Newcastle United fans lost their heads over the weekend after Sky Sports journalist Mark McAdam mentioned Arsenal out of nowhere when reporting on Alexander Isak scoring a goal against Southampton.
The Telegraph's Luke Edwards picked up on it and called out Mark McAdam on it, while scores of Newcastle fans piled on.
Obviously, we don't condone personal attacks/abuse directed at McAdam, but we certainly have nothing against those who called him out for mentioning Arsenal when it just wasn't warranted.
Now that it has all died down a bit, Keith Downie has sat down and made a video for YouTube in which he says that he spoke to Mark McAdam about it, and he says it was just an ill-advised thing to say and he understands why Newcastle fans were upset.
Then Downie goes on to address the idea that Sky Sports likes to gatekeep the 'Big Six' and pushes an agenda that keeps those clubs at the top and that they are trying to push the Isak to Arsenal story to make it happen.
It's something that has been a belief of fans up and down the country, but I'm sure many people are aware that it's merely a conspiracy theory. At the end of the day, Sky need viewer numbers and therefore it makes sense to tailor their broadcasts to the widest possible audience - those clubs with the bigger fanbases.
But Downie makes a good point. He said that Newcastle probably are one of the 'Big Six' now, and if you look at the Premier League table, we certainly look like we are given where Tottenham and Manchester United are currently sitting.
The bit about Keith Downie's video that I loved was when he told Newcastle fans to not be scared of our players being linked to bigger clubs.
"Think about yourself as one of the top clubs. Think about yourself as a club that can hold on to Alexander Isak. Don't be scared of people linking Isak to Arsenal, or Chelsea or Real Madrid or Liverpool. Don't be scared of that. Be confident that you can hold on to somebody like Alexander Isak."
It's a very good point. If we want to be taken seriously as a big club, we as fans need to start acting like we are a big club - we can't be scared of other clubs coming in for our top players, as the bigger we get and the more players of this quality we bring to the club, the more this is going to happen.
You may not agree with everything Keith Downie says in his video, but that, for me, is one part of it that we should all take notice of.
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
![]() |
23 | 35 | 56 |
2 |
![]() |
24 | 27 | 50 |
3 |
![]() |
24 | 13 | 47 |
4 |
![]() |
24 | 16 | 43 |
5 |
![]() |
24 | 13 | 41 |
6 |
![]() |
24 | 13 | 41 |
7 |
![]() |
24 | 13 | 40 |
8 |
![]() |
24 | -3 | 37 |
9 |
![]() |
24 | 4 | 36 |
10 |
![]() |
24 | -3 | 34 |
11 |
![]() |
24 | 0 | 31 |
12 |
![]() |
24 | -2 | 30 |
13 |
![]() |
24 | -6 | 29 |
14 |
![]() |
24 | 11 | 27 |
15 |
![]() |
24 | -17 | 27 |
16 |
![]() |
23 | -5 | 26 |
17 |
![]() |
24 | -18 | 19 |
18 |
![]() |
24 | -28 | 17 |
19 |
![]() |
24 | -27 | 16 |
20 |
![]() |
24 | -36 | 9 |