Paullow

Got a bad feeling about today for some reason. It would definitely be 2 points dropped, especially at home, but I'd probably take a draw to keep the unbeaten record going.

Just stuck Sky Sports News on and saw the 'breaking news' - I'm not sure if that same news would have been breaking news this time 12 months ago, or even 2 months ago.

Well before my time that , but the 1996/97 was my first proper European campaign. I can vaguely remember parts of the 1994/95 one when we played Antwerp and Bilbao, remember watching the 3-2 home win in the spar room, but would have only just turned 8.

You can't actually watch Graz vs Feyenoord on the BT App, restricted to 6 matches including 4 involving UK and Irish teams, so I've opted for Ferencvaros vs Monaco - two teams that we faced in the 1996-97 UEFA Cup (Ginola goal vs the Hungarians). Quite a tight group as well with Ferencvaros currently top, perhaps surprisingly. Not sure how long I'll watch for mind, but it's on at the moment

I was quite pleased that both Spurs and Arsenal need to approach their respective final European matches next week in a normal manner, hoping they would have been playing someone near the bottom of the table in their following PL match, and subsequently drop unexpected points, but the play Liverpool and Chelsea respectively.

Arsenal will still be massive favourites for top spot, and may well finish top (and avoid an extra tie) even if they lost at home to Zurich, but they will now have to approach that game as a meaningful one, whereas had they drawn here, they could have done what they live after sealing the group. Anyone watching a particular match later on? The 8pm matches involving English clubs don't look that interesting, and minimal jeopardy, so may actually have Graz vs Feyenoord on in the background, as that group is ridiculously tight.

Never heard of this 'Brian Hill' before, assumed he must have been a local coming through the Spurs academy

Watching the Spurs match and I swear BT Sport just have the same adverts on loop, that gravlax one and Dominoes pepperoni passion one must have been on about 10 times each already

It's brilliant

Hanley 1-0 Burnley.

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.