Paullow

A lot of Newcastle interest in that Norwich 18. A shame Krul seems to have lost his place recently. I used to often see Hanley in Tesco while he was up here.

Ha, more like someone on here pretending to be him . There'll be loads going undercover on forums, some of those 'mags in peace' on RTG will likely be mackems, and there'll also be a fair few Newcastle fans on there pretending to be Sunderland. Probably get a few of those on here as well, ha.

Think I'll watch Burnley vs Norwich on Sky later instead of a CL match. Quite a big match. Norwich had 22 points from 24 available but now haven't won in their last 5 matches, so could badly do with getting at least a point here, but then Burnley are in pretty decent form, and will go top even with a draw. Would have been nice if that started at 7.30/45 for a bit of overlap at half time and stuff.

Exactly the 50:00 mark on here https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0d3q73h

I know the location isn't the most popular, not just because of the obvious, but also that all the stadiums are so close together that it will feel totally different to a traditional World Cup, and it may well affect our momentum if we do well in the next 4/5/6 matches (or it could actually help us recover with our high intensity pressing), but that aside, I'm really looking forward to this starting 3 weeks on Sunday. My general interest in football is through the roof these days, I'm watching all sorts, and the option to watch up to 4 matches per day is very appealing at the moment, as I'm sure if will be to other Newcastle fans. The timing is also controversial, but it's actually worked out well, unintentionally. Had it have been in the summer, then it would have just been 1 year after Euro '2020' and that would have felt far too soon, and had it have been next summer, then again, only one year from Euro 2024, and likewise, so with Covid, the timing has actually worked out perfectly with an 18 month gap between 3 major international tournaments. Quite a strange feeling - it would be great for them personally if Botman, Joelinton, and Wilson all made their respective squads (along with Pope, Tripper, Schaar, Bruno, and now Kuol), and another bit of interest to matches from our perspective should they feature, but on the other hand, it would be more beneficial to NUFC if they were part of the squad that went out to Saudi instead.

Debatable. 1.9 PPG vs 1.75, much longer period. well clear of Man Utd, and even further away from all of the 'lesser' pack. It really is staggering to see us winning 17 of the last 30 games (excluding the Watford draw in the first league match of 22). We've not had this kind of form for about 20 years, not even that one good year under Pardew.

Full league table for 2022 for the 17 clubs involved in both seasons. An incredible sight

Randomly, I'm off to watch Man Utd vs West Ham on Sunday. A mate randomly text saying they had a spare ticket and if I fancied it (assuming I wouldn't). Quite looking forward to it. Man U probably the most likely team we'll pass if we finish 6th, but West Ham probably the main rivals in the race for 7th. Hoping for an entertaining draw, although that would be seen as a good point for West Ham.

West Ham vs Bournemouth tonight on MNF. Along with Brighton, I do still see West Ham as the main threat for 7th and this will be a match they will definitely be looking to win, especially after dropping a few points they might not have been expected to. Mixed on Bournemouth, usually I'd quite like them to stay up as they shouldn't really be a threat, but the new ownership changes it a bit - not sure if they'll ever be in a position to challenge for those 7-9 spots, but it's another US owner, and if there ended up being enough of those types, then it could change the PL landscape in a way that doesn't benefit us. Would quite like to see a draw tonight.

Can't complain with 5. Thought it might have been more.

Tottenham's odds are shortening and they are now back to being odds on at Skybet (19/20). The shortest I saw us was 23/10 after Wednesday's respective matches, but generally drifting out towards 11/4. Possibly expected money going on with the murmurs of Bruno and / or Joelinton not playing.

Mind, it really is a proper budget this Sky red button service. One commentator, no replays. Think there's literally only one camera as well. Watford 2 up on Luton, so that's probably game over as contest as well.

Out of curiosity, which matches do you think they've been lucky in? It's probably been the opposite the times I have watched them on Sky (Blackburn, Norwich etc.), plus they've obviously been playing the last 5 or so matches with no recognised striker. I thought they might have had an outside shot of the playoffs, but the lack of squad depth, and one win in their last 7 has likely curbed that a bit, but I think they'll be in and around where they are now, and probably nearer 6th than 22nd in terms of points. But to answer the original question, yes, we should be finishing higher in our respective divisions.

And there it is...

Christ, they may be down to 10, but Cardiff got away with an absolute nailed on pen. Defender blatantly punched the ball away . Shocking. I think I'll switch over to Watford vs Luton (red button) the moment Swansea score, as it's still quite intriguing at the moment.

Cardiff down to 10 men after 7 mins in the South Wales derby. Completely changes the game.

Would have preferred a Chelsea win, but better than Man utd winning. We'll likely finish below both, but much more likely to finish above the latter, and that's a better point for them.

I know they were the third wheel of our Hughton Championship season, and then there was that ridiculous match at the City Ground under Rafa, and if they stay up and eventually push on, you can imagine a section of their fans having chips on their shoulder, but all that aside, I can't help but like them, and do hope they stay up. Awful result for Liverpool (huge contrast between their home and away form), fantastic result for Forest - starting to improve a little bit, 5 points from 4, 2 clean sheets in a row, only 2 goals conceded in those 4 etc. - certainly shakes things up a bit more at the bottom.

I guess a lot of Newcastle fans have been at this poll . I'd consider Everton, Newcastle, and Villa of similar stature, with Leeds (especially with their 16 years outside the top flight and at least 3 in League One) one level below, joined by West Ham with their recent emergence. I'd say Tottenham would be around the same level traditionally, but they really have differentiated themselves these past 15 years or so to join the 'big 6'.

League One offering from Sky tonight rather than a PL or Championship match like usual (especially the latter). Ipswich vs Derby at 8pm. BT Sport showing Porto vs Benfica at 8.15pm and that will likely go a long way in deciding the title with Sporting currently 9 points off the pace after only 9 games.

I was hoping he would have been kept on a bit longer (not from a Villa perspective, ha), and certainly until at least after next Saturday, but yeah, from an outside perspective, he did feel the main thing holding you back and that a more competent manager would get you up and running pretty sharp, and if you can get in someone with real credentials, like some of those that have been linked, then it will be like chalk and cheese. The fans had obviously turned, VillaTalk was like a bloodbath , and when you get to that stage, he has to go, because he was clearly on borrowed time, and a win here and there will just give him a tiny stay of execution, and needlessly delay the inevitable.

It's still not great, but isn't it 44 points from his 38 PL games? He took over last season on 10 points from Dean's 11 games, and then generated 35 in his 27 games to take you to 45 for the season (10W 5D 12L), and then the 9 from 11 this year (obviously poor), so in a full PL campaign of 38 games, it's 12W 8D 18L, 44 points. Not amazing as I say, and your squad / investment should be doing a lot better, but 36 points will often take you down, whereas 44 points will tend to get you around 14th, where you finished last season on 45 points? He did win 3 of his first 4 games, so it is 35 points from his last 34 games, which is poorer, and does look a lot worse.

I read it as 5th gets EL and the League Cup winner gets ECL, 7 European spots in total for the PL, and if both cups are won by non top 6 sides (very unlikely, of course) then only the top 5 will qualify for Europe via the league.

Imagine finishing in the top 6 for the time in years and not even qualifying for the Europa Conference . I guess it sort of happened in my first season of following football back in 1995 when we finished 6th - I remember wanting Man Utd to beat Everton in the FA Cup final as I knew it would benefit us, although not fully understanding what was going on, ha. I guess for now, assuming we don't, I'll be hoping the 'big' clubs do well in the cups to keep the 7th door open.