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That was dreadful, something's wrong with Mbemba this last couple of games he's played, wasn't that great against Derby either.

Watching this Cardiff - Leeds game, it's woeful, neither side should be anything for us to worry about. The empty seats tell you all about how Cardiff are these days.

The highest total points attained by the 3rd place team has been 86 (all the below refers to data since the division was rebranded "the Championship" which started in 2004/5). The average is somewhere around 82-83 mark (I don't have all the data). For the 2nd place the lowest ever points attained was Stoke in 2006/7 who finished on 79 points, highest points for second was Burnley in 2013/14 with 93. The average points attained is 86.5 For 1st the lowest points attained was also in 2006/7 when WBA were champs with 81 points (that figure would barely make the playoffs some years), while the highest was 106 by Reading in 2005/6. Average points to win the Champ has been 92.5.

What part, I write a lot of crap ! The bit about 90 points. OK, 90 points is the target from my perspective, I'm too much of a pessimist by nature to assume anything until it happens and if we pass 90 pints we are up, I think.

If we get to the top and clear by more than 3 points, I doubt anyone will catch us, but we've still got to get there, and form changes through the season, who knows we may be in a purple patch right now. Not going to count any chickens until I see 90 points on the board. If we're good enough to stay top then surely we're good enough to get there? Maybe I'm thick or something but I don't understand what you are saying or what was so ridiculous to Dave ? My point, which I thought was pretty clear, is that we are not top yet, but if we do get there and clear by a few points, it's gonna be tough for any team to knock us off. But I don't want to get arrogant enough to assume that we are just going to continue winning all season long, I think this form is pretty well permanent but who knows how the season will go, the sample size is still too small at 7 games.

I wonder how it feels though to have a team that has a sustained period of success, obviously the fan base doesn't think these early games are worthy enough of their support in person. I would like to think that wouldn't happen if we were ever in their position but who knows.

He can think it and say it to his chairman but coming out in public with the truth isn't always the right thing to do. It was just a clear attempt to get the owner to put his hand in his pocket, but then when he did he spent 13 million on an unknown to play in a position he already had plenty of options for.

What part, I write a lot of crap !

I think our biggest worry is our manager talking about a relegation fight in August Obvioulsy been to the McClaren school of football management. I don't disagree with that at all, it set a negative tone for the whole season, it was a hamfisted attempt to extract more money from the owner, but all it served was removing any hope from the fan base and put potential transfer targets off a move to a club who are aiming for 17th at best. And people applauded him for his honesty !!

According to the posts on the Beeb, Brentford bossed the second half, they are in 7th spot now and may be a bigger threat to us than Villa this season. Villa's own fans have said they've got the best first 11 in the division on paper, I'm not sure I agree with that but even if it's true the managerial pairing which you would expect to be more than good enough for this level, has started really poorly, it might be a case of a lot of new signings tying to gel and all they need is time, who knows, but if I were a villa fan I would be very worried right now. ;D ;D dear me if they really think that Can't remember where I read it, but there was a number of them saying how good (comparative to this level) their first choice 11 was. They have Ayew, McCormack and that guy who scored today that they paid 18million for, so you can see to a degree where they are coming from, but for me it's a horribly imbalanced side and a paper thin squad, should still be pushing for a playoff spot though, not sitting on 1 win from 7 games.

If we get to the top and clear by more than 3 points, I doubt anyone will catch us, but we've still got to get there, and form changes through the season, who knows we may be in a purple patch right now. Not going to count any chickens until I see 90 points on the board.

According to the posts on the Beeb, Brentford bossed the second half, they are in 7th spot now and may be a bigger threat to us than Villa this season. Villa's own fans have said they've got the best first 11 in the division on paper, I'm not sure I agree with that but even if it's true the managerial pairing which you would expect to be more than good enough for this level, has started really poorly, it might be a case of a lot of new signings tying to gel and all they need is time, who knows, but if I were a villa fan I would be very worried right now.

They said they were the biggest club ever to be relegated from the PL. There's certainly an argument for that, if you look at their History, no one has won as much as Villa have over the years and been relegated out of the PL, but it's a long time since they've been relevant and from a fan base perspective it's not even close between them and us.

It is, but equally who is going to create the chances for Defoe, even when he's fit ? They've got a lot of head down runners in that team, not a player amongst them with any vision to play in Defoe. Oh also they were terrible at the back on Monday Hehe it's not an easy fix for them. Defoe feeds off scraps, he showed that last season He gets injured and you struggle to see where the goals will come from Seriously they are going to struggle to even create "scraps" the way they are playing.

True mark of a liar. I'm saying that an awful lot now too. TBH there is really no need for it.

It is, but equally who is going to create the chances for Defoe, even when he's fit ? They've got a lot of head down runners in that team, not a player amongst them with any vision to play in Defoe. Oh also they were terrible at the back on Monday Hehe it's not an easy fix for them.

Personally I wouldn't lose any sleep over Leicester blowing up this year, not a lot of time for their fan base, not a deserving set of fans to have had the success they've had.

The away form is nothing new to NUFC apparently it was his forte at Liverpool too. It strikes at being an excellent coach because he is able to spot where things are going wrong or could be improved upon during 45 mins of football. The guy is just a top shelf coach, in many ways us getting relegated has probably more of a positive impact on us than we immediately thought. Having to beg him to come back and forced to give him full control can only benefit the club in the long term. I wonder if he would have been given the same amount of control had we stay afloat.

7 games in, expecting a bit much We should hopefully start seeing a gap in the next 5 or so games Yep this is the point in the season where things will start to settle in, we'll be into the regular 2 game a week schedule by then. I think we are right on schedule.

As long as it doesn't effect their confidence for their weekend game.

Villa 1 up on Brentford, while Rotherham just went ahead 1-0 against forest. Despite Villa being lower in the table probably better for us that Brentford win that one, Rotherham win over Forest is what we want.

That's excellent, thanks for sharing it man, I couldn't put the volume on at work but that guy in Sombero seems like a character Also noted how few of their fans left early, it wasn't until the sixth one went in that they tried to beat the traffic, unlike our near neighbours, having said that Sunderland's traffic situation is obviously a lot worse than the town that QPR reside in

I think they'll scrape survival yet again It's a tough call: Pros for them staying up: Manager with a pedigree A fair few poor teams on paper this season History of turning things around January window to come Cons Personally can't think of a weaker squad in the division Playing like a relegation side already Manager said to the world they are in a relegation fight in August No Newcastle games to get them 4-6 points Manager may not be relevant anymore Goals come from one source and he's 34 It was far easier to list Cons than Pros, that's got to be a big indication that they may have run out of luck this year. I think after their game at Spuds, someone said they have a couple of games against other relegation rivals, that'll be a good time to judge if they are likely to eventually be flushed away this year.

If they get relegated and we go up, it will be funny to see their take on the situation. I read a few threads on their forum, I'm kind of embarrassed that they are our local rivals and we share a region, the vast majority of them on that board are just blinded by hate, it's ridiculous. One post I read described us as the most fickle fans in the world, WTF, that just has no merit whatsoever. We haven't won a trophy in 47 years, next year will mark 90 years since our last league title, yet we are still packing away grounds and filling our home stadium with bigger crowds than almost every club in the country. FFS fickle is the one thing you can not level at Newcastle fans. Especially when your club is known for their empty pink seats, with most leaving midway through the second half of their last game presumably to beat the intense traffic in the metropolis that is Sunderland. One of the things I always find funny when I pop over to their fourm is the avatars folks have with all their Sunderland "Heroes" ! Who are these "Heroes", Gary Bennett, Kevin Ball, Sweepa Kev, Niall Quinn (the worlds greatest Chairman too). It's laughable really who they can recall with any fondness.

Or to fall out with Moyes and not be interested any more He was really pretty poor against Everton. They've been exceptionally fortunate with his fitness and his age is something that has got to become a factor soon, Spuds thought he was past it 3 or so years ago. Honestly the most baffling thing in the transfer window for them was letting two strikers (I use that term in the very loosest sense but both Graham and Fletcher had scored PL goals in the past) leave and not replacing them when their sole options were a 34 year old and a young kid who may become great but is a long way off that day.