Written by Nick Upton
Marc Newsham – Arguably a Boston United legend in the making, yet some people beg to differ.
At Boston United, there has been an air of negativity from some fans ever since the demotion to the Northern Premier League for the 2008/09 season. No doubt the hoards of moaning, evergreen pessimists have been around for a time long preceding that too, but the June/July period of 2009 saw the Pilgrims announce the signing of ex-Rotherham United attacking midfielder/striker Marc Newsham. Released by the Millers following a less than successful loan spell at Boston’s league rivals Gainsborough Trinity, he would no doubt have been looking to manufacture himself the opportunity to bed into a team that believed in him and gave him a real chance to see what he could do. The 2009/10 season saw him lap up that opportunity as he made his mark on the Northern Prem, hitting 29 goals in 51 games (49 starts) and in doing so, playing a vital part in Boston’s promotion back to the Conference North.
Boston haven’t budged from that level of the football pyramid since, and fans across the board have tried to fathom why this is. With a lot of the regular fans now being at least 50 years of age, the general perception of the team remains diluted with memories of teams gone by. The team of 2005/06 is regularly touted as one of the finest, albeit not that long ago. The older generation even refer back to one, solitary result; the 6-1 drubbing of Derby County in the FA Cup 2nd round in 1955, exclaiming “I was there!” So what? It was far too long ago to be relevant.
A more recent and indeed present target of blame is Marc Newsham. If I had a quid for every time his name is mentioned negatively on social networking and online forums, I’d be rolling in it. I hear him being used as an outlet for frustration at least once a week. “He doesn’t work hard enough”, “He’s lazy”, “I see Newsham missed a sitter today for his hattrick – bottlejob”. Get a grip, seriously. What do you expect of the man? He’s a poacher, not an all-action, complete striker. As has been previously said, he was a vital piece of the jigsaw when United won promotion from the Unibond, he’s passed the 100-goal mark for the club, he evidently loves playing for the club, why must people constantly bring him down? His game doesn’t incorporate an all-action style, it’s not him. I can understand a little frustration at the lack of options up top as I share the same view, but how is that Newsh’s fault? He’s one part of a much larger picture.
What people must understand is that players play certain roles within a team. Not every single player is complete – if they were, they wouldn’t be at Boston United, let’s face it. Newsham’s role is to convert chances, not win headers and battle with centre halves physically and he happens to be one of the best at what he does in the Conference league setup, let alone the Conference North. If we let him go, you’d notice a huge difference. He’s become a mainstay of the team for a reason…
2009/10: 51 apps – 29 goals
2010/11: 30 apps – 5 goals
2011/12: 49 apps – 21 goals
2012/13: 51 apps – 30 goals
2013/14 (as of March 2014): 38 apps – 21 goals
Bear in mind his 2010/11 campaign was blighted with annoying, niggling injuries and that’s one hell of a record for a striker at any level of the game. The scary thing is that he’s on course for his best total this season if he can recapture his goalscoring touch. Thankfully, the lack of goals recently hasn’t affected the team as much because of Ricky Miller’s exceptional form, but looking at those figures, can you really attach any blame to Newsham? Looks like he’s doing his job to me. There are overrated, world-renowned strikers in the top leagues of Europe with worse goal records than the one stated above. If you want to blame anyone for the fact we’ve not moved forward, take a look at yourselves. Clinging onto the past isn’t going to help anyone progress.
Boston United are one of the country’s most successful non-league clubs, but are you satisfied with that? I would take a wild stab-in-the-dark at NO. We don’t want to remain a non-league club forever. I know of one man who’s said it’ll be downright depressing if Boston remain a non-league team by the time he’s 30. He’s now 28 and he made that statement (I believe he said) when he was 23. We all want the club to progress, but pinning the blame on individual players – particularly the likes of Marc Newsham – is an exhibition of sheer idiocy and spontaneous negativity born out of frustration. I don’t know if it’s just because he’s a player who’s been at the club throughout the time since the Unibond days and people aren’t satisfied with the level of progression since then, or if people don’t quite grasp the concept of player roles, but guess what, the game’s changed and developed. There’s more to it than just motivation. Sometimes, yes, players need to leave because they’re not quite what they were or they’re not providing anymore. This particular striker is STILL producing to an excellent standard and he applies himself brilliantly on and off the pitch.
I do, as previously stated, share the view that the team is lacking options up front though. Options meaning strikers who can play different roles. The ones that’re there at the moment are very similar to one another, that’s just how it is at the moment, but please don’t go pinning your frustration on a solitary player. A player who is a huge, huge part of the recent success the club have had.
Thanks for reading.
Under The Floodlights 