Varadi

I reckon against that lineup a draw at least is possible.

He obviously knows how bad he's been and it must be frustrating the hell out of him, hence the increase in petulant outbursts we never used to see from him.

Marveaux definitely out according to Pards, so looks likely we'll see Jonas again, unless there's any sign of Obertan?

After last night's results the bookies have us out at 6/1, which equates to around 15% chance of going down.

Do we have any idea if Marv is fit for this one?

Of course.

Claims he hasn't got enough players apparently. For the record, this is their current squad list: Radek Černý Rob Green Brian Murphy Júlio César Armand Traoré Anton Ferdinand Clint Hill Nedum Onuoha Ryan Nelsen José Bosingwa Fábio da Silva Max Ehmer Luke Young Samba Diakité Shaun Derry Park Ji-Sung Adel Taarabt Shaun Wright-Phillips Esteban Granero Hogan Ephraim Junior Hoilett Michael Doughty Alejandro Faurlín Stéphane Mbia Andy Johnson Jamie Mackie Loïc Rémy Bobby Zamora Rob Hulse Jay Bothroyd DJ Campbell

Just noticed he had 2 keepers on the bench tonight - is the cheeky bastard trying to pretend he hasn't got a big enough squad??

Would've been in his element in that midfield second half - miss his physical presence when the tackles are flying around.

Really, really poor tonight - looks like his confidence is shot to pieces, even basic passing and control seems beyond him. Desperately needs a break from first team action.

Back to his best - won us the 3 points second half.

Just cannot get my head around this argument. What about the first-half then? Would have been interesting viewing without Gouffran and Sissoko on the field. For the record, I agree that Pardew is pants. Games don't last for one half though, that's Pardew's problem. His problem isn't necessarily getting the team playing, it's getting them playing for 90 minutes, it's getting them playing when we're behind and getting them playing when we're in front. When something actually happens on the pitch, them scoring, us scoring, a substitution, them making a pass, he absolutely shits himself. We are a million miles from being the worst team in the league but we're by far the least effective in terms of actually getting results relative to the squad. We'd actually be better with a load of cloggers because that's what he knows - that's why he picks Perch and Shola so consistently. This is two games in a row against, imo, the two worst teams in the league that we've lost one and deserved to lose the other having been winning without breaking sweat at half time. He's by far the worst manager in the league this season at actually getting points given what he has to work with. Fair enough, but I think the more good players we have the better - regardless of who the manager is. The difference it's made having Debuchy in there and Cabaye back has been pretty large already and now we've got the added influx of Gouffran, Sissoko and Yanga-Mbiwa. I can't see it doing anything other than helping us. We're at a low, low ebb but we've somehow managed to come away with 3 points there - largely thanks to the club going out and spending money on some quality players. Without that we'd have seen Shola starting again and we probably wouldn't have taken anything from this game. I'm not going to disagree about anything regarding Pardew's ability - or lack thereof - as a manager, but I will not ever be swayed into thinking I need to "give my head a shake" for believing that the lack of purchases made in the summer hasn't affected us negatively too. There's a lot more goes into the outcome of a match than just what the manager brings to the table. Good post.

Quite liked his new goatee beard.

Hard to tell much from that cameo, but I actually think he'll be more suited to the game against Chelsea and hope he starts that one.

Fucking hell what a tense second half that was! So, so important that we held on for the 3 points, losing a 2 goal lead here would've been terrible for confidence. At least the new lads know a bit more about this league now, Sissoko looks top quality and HBA and Tiote still to come in - cautiously optimistic....

Absolutely. And Anita is on the bench if we need to go more attacking later on.

Some proper melodramatics here mind! Ultimately he'll live or die by his selections - I for one am going to actually watch the game before I call for his head!

Is that right? Where's Agbonlahor and Weimann - thought they had been 2 of their better players?

Decent side. at the Marv reactions. Hope it's nothing serious mind...

I'm absolutely fascinated by tonight's game. Are you guys mainly bricking it, or really confident? Think that should be a poll tbh. Confidently bricking it. Ask again at 6:45 after the team sheets are announced. I've mentioned it before, but my wife is Villa. She's just completely given up on this season. It just seems to me that even if they win, they expect to go down - almost to a man. Look at Brummie's post a couple of pages back to confirm this. Really depressing to see such a long time supporter so depressed about his team tbh. I know a lot of NUFC-fans don't like them since our relegation, but after tonight I would really like them to pick themselves up tbh. It's a symptom of the game today. Brummie has long bemoaned the current state of affairs, but it's possible to tolerate it as long as your team is half-decent, or has the potential to be. When that goes too, then it's rough. My first Spurs game was in the 70s, in the Second Division. I would be tempted to walk away from football now, if we hadn't got a terrific (for the most part) chairman ten years ago. If I was still in England I'd have probably started to watch Leyton Orient more often, then had to stand and watch as West Ham got gifted a stadium in their backyard. That would probably have been enough for me to walk away. I never thought I'd prefer the American way of approaching sports, but despite several flaws, there's something really right about knowing that however s*** your local team is this season, a couple of drafts might turn things your way. I still feel at heart that you should support your local club, but in many cases the club properly rooted in your community probably plays in the Northern League, or Conference South. I'm just very, very lucky that my team is Spurs, just as you are very lucky that yours is Newcastle (and specifically, that you stopped being ropey at exactly the right time - the beginning of the Premier League). If your team is neither of the above, and has one or two poor seasons, then it feels like that could be your lot. That's a fantastic post - sums up the current situation perfectly.

So when he concedes a penalty then gets sent off it's you we have to blame!

From the same Twitter that confirmed when he was joining us: Loreleï Jade ‏@Lorelei_Jade A little bird told me that Yoan Gouffran might be starting on the right wing ("might" is just a figure of speech #ifUknowWhatImean..) #NUFC

Aye, definite excess of PMT (pre-match tension) in here today - there's a few people maybe need to go for a walk or something.

Last time I was at Villa Park Duncan Ferguson scored the winner - I was in the first few rows and the mad b****** went mental celebrating right in front of us.