At the minute there are very few "PR wins" for Newcastle as a club that actually have any tangible effect on the fans: anything that is released in terms of public statements from players, current staff and even ex-staff known to still be close to the club is viewed with suspicion - and rightly so - and until results improve on the pitch nobody is going to be impressed with anything else. So when a picture - the one above - was "leaked" (probably by the same rogue photography fan who took snaps of Jack Colback's unveiling at St. James' in the summer), it was inevitable that everyone would take to social media to laugh at its unimpressive size. "Is that it?" they snorted, "I've seen them on sale in Aldi/Argos/Asda" (delete as applicable). Fans literally falling over themselves to laugh at something as pointless as the size of a big screen. The truth of the matter is that the picture actually shows the bracket on which the LED screen will sit: the actual size of that screen will still be 60m2, or something like 10m by 6m (unless it's going to be more of a square), and that doesn't equate to the leaked image. Besides, a second image (below) has already been released showing the bracket more coherently. We will see the full screen, which will be the same size as that on display at the Emirates Old Trafford cricket ground (below), against Leicester, and everyone will probably be utterly thrilled. Or they'll concentrate on things that actually matter, like the football on the pitch. But therein lies the point: when a club is so poorly run on the pitch, fans will inevitably pick up the simplest, silliest of matters to criticise. The inability to deliver on claims of the joint biggest LED screen in the Premier League might not seem like the biggest crime the current regime have perpetrated, but when their is pretty much no acknowledgement of the real issues with the team, and we're being fed the lie that the manager is "great" and "fantastic" and that there are rosier times ahead (a horizon that looks a million miles away) this is the kind of reaction that will inevitably be bred. Distraction tactics go both ways, after all.
