AS Chief Sports Writer at The Northern Echo, I’m fortunate to be able to cover the ups and downs of the region’s three biggest football clubs.

On Wednesday, I was at St Andrew’s to chronicle the latest step on Middlesbrough’s promotion push as they shrugged off the first-half dismissal of Dimi Konstantopoulos to claim the point that took them back to the top of the table. With just a point separating the top three teams, the remaining 15 matches promise to provide a thrilling end to the season.

Last weekend, I was in Bradford watching Sunderland’s season suffer another dramatic downward lurch as they were dumped out of the FA Cup by League One opposition.

Now clearly, there won’t be many Sunderland fans particularly enthused with their side’s performance at Valley Parade, and the increased fracturing of the relationship between the fanbase and head coach Gus Poyet was evident in the chants that could be heard in the second half. Those chants could well get an outing again if things do not go to plan when West Brom visit the Stadium of Light tomorrow.

It threatens to be a fraught afternoon, but whatever the outcome, it’s undoubtedly going to be exciting. There are countless sub-plots to what is happening with Sunderland at the moment, and with the relegation zone still much too close for comfort, the rest of the season also promises to be thrill-a-minute stuff on Wearside.

So far, so good. Then, of course, there is Newcastle United. Ah yes, Newcastle. Do you remember that club that used to be involved in some of the most important and dramatic matches of the season? There was always something worth writing about there, whether an impending crisis that was usually self-inflicted or a remarkable triumph that was being pulled off against the odds.

Not anymore. Newcastle have become the footballing equivalent of the piped music you hear in a hotel lobby. You know it’s there and you can’t really remember a time when it wasn’t, but you’re not really sure what purpose it’s serving and you’re pretty well convinced that no one is getting any enjoyment out of it.

Quite rightly, most neutral observers marvelled at the fact that more than 11,000 people turned up at St James’ Park on Monday to watch Newcastle’s under-18 side play in an FA Youth Cup quarter-final.

It was a hugely impressive crowd, but at least they were watching a match that meant something. I find it even more remarkable that getting on for 50,000 are to going to trek to the same ground a week tomorrow to watch a Premier League game against Aston Villa. Could the dramatic tension hanging over that game – at least from the home side’s perspective - be any limper?

The final three months of the season promise to be an exercise in tedium for the Magpies, and the blame for much of that can be laid firmly at the door of Mike Ashley and his acolytes in the St James’ Park boardroom.

Had, heaven forbid, Newcastle still been in a cup competition, the season could have been building to a heady crescendo. Predictably, though, that prospect disappeared on the first weekend of January.

Had Ashley appointed a permanent successor to Alan Pardew, at least the next three months would have been an interesting exercise in trying to second guess the new man’s styles and methodology. Who did he like, who didn’t he like, and what did that mean for Newcastle’s potential progress next season?

As it is, we’re stuck with John Carver in his three-month limbo, desperately trying to prove he is worthy of the job on a full-time basis, while having to concede that the difference between finishing seventh and 14th (a spread that encompasses by far the likeliest of finishing positions this season) is solely of interest to Ashley and his accountant.

Newcastle are not going to go down, and they’re not going to qualify for Europe. You can argue the former is an achievement given the lack of investment in the squad over the last couple of years, and it is. But it wasn’t enough to prevent Pardew experiencing the wrath of the Magpies faithful, so it’s unlikely to lead to any dancing in the streets between now and the end of May.

Some will claim that Sunderland fans would kill for a bit of mid-table security, and there is validity in that argument. But at least, with the memory of a Capital One Cup final appearance still vivid, they can look back on some hugely exciting times in the very recent past.

They can also cite the January signing of Jermain Defoe as proof of Ellis Short’s ongoing determination to improve things and build a club that will both challenge for silverware while remaining in the Premier League and attempt to entertain.

What can Newcastle fans console themselves with as they look forward to the matches that remain? An overdue derby win at the Stadium of Light would obviously be rapturously received, while games against Manchester City (which comes tomorrow), Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham at least offer the chance to exert a marginal influence on the battle for European places.

That’s a bit like being an extra in a film though. You can claim to have been involved in the final outcome, but everyone knows you were only there to make the numbers up.

That is what Newcastle have become, Premier League filler, and in many ways, that’s the worst slight that can be levelled at a club that revelled in its reputation as ‘the Entertainers’, challenging for titles, appearing at Wembley and striding confidently across the Champions League stage.

Those days were only a little over a decade ago. They could hardly feel further away at the moment.

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CHAMPS OF THE WEEK

BRADFORD  CITY

Most of the fall-out from Sunday’s FA Cup tie at Valley Parade has focused on the failings of Sunderland, but the quality of Bradford’s display should not be overlooked. Yes, the League One side used conditions to their advantage. But they also played some excellent passing football that put their top-flight opponents to the sword.

 

CHUMP OF THE WEEK

WAYNE ROONEY

When is a dive not a dive? The question was debated at length on Monday night after Wayne Rooney collapsed in the box to win a penalty against Preston. Perhaps the England skipper had to take evasive action to avoid a potentially dangerous collision. The more you see the incident, though, the more it looks like he was cheating to win a spot-kick.

 

PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK

IRELAND vs WEST INDIES

They’re supposed to be a second-tier nation, but Ireland certainly didn’t look like that as they trounced the West Indies in their opening game at the Cricket World Cup. Chasing what had looked a daunting target of 305, Ireland won with four wickets in hand and more than four overs to spare. No one will fancy facing them in the rest of the group stage.

 

CHARITY BET OF THE WEEK

Monbeg Dude (9-2) put up a decent effort in the Grand National Trial at Haydock, but could only finish in third. That means we’re back in the red, although hopefully things will take a turn for the better tomorrow. Follow @scottwilsonecho on Twitter for the weekend selection. Running total: -£1.00