, as long he doesn’t revert back to his defensive way of playing and keeps this attractive and attacking way of playing, I can’t see why we can’t be qualifying for Europe next season the way West Ham are challenging now.
Newcastle are in the midst of a rotten run, one which could have been seen a mile off when they opted to appoint Steve Bruce as the club’s new manager.
The fans are desperate to see the back of both him and owner Mike Ashley, which must make claims like this from ‘fans’ such as ‘Dougie’ difficult to stomach.
Chronicle Live report that sceptical Magpies fans have taken to social media to brand the call an ‘absolute wind up’, ’embarrassing’ and ‘ridiculous’.
It’s hard to disagree with those assessments. Newcastle ought to be looking over their shoulder at the relegation zone – European football is merely a pipe dream.