It is not all about Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon | OneFootball

Which Newcastle United player got a mention in the TV series “Frasier” (find out later).

I know this is going to sound like pretty basic stuff but stick with me.

To win a game you have to score more goals than the other team.

There. The secret’s out.

Two sporting gurus summed it up best.

The first guru, a certain Kevin Keegan, is probably mostly remembered for two quotes at Newcastle.

One starts with “I will love it….”, but we’ll just ignore that one, which while not being quite as prophetic as we’d hoped it might be back in 1996, at least demonstrated his passion for the club and the game. The other one he’s famous for was the Entertainers mantra “if you score three, we’ll score four.”

The second guru I’m referring to and no doubt drawing his inspiration from the wise words of King Kev, was that sporting legend, Fat Les.

Yes, the simplest way to win a game – “we’re gonna score one more than you!”

You can win a game 1-0, or you can win a game 4-3.

One relies on having a steady defence and a front line that can score a single goal, while the other needs a superstar front line firing on all cylinders all the time, and will set you back a few hundred million quid.

My personal theory is that the defence is what makes a great team great.

Yes, we’re having a good run of form but we tend to struggle with consistency, especially at the back.

Every dominant Premier League team (and First Division before that) had, during their purple patch, a superstar monster defender marshalling the back line. Sometimes they hunted in pairs but the thesis stands.

Think Terry, Ferdinand, Adams, Kompany, Vidic, Neville, Kyle Walker, Pallister, Irwin, Cole.

With 164 major trophies between them, they made the difference between needing a single goal to win a match and needing a hatful.

Yes, we all fawned over the Henrys, Beckhams and Drogbas etc – though possibly not so much over Michael Owen – but how much harder would Henry have had to work if he didn’t have an Adams behind him, or Drogba without a Terry?

It doesn’t have to be a complete back line of superstar defenders. A quality leader in defence makes all the difference.

When many of us think of Newcastle defenders in the relatively recent past, your mind may be drawn to the likes of Titus Bramble and Jean-Alain Boumsong. Hardly harbingers of confidence.

Bramble – the only Premier League player to be cheered onto the pitch as a sub, BY THE OPPOSITION.

And let’s not forget Steven Taylor and his “shot by a sniper in the stands” amateur dramatics.

I have to admit to getting a bit excited when Kieran Trippier joined us, thinking “this could be it” but, while many of his performances have been outstanding, we definitely got him at the wrong end of his career.

While on the subject of Captain Tripps, am I the only one that remembers the fantastic understanding that the wee fella had on the right wing with Miggy? The overlapping play that resulted in Miggy actually scoring goals, just carving their way through opposition defences almost at will? You have to wonder, as we failed to come up with anything better, why they both spent so much time on the bench when both were fit?

So, back to the whole defence thing.

Is it just a coincidence that in the 22/23 season we had possibly our best and most consistent back four combination since the establishment of the Premier League? Playing almost all the way through the whole season, conceding the fewest goals of any team in that league, and we qualify for Europe?

I don’t think so.

Don’t get me wrong on Alexander Isak. I haven’t been so impressed by a Toon striker since Cisse was banging them in from all over the park, but taking into consideration the tenet of my defender theory, is Sven Botman going to be the answer to our prayers?

When he’s fit and back into his rhythm again, a couple of years older and wiser than when we got him, could he be the driving force at the back that takes us to the next level? Well, I have to back my theory and say “yes.” With the proviso that when he comes back he’s the same speed merchant that he was before his injury.

Here’s a little known Sven Botman fact.

In the TV series “Frasier”, Frasier is telling Roz that Daphne is having difficulty finding a date, so Roz gets her little black book out and offers to fix her up with two of her old flames. One is called “Brick” and the other is called “Sven Botman.”

I’ll just throw a little more controversy into the pot here.

Along with a solid defence we also need a solid keeper and I’ve never concealed my preference for Dubravka over Pope. Howe’s predilection with playing a sweeper-keeper maybe favours Pope but it doesn’t in any way make the Slovak any less capable. I have him down as a better shot stopper and well ahead in the decision making department.

I just think it’s a case of wrong place at the wrong time for Dubravka in Howe’s squad.

Personally, I’d play him over Pope any day.

I’m writing this on the 29th of December, two days before we play Man U.