‘You’ve got to win your home games’ is a phrase coined by many football fans across the world. It is a principle understood to be common footballing law, and is the general trend of league fixtures throughout the leagues. Take the example of Shakhtar Donetsk in the Ukrainian League, who in 2012, went on a 24-match winning streak, meanwhile closer to home, between 2003-2004, Celtic won 25 league matches on the bounce, an extraordinary effort. This begs the question, how does a team become a fortress at home?
Newcastle United Away Day Blues
A home fortress is something that Newcastle need to establish, and fast, considering the frequency of away day catastrophes and United no-shows. On the whole, Newcastle’s home form over the past few seasons has helped them greatly in their efforts to maintain their Premier League survival, however the job would have been made endlessly easier had Newcastle bettered their woeful away form.
Plenty of sides do not have a great string of results away from home, in fact it is the norm that away sides are the underdogs in most top fixtures due to imposing, hostile home atmospheres, smaller changing rooms and the lack of home comforts. However, Newcastle United’s record away from home in the league is one of the worst out of the 92 League sides. To put this into perspective, here are some facts and figures:
In 2015, Newcastle have won two away league games out of a possible 15, losing 11 of those.
In 2015, Newcastle have scored a total of seven goals in 15 away matches.
Since the beginning of 2014, Newcastle have scored an away goal in 14/35 matches.
Out of a potential 75 points available in away games from the start of the 2014/15 season, Newcastle have amassed a measly 17.
This worrying trend has continued on from the Pardew and Carver regime and the era of collapsing away from home does not seem to be disappearing any time soon, which is precisely why Newcastle must make St James’ Park a fortress once again. Critics may claim this is out of reach for a stagnating mid-table club but there are plenty of examples where teams like Stoke City have made their home ground a formidable place to play for the opposition.
Recent results at St James’ Park have been sub-par, especially against the teams around Newcastle in the terms of class and squad quality. The buoyant Leicester City arrived on Tyneside last weekend, and romped to a 3-0 win against a lacklustre United. These types of results cannot continue if Newcastle are to firstly retain their Premier League status, but also to aim to improve their league position.
Only 20 years ago, Newcastle United finished in second place in the Premier League with an outstanding home record of 17 wins, one draw and one defeat in the 1995/96 season. This shows exactly how influential a magnificent home record can be for any team spurred on by 50,000 enthusiastic fans supporting the team unconditionally on a regular basis.
United’s away day performances have been woeful in recent times and this must be addressed, however arguably a more pressing issue is the need to make St James’ Park a fortress once again. With the current crop of players, some desire and potentially the odd January addition here or there, Newcastle can turn the fortunes of their season around, and hopefully give the regular away day sold out allocation something to cheer about.
