The Prophet

I'd fancy us to win if we didn't have the cup final a week later.

Sounds great with hindsight, but they were incredibly fortunate.

A defeat on Monday leaves us three points off 5th. It wouldn't be the end of the world, but we can't keep waiting until the next game to get our act together. Every game counts now and on paper at least, Monday is a big opportunity to take three points.

I'm confident that our form will take an upturn, it always does, but we need to give ourselves an opportunity to put a run together before we run out of road. We're more than good enough to beat this lot, but I can't shake the feeling that we'll have more than half an eye on the final.

Our business in the transfer market since the takeover has been very good. However the types of deals that we were doing i.e almost exclusively minimal risk at a premium, were unsustainable under PSR. I think both things can be true. It also doesn't mean that we need to bin off the previous approach entirely moving forward.

Forest have started to struggle away from home, but their home form alone should be enough for a European spot.

If there was any doubt before, full strength please.

That doesn't mean it can't work though.

Worked pretty well in the league game v Arsenal.

Big fan of Delap, he's a proper throwback. For the sake of his career though, he needs to play for a club where he'll be first choice.

Comfortable A.

Not at the moment we don't. Botman is class, he doesn't require huge amounts of pace because his reading of the game is second to none. We were warned that the road to recovery could be quite a long one, it's not like he's breaking down with soft tissue injuries all of the time. It also shows it's worth waiting to have a decent amount of information before playing the blame game, no matter how frustrating these things can be.

Minor surgery to clear out some fluid and then potentially back before the end of the season. I'd just make sure he's spot on for pre-season at this point. Seems this kind of injury comes with the territory for an ACL recovery.

Hope: "Newcastle will not take any risks with Sven Botman during the remainder of this season, and only after knee surgery will the extent of his absence be known. Mail Sport revealed this week that the defender is set for an operation after seeing a specialist on Tuesday, and that will rule him out of the Carabao Cup final on March 16. Botman will no doubt be determined to return before the end of May, especially as the issue is not thought to be too serious and is not connected to the ACL injury that kept him out for 10 months before his return in January. That is the good news. However, the 25-year-old’s season could yet be over if medical staff decide the risk outweighs the reward in him playing before the end of the campaign. That is a consideration for down the line. Botman was outstanding after his comeback in January, but he has not been seen since limping out of the 2-0 Carabao Cup semi-final second leg win over Arsenal a month ago. It was hoped he would have returned by now, but this week’s specialist opinion has advised that surgery is the best way forward."

Kyle Walker-Peters though would be a lovely old pick up though.

Lads, we're winning it.

TBG strikes again.

He does, but it doesn't necessarily mean it's too serious. Sounds like he could be back this season, but we may well start preparing him for preseason.

I'm not on expert on ACL injuries and I have no idea what his rehab was, so I'll have to pass on that. Seems like finger pointing for the sake of it though.

That's a bit of a reach mind.

If he needs keyhole surgery to remove bone fragments, it'll be relatively minor surgery.