Gillingham away

26/8/14 A clean sheet, a first goal of the season (sort of) and safe passage through to the third round of the Capital Cup. They’re the positives. As was repeated by the radio commentators, it wasn’t a ‘harem-scarem’ cup tie, mainly because Gillingham only had one shot on target and, although it was hardly a classic performance from Newcastle, we are through to the next round of a cup. The way we, as Newcastle fans, take this information, can obviously spike out into many different ways, ranging from the ecstatic ‘if Sunderland can reach a cup final, then we can reach a cup final and win it!’ attitude to the more sobering ‘we had to rely on one of the players of a League One team to score against his own team in order for us to get through. We are getting relegated this season’ approach. Personally, I bounce from one point to the other, depending on the circumstances we face: home or away, the opposition, etc., but, I’m usually positive looking. To me, there’s something magical about a cup competition and the further we progress, the more excited I get, particularly should potential winners fall by the wayside (Manchester United crashed out this evening away to MK Dons). But, after tonight’s win away to Gillingham, I couldn’t help but think of the downright bizarre statement that came from the Newcastle hierarchy before the season began, in which they wrote off cup progression. Is our performance in the Gillingham match a follow-on from this announcement? I’d like to think it was the club’s clever way of playing down their own quiet confidence for the coming season, but I know this club and what it likes to put us through. But, I am going against my initial response to the result and I am being negative. Let’s accentuate the positive. Through to the next round of a cup competition, this can, hopefully, light the spark that gets the goals and points flowing on a very young season and, should we reach May and look back on, at least one, cup run, I, personally, consider that to be a successful season.