What an odd year it’s been.
This weekend saw Newcastle United move to the top of league AND celebrate a Steve McClaren inspired result, though not the way we might have expected at the start of 2016.
A 4-0 win thrashing of Birmingham City saw the Magpies reclaim top spot after a run of three losses on the bounce, while McClaren’s Derby side thumped bitter rivals Nottingham Forest.
It’s quite the turnaround, considering the fact the Reds beat Rafa Benitez’s side 2-1 at the City Ground last week in a thoroughly bizarre game.
While there’s not naturally too much of a rivalry between two giants of the English second tier, proceedings last week appear to have stoked one.
Henri Lansbury’s antics in getting both Paul Dummett and Jonjo Shelvey sent off (two dismissals later rescinded of course) have invoked the ire of the Toon Army.
So, imagine the jokes likely to pour in following Lansbury’s missing of the crunch clash at the iPro Stadium.
Here are some of the best.
As well as paying the FA to rescind the Shelvey and Dummet reds, we also paid to have Lansbury snipered in the warm up #nufc #nffc #karma
— Gianfranco Shola (@GianfrancoShoIa) December 11, 2016
https://twitter.com/TheMasterBucks/status/807917447114170368
https://twitter.com/basherbate/status/807960098190557185
https://twitter.com/Andrew27urfa/status/808040323536551936
Lansbury injured in the warm up hahaha .. oh man I bet Shelvey has been sent off for it #NUFC
— Gem (@Gemma_Boyes) December 11, 2016
