OPINION
Of all the former Newcastle United players who would go on to become a vocal spokesman against the Mike Ashley regime, the odds of it being Michael Chopra who rose to prominence would probably have been pretty long.
But here we are, and after a summer of disruption and upheaval, it has been the ex-Toon striker who has found himself at the forefront of the protest discourse.
And last week that spilled over into direct confrontation with Magpies boss Steve Bruce.
As reported by Sky Sports News, Chopra claimed that some Toon players had told him that they didn’t know what their jobs were under Bruce. Bruce retaliated, refuting the suggestion, and the messy saga of the Ashley era got another regrettable footnote.
The whole thing was made even more interesting, however, when the Toon Army picked up an unexpected win over Tottenham on Sunday.
That 1-0 thunderbolt was a shock to the system, as well as a perfectly-timed antidote to some of the anti-Bruce unrest that had begun to spring up since the 3-1 defeat to Norwich City.
It also left Chopra in a predicament. Should he stick to his guns and save face or back down and relent?
In the end, he did the latter, writing on his personal Twitter account: “Credit where credit is due, Newcastle looked like a different team today.
“Well done and well done Steve Bruce, great 3 points.”
Fair enough, Chopra had to acknowledge a fantastic performance from a Toon side that looked far more comfortable in its familiar 3-5-2 that served it so well under Rafa Benitez last year.
But by no means should Chopra go back on everything he has said.
Every point he has raised has been salient and justified, and while Sunday was a much, much better outing from the Magpies, one game will not define their season.
Everybody has off days and everybody has exceptionally good days too.
Come back to this one in a month or two and then see whether Chopra is still holding his hands up in concession.
