It can't get much worse for the Toon army, can it?

It is fair to say that there was a long period of time during which Newcastle United fans still tried to believe that it was just a bad dream, and that the Toon army were still in the Premier League. Having come to terms with this, there is now a new headline in Toontown.
Just when the Geordies thought life couldn't get any worse, along came the unveiling of Newcastle's new yellow strip, which prompted more scoffing than Shefki Kuqi at a pie convention.

It really couldn't have gone worse. While the official Newcastle United club website preferred to describe the strip as a "stylish new change kit", not too many fans shared the view, with one fan even likening it to "a side-on view of a custard cream".

And it seems that the press are having a field day coming up with puns on the new kit, while Matt Jensen, editor of The Mag, said to the Daily Telegraph, which is often all over Newcastle news: "My take on kits is as long as they're not red and white, I'm not really that bothered. There's certainly no chance of getting lost in the snow when we play Barnsley in December."

Joe on the Tyne Talk messageboard commented: "I think I just threw up a bit. But while the photoshop whizzkids had a reason to par-tay, producing these (right), and The Sun quickly got to work on an an update of their worst kits of all time feature, it seemed the players were quite happy with the 'deck chair from Blackpool'. A statement from Adidas, who designed and made the kits, read: "The feedback from both the players and the club has been extremely positive - vibrant colours are very popular at the moment." And the kit also had the backing of Ryan Jenkins, a (you guessed it) Sunderland fan. He said: "It's really appalling - I love it. It looks like Norwich and Blackpool got into a fight and this was the leftovers. Newcastle will have to call themselves the Toongerines."
In the words of Coldplay's Chris Martin: "Oh what a thing to do - and it was all yellow."


But Geordie fans weren't the only ones getting shirty over their new outfit. Man Utd supporters were demanding a rethink over their latest jersey, a month before it is due to hit the shelves, but by the sound of it it'll be staying there.

The well known red shirt is emblazoned with a black 'V', apparently to mark the centenary of Old Trafford, although fans complained it looked like Nike had just turned on Sky Sports and thought: "We'll have that one."was more suited to rugby league. On the bright side, at least Paul Scholes will be allowed six tackles next season.

Fans on United board Talking Reds were struggling to find any positives. Under the topic heading 'Who let a drunk person design the kit?', Gavinio said it be the new design that was the real reason Ronaldo left (and with Real Madrid reportedly inserting a £1bn transfer clause into his contract, he's unlikely to be back in a hurry - chevron or no chevron). Man City fans, however, are as competitive as ever, one fan saying "The new 'V' on their kit is like an arrow pointing down, which is where they're going" Shame Man U will always be top dog up their though isn't it?

But while the two Uniteds got in a bother about their new strips, they're lucky they've got one, as for poor old Stockport County may not have a kit for the coming season due to an ongoing debt problem. Never mind, chaps, if the protests in Manchester and Newcastle grow any louder, you may have a couple to choose from come August.

I found this childish whining almost as funny as the 'Liverpool sign Bent' joke doing the rounds (above) and Tweet by Gavin and Stacey star Matthew Horne: "Earlier today I saw a Newcastle season-ticket nailed to a tree. I thought 'I'm having that!' 'cos you can never have enough nails, can you?"

Mind you, I remember discussing this very topic about Palace's new kits only two months ago. Oh how fickle we football fans are!


Gibbo