The Mag

Interesting to read through these BBC Sport ‘neutrals’ comments, following on from an article they published on Tottenham reportedly having an opening offer of £80m for Sandro Tonali turned down by Newcastle United.

The BBC Sport readers comments from neutrals reacting to it, Newcastle United fans as well, plus clearly many Tottenham fans and the odd Mackem.

Here is a selection of responses from the ‘neutrals’ to the Sandro Tonali situation and the claimed Tottenham interest and bid piece on BBC Sport:

‘So SCR is working nicely. Spurs and Liverpool breaking the bank, whilst Newcastle and Villa look to be selling off their best players again. What a meritocracy.’

‘Newcastle don’t have to sell him. They will consider selling him if they get an offer for extremely good money, and can secure a replacement without Big 6 clubs jumping in and turning their head.

Call me sceptical but I think clubs are reluctant to commit so much money to a ban risk, and I don’t think Big 6 revenue monsters can stop themselves stealing Newcastle targets. My instinct is he stays.’

‘Very correct imo. Newcastle are far better placed to keep a player, as it will be a long time before Tottenham can match anything Newcastle could achieve.’

‘Same situation as last year, Newcastle have said what it will take to sell him: £100m (or maybe £120m) plus their having signed a replacement.

I suspect the main difference is Tonali is a professional who will honour his contract instead of throwing his toys out of the pram, feigning injury, ducking out of a club tour, running away to Spain and putting out childish “he said she said” statements.’

‘I’m sure Tonali can do a lot better than Spurs.

All Spurs have done is alert better teams to the race for him.’

‘He’s already doing 5 places better than Spurs.

‘So, what you’re saying is that other clubs weren’t aware of Tonali’s talent until Spurs put a bid in?’

‘Middle or lower middle makes no difference. Tottenham have more potential. Newcastle is just a feeder club to the mid table.’

‘Tonali won’t waste his best years at Newcastle, guaranteed.’

‘It’s so obvious that so many don’t understand Spurs’s finances. The one thing Levy did was leave the coffers full, he was averse to spending it! Plus we won the UEL and made a good fist of the UCL until the Tudor debacle. With the new spending rules, not being in Europe give more wriggle room too.

I think it also shows how ridiculous the market has become, prices and wages are, imo, obscene.’

”Spuds had their pants pulled down by Brighton and they’re about to have them pulled down again by Newcastle.

At least Spuds are spreading the wealth!’

‘You do understand that the PSR rules had to be signed off by the majority of the premier clubs at the time. If it was only the 6 clubs it would never of been ratified. Its a shame more fans don’t care enough about protecting their club and are willing to put the club they claim to support in jeopardy to spend way beyond their means.’

‘The clubs that have no hope of catching the Big 6 were always going to agree to it. They don’t like having 6 uncatchable monsters they have to contend with, but from their point of view it’s better than having 7, or 8, or 9.

And the 6 clubs who initiated the thing knew that fine well. The aspirational clubs (probably Newcastle, Villa and Forest) would always be in a minority.’

‘And this is what stinks in the kingdom of the Premier League. Spurs finished one place above relegation, have no European football yet have the resources to go in for £100m + players? Have they sold anyone worth that much to start with? Yet Newcastle can’t get a round of drinks in without worrying about PSR and FFP. How do these clubs pay the wages without penalty? Crazy.’

‘And £700m in debt. Yet still allowed to spend hundreds of millions more than the other 14 teams.

PSR totally ignores the possibility of their revenue taking a sudden dramatic drop and them ending up in real financial trouble.

According to the PL’s FFP rules it’s absolutely impossible that a club like Spurs could ever get relegated.’

‘PSR works for the so-called Big Six. Why the hell should Beyonce concerts and NFL games give you more to spend in the PL? It stinks, it’s corrupt, and until they punish clubs like Cheatski and 115FC properly – not clubs like Everton and Hull – then the putrid stench will never go away.’

‘You really don’t understand how PSR works. Spurs generate massive income so they can spend. Newcastle generate match day income and not much else. If Newcastle want to spend, generate income from sources other than football.’

‘Getting income from other sources should not be allowed.’

‘Absolutely right , totally corrupt !’

‘Tottenham are THE example of building up a club without oil or Russian money. The club is run as a sustainable business and it’s taken 20 years to get to where it is. This is why I don’t pity Newcastle or Villa as much because Spurs are the model showing how it can be done within FFP and PSR.’

‘What’s questionable is that Newcastle spent years as a mid-table or relegation-threatened club, only to be transformed overnight by one of the wealthiest ownership groups in world football. Money can buy players and success, but it can’t buy the history, tradition, or achievements that other clubs have spent decades building.’

‘Newcastle fans deluded enough to think they’ve a big club after a couple top 5 finishes and a league cup. Complaining that spurs can spend money, even though spurs only spend what they make. They’re not relying on a state fund to buy success.’

‘You understand PSR applies to Newcastle too, right..?

Having a state fund is pointless if a) 6 clubs with much much much higher revenues have decided to implement a revenue-based regulatory system; and b) every time you bid for a player within the PSR rules, one of those 6 clubs hijack the move and offer much higher wages.

But yeah, keep pushing that completely irrelevant talking point!’

‘(Sunderland fan) Tonali will go for 90m probably I think, he’s not a 100m player. Not unique enough.’

‘I don’t think Spurs planned to be bad last season either.

They had ambition last season as well – don’t get relegated – and it worked, just!

‘The Big 6 are removing Newcastle’s incentive to sell players to them by blocking their attempts to buy new players.

If we have to press on with the same squad, so be it.

Last season’s cup performances were fine and there were many, many league games that were tight and may well have gone the other way without Euro-fatigue or if our strikers had had a proper pre-season.’

‘(Sunderland fan) The most important players in the team will leave now and next summer, that is obvious now if Tonali wants out even.’

‘To be fair, I haven’t even heard that Tonali has said he “wants to leave” Newcastle.

All I’ve heard is reports that he is allegedly open to moving to spurs….anyone can make those comments up whether it’s actually been said or not!’

‘Well Tonali had clearly already spoken to Spurs and decided to go there or they wouldn’t have bidded.’

‘”Clearly?”

Newcastle bid all the time for players. Sometimes they’ve spoken to them in advance, sometimes they haven’t, sometimes the players have agreed terms and expressed a willingness to sign.

It means absolutely nothing.’

‘What’s wrong is trying to work within the financial restraints, imposed by the Premier League. They were under the guise of ensuring clubs were safe from reckless spending, but they’re more specifically designed to hamper clubs with rich owners (so no chance of going into administration) from spending freely. Big 6 don’t fancy a challenge’

‘Spurs have been well within FFP for years and could still spend a ton of money without breaching rules, hundreds of millions even. They are clearly going for it this summer and I think this is one of many that’s going to happen, especially when they start to sell on the deadwood like Romero etc’

‘Spurs are “clearly going for it”, what are Spurs clearly going for? Having less than three Managers in one season, or finishing next season in the heady heights of mid table obscurity? Help me out here.’

‘I’ve been reading some of the comments, and what I really don’t understand is why Newcastle fans hate Spurs so much. As a Spurs fan, I couldn’t give a monkeys about a club 300 miles up the road. And as for selling their best players to Spurs… they’ve been doing it for decades. Waddle, Gazza, Ginola, Les Ferdinand – and the list goes on.’

‘Oh and thanks for the cash from Sissoko too. By the way spurs have a current gross financial dept of approx £851 million.’

‘I can’t see anywhere that anyone has said they hate spurs. In fact spurs are probably the london team the majority of fans from Newcastle don’t mind. The bars in Newcastle were all shouting for spurs season last in your Europa League final. Poor comment.’

‘If Tonali is valued at more than £80m, Anderson at over £120m and an untested 19 year old Ivorian at over £120m then this is going to be a very painful window for everyone. It is getting ridiculous.’

‘Newcastle fans are basically angry that they can’t financially dope their way to success.

Top clubs can spend big money because they’ve sustained success in some manner for decades, Newcastle are not in that category and PSR is there so that an oil state (for example) doesn’t come in and destroy the league. City/Etihad are about to learn this the hard way.’

‘Given that Tonali is contracted to Newcastle until 2030, if Spurs want to buy him then they will need to dig deeper and pay the £100M asking price. This will be a good test if the Spurs Board have turned over a new leaf and will pursue a player whatever it takes. Sadly that was clearly not the case in previous seasons.’

Tottenham Hotspur have opened talks with Newcastle United over a deal for Sandro Tonali according to the usually very reliable David Ornstein of The Athletic.

Ohers in the media were claiming late Saturday that Spurs had seen an £80m bid turned down by Newcastle United.

Meanwhile, David Ornstein with this more restrained Saturday night report/update, claiming the opening of official talks rather than a concrete offer already made.

It is always a case of picking and choosing who you believe in these transfer stories and I think my feeling is that the man from The Athletic is probably closest to the truth.

I think what probably isn’t in doubt now is that if somebody meets Newcastle United’s Sandro Tonali valuation then he could leave.

Whether that could be Tottenham remains to be seen.

I can’t help but think that Newcastle United are happy to engage in talks with Tottenham to then help draw out the likes of Arsenal and Manchester City, clubs that you could see Sandro Tonali potentially wanting to join, as opposed to Tottenham which makes absolutely no sense in terms of player ambition.

David Ornstein reports that Tottenham are: ‘…vying with Manchester City to sign Tonali if he leaves St James’ Park — but by making club-to-club contact, it steps up the pursuit and underlines their intent to strike a deal. Discussions between the 26-year-old midfielder’s representatives and both suitors continue, as they attempt to make an agreement on personal terms. Newcastle will seek about £100million ($133m) to consider selling the Italy international, whose contract runs until 2029 and has a 12-month extension option.’

Ornstein going on to say: ‘The Athletic reported on June 16 that Tottenham were in positive talks with Tonali’s camp and they had yet to engage with Newcastle on the matter. This has now changed and Spurs will hope that a high salary offer, head coach Roberto De Zerbi pushing for the transfer and the appeal of London may help swing the situation in their direction. Newcastle have remained open to selling Tonali this summer, should a bid meet their demands, having already sold winger Anthony Gordon for £69.3m to Barcelona.’

It has now been reported that Tottenham are in talks with representatives of Sandro Tonali ahead of a potential move from Newcastle United.

It is the usually very reliable David Ornstein of The Athletic with the story.

The man from The Athletic reporting: ‘Tottenham Hotspur are in positive talks with the camp of Newcastle United midfielder Sandro Tonali over a potential summer move. There has been no contact so far with Newcastle but, if an agreement looks possible with the player, club-to-club contact can be expected to follow. ‘

I must admit to feeling simply bemused by even the suggestion there is a possibility that Sandro Tonali could end up playing for Tottenham.

Spurs have avoided relegation by just one place in both the 2024/25 and 2025/26 season and appear trapped in a relentless cycle of hiring and firing managers in rapid succession. Roberto de Zerbi is the fourth Tottenham manager in place since the 2024/25 season ended.

A suppose there is a chance that Tottenham could potentially meet wage expectations, though surely Sandro Tonali would have to become the best paid player at Spurs. As to satisfying Tonali’s ambitions on the pitch, I can’t imagine how Tottenham could convince him on that front.

David Ornstein also points out: ‘The transfer fee is considered a bigger challenge for Spurs than a deal with Tonali…Tottenham are prepared to push hard for a statement signing, which is being driven by head coach Roberto De Zerbi and is backed by the ownership. Tonali, 26, has also attracted interest from Arsenal and Manchester City but at this stage Spurs are the most advanced over a proposed deal.’

Ornstein’s work colleague Jay Harris, who covers Tottenham for The Athletic, also gives his view on a potential Sandro Tonali signing: ‘They have acted shrewdly [bringing in free transfers Robertson and Senesi] but pulling off a deal for Tonali would be a real statement of intent under De Zerbi. Fans could start truly getting excited again about the future after narrowly avoiding relegation on the final day of last season. The Italy international is a powerful box-to-box midfielder and pairing him alongside James Maddison and Bentancur is a tantalising prospect. It will be a difficult deal to pull off though. Tottenham’s club-record signing is the £65million they paid Bournemouth to sign Dominic Solanke in August 2024. Newcastle signed Tonali from Milan in July 2023 for a fee in the region of €70m and could expect to make a significant profit.’

Harris adding: ‘Spurs are committed to overhauling their squad this summer but the awkward question remains of how they will fund all these moves. Spurs have traditionally held back on huge wages but senior figures have spoken in public about the need to address this. Convincing Pedro Porro to sign a new deal and following it up with the signing of Tonali would go some way to convince Spurs fans that this truly is a new era.’

Intriguing reading these comments from Spurs fans ahead of West Ham United facing Newcastle United.

A 5.30pm kick-off on Sunday at St James’ Park.

This Hammers match crucial as Spurs fans hope to see their own team avoid relegation.

Spurs fans commenting via their top supporters forum:

‘Newcastle vs West Ham is the key game, far more than us vs. Chelsea which even at the best of times is usually a loss for us.

If West Ham win against Newcastle, I think we are relegation favourites.’

‘I tend to agree.

I think they draw at best. If they were at home I think they would possibly win the game.

If Newcastle finish with 11 men I genuinely think they will win. My silent concern is they don’t.

The biggest issue is whether one of their attackers turn up on the day.

Woltemade, despite a strong start hasn’t kicked-on, Wissa has been disappointing. Osula looks decent and keen. Gordon is expected to leave, so Howe has been reluctant to play him.’

‘I’m so nervous about the Newcastle game. I think West Ham will win.

And if they do, we are properly fu..ed’

‘Okay, and understandable but you think a winless West Ham (last 2 games) will beat the Geordies, who haven’t lost their last 2.

You are fearing it or you see evidence to suggest it’s likely?

Look mate, we all know it’s going to be one of three outcomes.

I just think likelihood is not that West Ham win. Fearing it I understand.’

‘It doesn’t matter what West Ham do, they can win 100-0 against Newcastle and 100-0 against Leeds and still go down, 2 more wins for us and we are safe no matter what and I hope this is what RDZ is hammering into the players as I don’t want to see us get nervous if West ham win, its still in our own hands and West ham would love to be in our position!!!!’

‘I could cope better with going down if it wasn’t between us and them. Romford is just going to be parades and street parties if they survive. Add that lot winning the league and maybe CL, nightmare of a season.’

‘I’m planning on hibernating for at least a decade.’

‘Never liked football anyway.’

‘We will all need to deal with the next 9 days in whatever manner we can and await the outcome.

Nothing is done or dusted, and the likelihood is that this goes to the final day, although results could bring that forward to Tuesday.

The baton of pressure has passed to West Ham for Sunday.’

‘The big thing is Bruno, Tonali and Joelinton playing that is a very robust and talented midfield. They are all back now.’

‘I think the only thing we have at this stage, and when we are down to 2 games, and next to no wiggle room, is hope, but based on best options and motivation.

Newcastle are near to full strength, at home and it’s their last home game of the season, but also with little to play for. Plusses and minuses, but much like Liverpool for example. Not been great but would you want to be their last home opponent? I wouldn’t.

As Spurs fans we will see it in various ways, West Ham fans, across a spectrum will see it in negative/positive terms equally as much.’

‘Even if Spam lose to Newcashle I don’t have a lot of hope that we can gain another point.’

‘Had a Villa fan on a Spurs youtube video after we beat them, claiming they’re being held back by the “cabal 6″‘

‘He’s probably referring to the limitations on their spending power.

Many Newcastle fans I know (one side of my family is Geordie) are absolutely convinced there is a cabal involving the BIG 6 conspiring to prevent the likes of them and Villa becoming top 6 regulars and breaking up the monopoly.’

‘We’ve had 2 yrs out of the top 6. Chelsea are out this season. Villa need to do something about it. Build a new stadium so they can increase their revenue like a certain London club did.

Stop paying 85% of their revenue in wages. Saudis shouldn’t own a club, same for Abu Dhabi. Couldn’t do it in most countries.’

‘Yeah, my Newcastle mate says a lot hate Spurs and the Spammers because we pushed for the Associated Party Transaction rules and similar. It meant they couldn’t buy their way to success in the same way City and Chavs have.’

‘It’s going to down to the wire isn’t it? And we all know that usually ends for us.’

‘Hate that it probably will. I’m still hoping it won’t. That somehow, this weekend and next weeks games go our way.’

‘I just can’t see us beating either Chelsea or Everton so I’m hoping West Ham don’t get another win.’

‘West Ham v The Toon will clearly have a huge impact ,we need them to lose because if they do win I think we will drop ‘

‘Our Home record is what’s going to kill us.’

‘Quite Ironic that we end up with the best Stadium in Europe and its what could end up sending us down…..’

The question we were asking on Wednsday was – As a Newcastle United fan, would you rather see Spurs or West Ham relegated?

As Newcastle United fans, if you had to choose, would you rather Spurs fans or West Ham supporters experienced the misery in 10 days time?

Until very recently, it had looked as though at least one or two more clubs could be in this relegation fight to the bitter end.

However, after the latest round of fixtures it is now only the two contenders.

That late Elliot Anderson goal against Newcastle United meant that Nottingham Forest ended up safe after the weekend.

Now with only two rounds of Premier League games remaining, West Ham trail Spurs by two points.

The relegation fight won’t be concluded on Sunday (17 May) BUT the result of Newcastle United v West Ham United could prove a decisive moment. That is then followed by Chelsea v Spurs on Tuesday 19 May.

Before then on the final day of the season, on Sunday 24 May, it is Spurs v Everton and West Ham v Leeds.

We just thought we would gauge what Newcastle United fans were thinking about this in advance of the Hammers match at St James’ Park.

So here are the final results, which club NUFC fans would prefer to see relegated…

A resounding verdict!

Many thanks to everybody who took the time to vote.

As ever, I enjoyed reading Jamie Smith’s latest contribution to The Mag (Schadenfreude, integrity, etc). Citing financial reasons, he declares that “the best result in the long term for Newcastle United on Sunday is for West Ham to win”.

Such a result would pile yet more pressure on Tottenham in the relegation dog fight, while ending our disappointing Premier League season with a dismal eighth home defeat.

There is, however, a way to avoid this unpleasant scenario of almost hoping we are beaten — without letting Spurs off the hook on which most of our fans would presumably like to see them impaled.

The two London clubs each have two games remaining. After Monday night’s draw against Leeds, Spurs go to Stamford Bridge next Tuesday, then host Everton on the final day.

West Ham are at home to Leeds that day, a week after playing at St James’ Park.

This is where things become tricky for somebody who failed maths O-level three times before taking the hint and concentrating on words rather than numbers.

Spurs are two points clear of the drop. If they lose their final two games and West Ham lose to us but beat Leeds, by my reckoning Spurs are down.

Would you honestly expect them to leave Stamford Bridge with anything except a bruising defeat?

Honesty is important here because, after the season Chelsea have endured, they are almost as much of a basket case as Spurs. Who knows which version of the King’s Road Strollers will put on a show in front of their frustrated supporters?

They will, presumably, fight tooth and nail at Wembley on Saturday in the FA Cup final. The fear is that, three days later, they will reprise their recent performance at the Amex, an appalling capitulation that cost Liam Rosenior his job.

With my glass half-full, I can see Chelsea doing enough to embarrass Spurs. After all, the hosts are the reigning Fifa Club World c Cup champions (ahem). There is no love lost between these outfits. Only a decade ago, the Battle of Stamford Bridge essentially ended the Cockerels’ hopes of a first top-tier title since 1961.

Chelsea have won 12 and drawn the other two of their 14 most recent Premier League matches against Spurs, home and away.

If my wishes come true, Spurs will start their not-so-super Sunday stuck on 38 points. West Ham will be on 36. Winner takes all, if their closest rivals lose.

Against Everton, Spurs would need to avoid defeat, because a point and their superior goal difference would scupper West Ham, whatever happened at the London Stadium.

How likely are Spurs to gain a single point? Not very. They have lost 10 of 18 home matches in the Premier League this season, drawn six and won two.

Everton will, all things being equal, have stuffed Sunderland in their penultimate match while we are beating West Ham. That would give the Toffees something to play for on the final day; the prospect of a Europa Conference League campaign next season.

That has been called a poisoned chalice on this forum but David Moyes won it with West Ham in 2023 and would doubtless love to do it again with Everton.

I can almost hear his pre-match talk: “C’mon, lads, who disnae fancy a Thursday night in Azerbaijan, Moldova or Kazahkstan? Let’s get at these fancy dans from the start!”

Rest assured, the Toffees will be up for it.

What of Leeds, whom West Ham must beat to survive the drop? Daniel Farke’s team have done well in the second half of the season and are unbeaten in the league since March 3.

They will be no pushovers. The Hammers have home advantage, however, and know that nothing but three points are essential. Those factors could prove decisive by 6pm on May 24.

So much for my crystal ball, which is ever so slightly clouded by wishful thinking.

Playing devil’s advocate, there are a few reasons to hope Spurs survive. Newcastle United have an excellent Premier League record against them. No game is ever easy but a match against the Cockerels comes pretty damn close. If we play them next season, that should be six points in the bag. Just the 34 more from 36 games to ease the relegation fears that are already on the mind of some Toon Army comrades.

Yes, Spurs did lure away Gazza and the Waddler in their prime, though the north Londoners were also canny enough to give us £850,000 for Kevin Scott in 1994 and £30m for Moussa Sissoko in 2016. Taa very much, don’t mind if we do!

Jamie Smith rightly points out that our annual income is nearly £240m lower than theirs in the most recent figures and the demise of any member of the “Big Six” has to be good news.

Perhaps a stay of execution, followed by a conclusive and costly collapse next season, would be a happy compromise.

No, let’s get rid of them now. Their owners did everything possible to delay and derail the Saudi PIF takeover, they wanted to join a European Super League, they deserve every horrible humiliation that comes their way.

As in all such cases, the supporters, those who are emotionally invested in a club, are the ones who suffer most. I have long-lasting friendships with fans of Spurs and West Ham. They commiserated with me in 2009 and 2016. Soon it will be my turn to reciprocate.

The question we are asking today is – As a Newcastle United fan, would you rather see Spurs or West Ham relegated?

I think that is the right way of phrasing it, as opposed to which of them you want to stay up…

As Newcastle United fans, if you had to choose, would you rather Spurs fans or West Ham supporters experienced the misery in 11 days time?

Until very recently, it had looked as though at least one or two more clubs could be in this relegation fight to the bitter end.

However, after the weekend it is now only the two contenders.

That late Elliot Anderson goal against Newcastle United meant that Nottingham Forest ended up safe after the weekend.

Now with only two rounds of Premier League games remaining, West Ham trail Spurs by two points.

The relegation fight won’t be concluded on Sunday (17 May) BUT the result of Newcastle United v West Ham United could prove a decisive moment. That is then followed by Chelsea v Spurs on Tuesday 19 May.

Before on the final day of the season, on Sunday 24 May, it is Spurs v Everton and West Ham v Leeds.

We just thought we would gauge what Newcastle United fans were thinking about this and will publish the poll result on Thursday, in advance of the Hammers match at St James’ Park.

So please choose from the two options below, what fits best with how you think.

Many thanks for taking the time to vote.

For me personally, VAR has sucked all the excitement out of celebrating a goal.

It has destroyed the instinctive reaction that used to follow the sight of the ball hitting the back of the net. The cursory glance at the linesman before going mental is long gone.

Even though I’m still off my feet, in that precise moment the celebration is hesitant, with thoughts immediately turning to VAR.

What follows is an anxious wait that lasts more than a few moments, with the need to look around the stadium, a glance up to the big screen before checking the opposition players and the referee for the tell-tale sign that a VAR check is coming.

Sometimes these checks don’t materialise and it’s back to celebrating and you might argue a goal is a goal, but it’s just not the same.

I wrote an article for the Mag published three years ago when commenting on the VAR debacle at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium after Luis Diaz’ perfectly good goal was disallowed because of the breakdown in communications involving Darren England, who was the Video Assistant Referee that day.

That name will be familiar to most of us because it was Darren England on VAR duty at Stockley Park last Sunday, when he asked referee Chris Kavanagh to take a closer look at the infringement on Arsenal keeper David Raya in the aftermath of former Newcastle United striker Callum Wilson’s late equaliser in West Ham’s home game against the Gunners.

The wild celebrations for the Happy Hammers were shortlived, the moment cruelly extinguished by VAR.

The stakes were incredibly high. Arsenal clinging onto all three points and barring a calamitous end to the season, they will surely be crowned Premier League champions on Sunday week.

West Ham meanwhile, denied a crucial point, knowing that even maximum points from their remaining fixtures against Newcastle United and Leeds may not be sufficient in their quest to avoid the drop.

Was it a foul? Maybe. Were there other infringements happening simultaneously? Definitely.

The real point here is inconsistent application of the laws of the game, together with more than a hint of irony.

One-third of Arsenal’s league goals have come in a not too dissimilar fashion to the goal that Callum Wilson was so cruelly denied, with the constant grappling, pushing, pulling and wrestling going unchecked. Fair to say that Arsenal have become adept at crowding and surrounding goalkeepers at corners, to score from set-pieces.

I read on the BBC Sport site: “For all the talk about jostling and pushing, West Ham’s is the only goal to be ruled out for it on VAR review this season.”

I was also reminded that Arsenal scored perfectly legitimate goals against Man Utd and Aston Villa earlier in the season despite William Saliba and Gabriel impeding both goalkeepers. And West Ham’s Pablo had been at it as recently as April, clearly putting his arm across Jordan Pickford when Thomas Soucek was the beneficiary, a game in which the Irons ran out 2-1 winners against Everton.

Back to Pablo last Sunday.

There is a school of thought that him being impeded by Leandro Trossard (who was clearly grabbing the Brazilian around the waist) directly contributed to the forward putting his arm across Raya.

Unprecedented holding and grappling at corners all stems from tweaks made to the Professional Game Match Officials (PGMOL) Competition Guidance Handbook in 2024/25, when the concept of “mutual holding” was deemed “should usually be allowed”, that “not every contact is a foul” and that referees should maintain a “high threshold” for intervention.

It strikes me that the controversy last Sunday was because England and Kavanagh took it upon themselves to enforce the rules in a manner that hadn’t been the case for many months previously.

And even if you think England made the right call to send Kavanagh to the VAR screen, was it clear and obvious? Not for me. Was it the case that Kavanagh had missed the incident? Highly likely, but quite bizarre given the prevailing circumstances that the referee managed to conclude that he’d seen that specific foul, but that he was able to effectively ignore and disregard all of the other incidents that were going on (and fouls being committed).

I am not disputing Pablo had his arm across Raya but such random enforcement of justice is a bit concerning isn’t it?

Is there an agenda to make sure Arsenal lift the title? Or to prevent Spurs from being relegated? If not the former, you might think the latter, when considering the standard of officiating in the first half at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium last night, the referee enforcing the eight second rule against Karl Darlow, which is the first time I can recall that happening in a long while.

Schadenfreude (n): a German word for the feeling of pleasure or satisfaction when something bad happens to someone else.

Come on, we’re all a bit guilty of this sometimes aren’t we?

Even if you’re such a decent person in life that you’ve never indulged even a bit, I bet everyone reading this regularly indulges in the above practice as a football supporter.

I’d double down on this bet that a good 99% of people reading this will have experienced Schadenfreude at the plight of Tottenham Hotspur this season. Keen for another dose as we enter the final days with the erstwhile Super League enthusiasts still a contender for the drop.

In fact, I’d go as far to say that the only people who don’t hold this view are Spurs fans, as well as supporters who have a particular issue with West Ham, either from personal experience or due to a closer rivalry such as Millwall.

The likelihood of this has reduced over the weekend unfortunately, as lucky Arsenal, miserable VAR decisions and the width of a crossbar, saw Tottenham gain a point on the Hammers.

As stated elsewhere, their superior goal difference means that, were Newcastle United to win on Sunday, Spurs would need only a point from two remaining games to stay up. All but game over.

Here’s where the quandary comes up.

What people may not realise is that preferring Spurs to go down is, from a Newcastle perspective, far more than just a case of Schadenfreude. Apologies, but once again I’m going to talk about money.

In this year’s Deloitte football money league, Spurs were 9th in the world, with total revenues of €672.6m (at today’s exchange rates £583.3m) a considerable gap on 17th placed Newcastle who clocked a mere €398.4m (also at today’s exchange rates £345.5m).

Without bleating on about PSR or SCR rules, that fundamentally means they have an additional £237.8m to play with each year. Newcastle have capacity to erode that gap as the slow recovery from Ashley’s commercial damage continues year-on-year, but the bottom line is that Tottenham will remain much wealthier for the foreseeable, in all likelihood until a new stadium is up and running on Tyneside.

In real terms this means that they can afford to spend bigger on transfers and, crucially, on wages. I have to laugh when I read stuff about players supposedly wanting to live in London, like 22 year olds from Brazil are mad for the musical theatre experiences of the West End or a stroll around the British Museum. If someone has a straight choice between Tottenham and Newcastle this summer and he chooses them, the biggest driving factor will be the excess money that can be pushed at both player and agent. Spurs have a surplus of waste that they need to deal with, but both clubs are in need of a fairly extensive summer rebuild and it’s fair to say we may be shopping in a similar aisle.

For me, this has created a paradox. Elliot Anderson’s late equaliser for Forest has as good as ended any hope of slithering into an ill-deserved European place (in spite of the historically low bar set to achieve this). Our pathetic level of ambition for this remaining pair of matches is, for me, to attempt to finish above Sunderland and to claw a few quid in prize money from a slightly higher league position.

Neither of these things are as big a prize as the prospect of flushing Spurs, so unfortunately there is only one conclusion. The best result in the long term for Newcastle United on Sunday is for West Ham to win. Not for spite, or masochism, for the cold hard, cash-driven tragedy that modern football has become.

I’m sure there will be hand wringing in the comments that wanting Newcastle United to lose is the worst thing you can possibly do.

Come the day I am equally sure I won’t be able to actively pursue this. When Newcastle get a corner I’ll be itching for Dan Burn to head it in and I’ll celebrate each goal in Yoane Wissa’s unlikely hat-trick. However, it sticks in the throat that in a season where United couldn’t motivate themselves to beat the tin pots of Bournemouth and Brentford, with a handful of away spectators celebrating in level seven, or the mackems, subjecting us to the gleeful gloatings of the unwashed hordes up there, they might finally find their groove to sicken an army of Hammers occupying those seats. After six months of miserable weekends, it would be very Newcastle to step up when it matters least.

There is of course, integrity.

I don’t expect Newcastle to consciously fail to try in a match and I’d be furious if they did. Everton did a similar dirty on us against Sunderland in 2016 and I’ll never forgive them and much as Spurs’ demise would be welcome, we owe them that.

But in a year where the team has specialised in letting us and themselves down when the clock hits 85 minutes, one last show before a summer reboot would be far from the end of the world, and for reasons way beyond Schadenfreude.

I don’t have too much interest at the top of the Premier League apart from hoping Lego heed is in tears again, the real interest for me is the final relegation spot and who will fill it.

We have six contenders left, mathematically speaking.

Newcastle United are one of those six but it’s highly unlikely to happen for us, so I’m going to trim it down to five.

After the weekend results, in descending Premier League table order we have Leeds, Palace, Forest, Spurs and West Ham.

First up Leeds. Now I think Newcastle have the best fans but this club are close. They back their team every game. The team on the pitch don’t cause us much harm. I remember their chairman angling one comment towards our owners but it wasn’t too much. I hope they stay up.

Crystal Palace are next. They don’t bother me that much and have given me a lot of amusement when they won the FA Cup against Man City. They seem to have put their offensive flag away when we play them so I don’t mind them too much. I don’t mind if they stay up.

Nottingham Forest are just below them. We have some history with Forest, politically with the miners strike and also with a certain pitch invasion in the 70s. Forest don’t bother me too much tbh. We get good results against them and their owner never says bad stuff about us. I think he’s probably too busy eating. I hope they stay up (for Elliot Anderson).

Now we have lovely Spurs. A team who have always considered us to be some kind of talent academy that they can pick from. Sort of like the London version of liVARpool. Waddle, Gazza, Sir Les, Ruel Fox and then laughingly Kevin Scott for £850k. So maybe we got them with the last one.

But let’s cast our minds back to our takeover. Two teams were the most vocal in opposing it: liVARpool and Spurs. So wouldnt it be great if self-appointed big club Spurs get the boot. Well they did want to join the Super League the other year and I’ve heard the Championship is a super league to be in. If they do go down I hope clubs line up to pick their best players off like they do every year. Even if they don’t go down I wouldn’t mind us putting a cheeky bid in for Micky van de Ven, not serious, but just to let them know where they stand. I hope, I really really hope they go down.

Finally we have the happy hammers. West Ham on 13/3/76 was my first ever game (won 2-1). I’ve never minded this lot despite the 8-1 and the 2-0 in 95/96. They have decent fans and know how to protest.

However….going back to 1992/93 and we are top of the Championship under Kevin Keegan and playing some amazing football. So we have the Big Match or whatever on TV and Jimmy “West Ham” Greaves is at pains to point out second placed West Ham are actually the best team in the league. We beat them 2-0 and drew 0-0, won the league (Newcastle 96 points and West Ham finishing second on 88 points) but he couldn’t give us any credit.

Fast forward to the takeover and we have West Ham mouthpiece Karren Brady assuring the football public that despite the takeover “they” are not finished yet. I think she was referring to APT (Associated Party Transaction) rules which were rushed in very quickly after our takeover to limit sponsorship money helping us out. She seemed pleased with herself. I would be pleased and amused in equal measure if they get relegated. And we might just be the club to do it. Poetic justice even if she has recently left.

Not that I’m bitter of course and remember stuff I really should forget. I’d like to add that I’m kind to animals and help old ladies with their shopping.