Tradition tells us to look back and to gaze forward, the calendar prompts us for resolution. As Newcastle United supporters contemplate what they were and who they are, it is worth recalling their club’s long, apathetic slide towards relegation, the arrival of Rafa Benítez and the change which has spread from the manager’s office towards every corner of the club. They are stronger now than they have been for years.
Second in the Sky Bet Championship and with four defeats in their last eight league matches, this is not a moment for bravado or complacency, but resolution is worthwhile. Resolve. If this is a blip, then it has beauty; six points clear of third in the table, 17 wins behind them, more than any other side, scouting players in the loan market and with a manager whose record places him amongst the elite.
If it is a test then it should be welcomed. Newcastle need to be tested, from the stands, to the pitch, to the boardroom, where relationships are still melding and corrosion is still being chipped from the stanchions. If they are to return to the Premier League, better to do so battled-scarred and hardened, having bitten and clawed and fought for every point, rather than via a lofty procession which teaches them little.
Newcastle are still learning how to win, still learning what it means to be united. They have the deepest squad in the division, but it is not the most streetwise or experienced. Their previous demotion in 2009 came with a context of no manager, the club aimless and up for sale and from that character and determination were born. Kevin Nolan knew how to win free kicks, to tread on the toes of defenders. They knew the tricks.
By contrast, their latest relegation was relatively serene. Benítez was already in place and the confirmation of his staying brought momentum. There was money to spend last summer and a profit made, too. The process of reconnection between club and support began in unlikely circumstances and has continued, but the recalibration of an institution is not a matter of pressing a button and resetting. It takes time, work, tests.
There can be no guarantees, but what would be the point of football if there were? And yet Benítez is the closest to certainty that Newcastle could have, with a garlanded history, an obsession over minute details. His attraction to Tyneside was partly emotional, a feeling of restless potential, the possibility of doing something which, after years of truncated ambition and being told they could not compete, was a form of validation.
Benítez never said that this would be easy and he was right. There have been episodes when Newcastle have looked far too good for their surroundings but on Boxing Day against Sheffield Wednesday, they were knocked from their rhythm, fouled and mugged and Benítez spoke about their game management afterwards. They have missed the suspended Jonjo Shelvey who, with a bit more intelligence, would be by far the best player in the division, but they need resolve, too.
A year ago, Steve McClaren was head coach. He had postponed his dismissal with victories over Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur, but there would then be a run of six games without a win, including a 1-0 defeat to Watford in the FA Cup. They were 18th.Ask McClaren about the club’s hierarchy, persuading directors to do things differently, and he would squirm and explain that, thanks to him, journalists were now offered tea and biscuits at press conferences. 
This grand old club in the heart of the city were cold and aloof, defined by their smallness, by their limitations. Benítez reverses that. They may not be in the Premier League, but they have been given a rare opportunity to start again, free, by and large, of financial restraint and with no lingering atmosphere of rancour. If they go up, Benítez will challenge the club to seek more than safety, but this is what all good managers do.
A couple of months ago, a senior figure at St James’ Park said something which would once have been unsayable: that he was glad Newcastle were relegated with Benítez in charge. Money is not everything and the Premier League is not worthy of the hyperbole it generates, particularly in the bottom half, and this was a heartfelt, footballing response at a club which had morphed into a works team for Sports Direct.
Newcastle have already cleared their biggest hurdle. With the important caveat that Mike Ashley’s ownership has never lost its capacity for self-defeating decisions, they have ripped up their rulebook and recognised their own role as a sporting entity. Promotion would bring another one, hard conversations about finance and ambition, but that is how it should be. And is it not better to stand for something and fail, to be a club again and fail, than relive what came before?
Four defeats in eight games is a test and one that Benítez will pore over; how best to manipulate tactics, personnel, formations, who to bring in, what to do better. Some players may not stay the course. But four defeats in eight games is also a chance for Newcastle - a rejigged Newcastle, a new Newcastle - to show what they are made of. To be stronger, to be tougher and, as far as their stadium is concerned, to be louder. For resolution.
By George Caulkin
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/newcas...ca9a93d7e4