Superior Acuña

Howay please, Villa. As I said though, in the other thread, if Villa don't win, at least it might make people realise we too can get something there. There's only one James Milner!

Not really no. Players get sent off & suspended all of the time. I've not looked it up, but I don't recall his onfield disciplinary record being particularly bad tbh. What he did was no worse than what Nolan did against Everton & I know which of the two I'd rather lose in the summer. I agree to an extent. Smith did worse in the actual game, he just missed the player. Has Barton been sent off for us before, I can't recall one?

At least if Hull can get something, might give us the belief we can too. Too many people write this game off.

They're only 2 ahead. They're -17 and we're -19. Hull are -22, and Boro are something worse. Our goals scored is better than Sunderland's and the same as Hull's.

It would be litterally impossible to catch them in that scenario without surpassing their goal difference though I know, people must remember this. There GD is better. Each time we win, ours must improve at least 1, and the same for their defeats. If we catch them, unless some weird results, our GD will be superior.

Was this actually his first red for us? I really think it's the timing that makes it bad. Plenty of players make such tackles, and surely even if he kept his head down off the pitch, we knew he was going to get sent off sometimes. If this was earlier in the season, I'm sure it would have been no big deal. But the timing couldn't be worse - 3 game ban, 3 games left. Is there no chance we'll appeal, to at least delay the ban?

I'm sure if he could if he wanted to. Just imagine: 90th minute at Villa Park, Sunderland are drawing with Chelsea, and at 0-0 we need to win to survive. Poor but strong Alan Smith shot hits off Milner and goes out for a corner. Shearer, with his suit on, rips off his shirt revealing the black and white, subs himself on for Duff and hits a bullet header in off the bar. What a legend he'd be.

Just saw the red card and honestly wasn't as bad as what I was expecting. It was hardly the career-ending horror the scousers were making out to be - Smith's one that got him a yellow was worse, he just failed to make contact. I said when he came back I don't mind him getting sent off occassionaly if he's good and keeps his head down off the pitch. It's just the timing of this that's painful, he looked promisingtoday and thought he'd be good against Boro.

Slightly more confident than i was after last week. Expected a defeat today but thought Sunderland would get something - struggle to see them winning now. Losing Barton is a blow though, as I think he looks like someone who could create against Boro particularly. Is it possible to appeal just to delay the ban?

If we won the league all them years ago, went on to be a consistently top side, and Man Utd went south, would you not be loving it? Perhaps. My point is people keep saying we're deluded for thinking we're a big club, yet I think the fact people care about us going down so much suggests otherwise. You never hear singing about Boro or West Brom.

If Newcastle are so not a big club, why the hell do Man Utd persist in singing about us going down, whoever they're playing?

I heard him say "Do yous come in your car", I honestly never heard him swear.

As long as these people who've thrown in the towel aren't coming into the games. I know i've posted a few times, but it's really winding me up. I mean, would these people be 100% they were staying up if they were Hull fans or mackems? I don't think so. It's like when people claim they've done crap in an exam when they don't really think they have, just to hedge their bets. That's harmless, but i believe it's harmful to the team if we go to the games defeated, at this stage.

People on here are loving saying we're already down, so they can laugh at anyone realistic enough to recognize there's some chance. I'm going to all 4 of the remaining games, and i'm going there with a bit of fight, otherwise i wouldn't be going.

I asked people on another forum if they wanted us to go down. Few said it would be terrible, but few said they couldn't wait 'so the geordies would realise newcastle isn't a big club'. I'm sorry but it is, regardless.

Hull play Stoke at home. Stoke have won 1 game all season away from home. They are not the same team. Stoke also have absolutely nothing to play for. I would be shocked if Hull dic not pick up at least a point from that game. But when was the last time Hull won at home? They couldn't even beat us for god's sake.

Why are people confident Hull can beat Stoke but we can't win? Pretty baseless, seems like people are deliberately negative about us.

I think there's a lot of people here who are just saying we're down to try and cushion the blow when it happens, or so they can say " I told you so" It's really pissing me off. Will you all please shut the hell up. We're quite obviously not down. We probably will go down, but we may well not, and you whining bastards don't help. People are getting accused of being deluded for thinking we have a chance. Well, you must be pretty deluded and not have watched much football yourself if you think a crap team can't catch another crap team 3 points ahead with 4 games left. I bet you all wouldn't think we were definitely down if you were Hull fans. And people can't write off the Villa game. What kind of quitter thinks it's impossible to get a point or more at a decent team with nothing to play for? Difficult, of course, but it's hardly a non-game. Same for Liverpool to an extent - it's hardly unheard of for a great team to draw with a crap one.

It is something that comforts me when I feel so gutted at a match. "At least I know there're thousands with me". At the same time, it's not nice thinking of my beloved city being depressed. I'm actually mainly Edinburgh-based, but i'm back a lot.

I really can't be arsed with people and their 10s and saying it's over. That's just stupid. I'm not saying we will stay up, but its idiotic to think there's no hope. We're crap, we'll probably get few more points, but its the same for those above us! 1 win, it may come from fluke or whatever is huge down here and its stupid to think its impossible. 1 win and we're level with Hull. Don't tell me it's impossible to get 4 points from the next 4 games. I'm not saying that would save us, but it might. And we might get more. Or Hull might go on a fluke good run. We don't know! I can't be arsed with people throwing in the towel now. There's 4 games left, and I'll be at them all, and I know it's possible til we're relegated. I'm a 9.

Yeah, but what if we draw with Pompy, Hull only get one more point (far from inconceivable) and we beat boro and draw with Fulham. With our GD maybe even lose to Fulham too. Of course it's a bad situation, but remember how crap Hull are too, so we'd be by no means down. With the way everyone is at the bottom, we're not down til we're down.

Obviously we need to go for a win, but we're not down with a draw. We could well beat Boro and Fulham, and we have to go to Villa Park believing we can get something, because though difficult, we can. Even Anfield. It's essential that if we don't win tomorrow people don't give it up.

I honestly wouldn't worry about Blackburn too much. A defeat's a bonus, but they'll be fine regardless I think.

That's excellent. No excuses now not to be waking up on Tuesday with some real belief. Expecting Blackburn to be fine because of their fixtures, but it would be nice to keep them in it too as a bonus.

Get in there. Would give us great chance if Arsenal win. If Blackburn don't, even better.