Lazy Jamie O'Hara pushes nonsense Newcastle theory
You can tell the new football season is upon us as the biggest grifters in the punditry game dust off their clichés, pull up a mic, and verbally defecate into your ears.
Journeyman ex-footballer Jamie O’Hara has wowed the football-supporting public of the UK with a stunningly original line of punditry, something so original and interesting he’s sure to be receiving a call from the British Sports Journalism Awards committee any day now.
Speaking on TalkSPORT this week, O’Hara said:
"Foreign players will choose London over Newcastle every time.’"Chelsea is London, Newcastle's a bit cold…"
📍 "Newcastle's geography is a bit of a problem because they're up north!"
🥶 "Chelsea is London, Newcastle's a bit cold..."
Jamie O'Hara has a theory about why #NUFC are struggling to land top targets this summer! 👀 pic.twitter.com/4vpm0JA57Z
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) July 23, 2025
Every time, eh? Is that why every single player in Newcastle’s squad is British? Is that why the history of Newcastle United is littered with wonderful players from all over the world?
It’s deliberately antagonistic from O’Hara and it’s a facet of the football media in this country we could definitely do without.
I’m not naive enough to dismiss geography as a factor out of hand; of course, it matters to some, but that’s what the scouting process is for. You look for the right characters. Characters like Bruno and Tonali who can acclimatise to an area that isn’t considered as salubrious or metropolitan as London. Frankly, if London is such a pull for a player, then we don’t want them at United.
Despite the lazy punditry, there is a deeper issue at play here, and that’s the way this country has marketed itself, and to that end, has stifled investment in all areas of the country apart from London. Fifteen years of austerity under the last Conservative government (and continued by the current Labour government) have seen billions pored into infrastructure projects that barely reach beyond Birmingham, leaving the north and other regions begging like Oliver Twist for scraps and gruel.
Promises of ‘levelling up’ that have failed miserably and have had cash syphoned off into donors’ bank accounts, leaving the local communities with nothing as the only consequence, or unfinished projects left to rot and ruin - remember the region literally had to beg the government for the funds to finish the repairs on the Tyne Bridge.
These are also things PIF have yet to do in the wider Newcastle area, as was promised not long after the takeover. Beyond the Stack and rumours of bids for the racecourse and airport, nothing has happened.
None of this was intended by O’Hara, of course. He just wanted a cheap soundbite that his abortion of a radio station could clip up and plaster all over social media to try and stoke the ire of Newcastle United fans. And you wouldn’t expect any different from an ex-player who is universally disliked by every club’s fans that he played for.
