Howey: The big difference between my time and now

Aug 2 2009 by Neil Farrington, Sunday Sun

“When we went down, although we were a big club we weren’t what we went on to be, when we were huge and everybody wanted to watch us. Whereas now, Newcastle are the big hitters in that league.

“So when you get the likes of Scunthorpe coming up to St James’s, all of a sudden they will raise their game by 10 or 20 per cent.

“You’ll also get teams that just sit back and try and persuade Newcastle to attack. Then it’s very important that the fans are patient and let the lads go about trying to win the game.”

But what if those lads, as Howey fears, won’t want to know?

“When you go away to all these grounds, no matter where they are, they’ll all be difficult,” warns Howey.

“It’s going to be hostile, and it’s a question of whether Newcastle’s players can step up their game and grind out results.

“The majority of those players have only played in the Premier League and I think they’ll get a big surprise about how tough it actually is in the Championship. The games come thick and fast.

“Any team that’s relegated from the Premier League will find that one or two players – and you’ll quickly know who they are – turn up at some of these clubs that haven’t got a great ground, where the dressing rooms are tiny and it’s an awful atmosphere on a cold, wet Tuesday night, and don’t want to be there.

“They’ve come from a nice, warm place. They’re used to the Premier League and they will be thinking ‘what am I doing here?’ Does that affect their performance? I think it does.

“It’s up to Newcastle now to get a nucleus of players together that can deal with the situation.”

But that, in the current climate at St James’s Park, is much easier said than done.

“It’ll be interesting to see but I couldn’t honestly say if there’s a nucleus there,” admits Howey.

“Obviously you look at the local lads like Steve Harper and Steven Taylor and one or two others, but it’s just going to be a case of wait and see if they’re even going to be around.

“If they are, then they’re the kind of players to give the rest a kick up the backside and drive them on and make sure they don’t put in a half-hearted performance.”

All of which, Howey fears, adds up to not much at all.

“Given the situation at the club at the moment you’d be happy with stability and even mid-table but on the other hand you wouldn’t be happy with that because of the size of the club, its pulling power and players.

“A disappointing season for me would be Newcastle not pushing up there for promotion.

“But at the moment it’s in such disarray that I could see that happening.”

:: STEVE HOWEY is one of the stars of Total Sport, a flagship new week night sports show on BBC Radio Newcastle beginning on Monday, August 10.