Paullow

You can just about make that out, but would have been better if the respective home matches were in say capitals. I think there's a perception that Everton will just about have enough at home to get over the line, but then which teams they have to face at home or away, is pretty crucial. Likewise, Southampton (A) seems a fair bit tougher than playing them at home, similar with Leicester etc.

WillingtonMag is either one of the most optimistic posters you will ever find, or has some sort of ulterior motive - I just can't decide yet

Yeah, one or two matches where you might have liked more from the game, but that Leicester result is the only real stand out blip thus far. They weren't in great form, they had just returned back from Naples on the Thursday after the disappointment of exiting the Europa League, we had just recorded our first win of the season the week prior, and then Evans got injured after about 3 minutes - I was weirdly kind of hoping / expecting a win at the start of that match, but was pretty concerned after, however 5 wins, 4 draws and only 1 defeat (19 points) from his 10 games outside of the 'big 6' is pretty incredibly really.

It wouldn't be a disaster, and it would keep the unbeaten run going to 8, but while we probably will win one of our remaining matches where we are a significant outsider, I'd consider this to be among 3 of our more favourable 13 games, along with Palace (H) and Norwich (A), so I definitely wouldn't 'take a point' if offered in a hypothetical situation. It would be a massive boost if we got notch up another win ahead of 3 tricky looking away matches (plus the prospect of the Palace match being rearranged).

Currently 9/1 at Bet365. Changed to 13/2 now, but 9s at SkyBet. 7/1 to 15/2 seems to be the average.

We're still not in a position to be picking and choosing who we want to go down. I'm still hoping Palace win that, although a draw wouldn't be bad, assuming there's no f ups at Brentford.

I know it's a bit less relevant with the Burnley's win, but a very bad night for Bruce in terms of the playoffs. QPR were 1-1 and down to 10 men, but got a late winner Huddersfield were a goal down, but a very late winner Sheff U were a man down, but a late winner Luton won as well.

It's a bit annoying when SSN are like 'huge goal at Molyneux', you have to think what match it is, and it ends up being a random Arnold Clark trophy.

You can't fully rule Norwich or Watford out especially as Norwich had taken 7 points from their 3 matches before Man City and Liverpool, but at the moment, instead of 3 from 4, it's looking like 1 from 5, which I guess is a better outlook generally, but we could certainly have done without Burnley getting back to back wins.

It's not great when one of the matches is at Anfield, one of the hardest two matches you will play of your 38, and anything but a routine home win would have been a shock. Watford losing is a bonus, but Burnley (probably) winning isn't great, so it's an OK night at best IMO.

3-0 Liverpool - important for GD at both ends. Leeds sure do ship goals.

I echo the very happy with 17th as potentially finishing 13th/14th, while it would look decent for Howe, is largely irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. I also want Watford to lose, but then I guess if they did win, Palace would be 4 points clear of us, another very winnable match passed up, to go along with recent draws against Brentford and Norwich, and they still have to come to SJP, so they would be in sight. There's no advantage (to us) the likes of Brighton, Southampton, and probably still Leicester, losing to those in and around us, but Palace, while still very unlikely to go down even if they lose tonight, are a team that we can definitely keep in and around us, and possibly surpass. I still want them to beat Norwich though, as the current bottom 3 are the most likely to go down at this stage, so best for those lot to keep losing, and we are certainly not in the position to be picking and choosing who we might like to see stay up.

Even Martin Tyler was at it during the Leeds vs Man Utd game yesterday when referring to their goalkeeper and his mistake gifting 'Newcastle a rare win before their new signings came in'. I mean what he has said isn't untrue but it's certainly not as simple as buying their way out of trouble. Bruno, who accounted for about half of the outlay, not being able to get more than 5 minutes here and there because 3 midfielders are looking so much better (under a proper coach) is a prime example. The on loan Targett was deemed not essential to a(n albeit ambitious) lower mid table club, and everyone away fan was saying Wood was shite, plus he hasn't scored yet, so while they have obviously contributed in their own way, especially Trippier (who has now missed the last game and a half), it's so much more than oil money (hopefully) saving the day,

It's 4 points from a possible 33, and he had a lot of winnable matches in that time. He got 1 point from West Ham, Villa, and Leeds, 2 of them at home, whereas Howe has 7 from those 3, with 2 of them away. Southampton at home as well is probably within the more favourable 10-12 matches you will have in the league. yet another match we failed to win, even if we were '2 minutes away ya kna'. His 3 matches at West Brom were reasonably tough, all against top half teams, but at the same time, they were in the Premier League last year, and were in the top 5 all season up until the end of of match 28 (never once out of it), so they clearly have the players and ability to be up there, even if they have been out of form since the turn of the year, but they certainly haven't got the immediate bounce you'd often see when a new man comes into a struggling side that should be doing better (and long may that continue...).

I'm definitely looking out for Bristol Rovers results more these days. I didn't even realise that Barton was there (or at least forget if had noticed at the time) prior to this loan, and was more surprised he joined so soon after leaving Fleetwood, but that's another reason to see how they get on. I'm finding myself lurking on gaschat.co.uk, looking on Twitter to see what their fans are saying, watching their highlight clips, and have even been watching the odd vlog on YouTube . Like many Newcastle fans, my interest in football has shot up massively these past few months, you could say at a 16/17 year high, so it's nice having a proper reason to follow others areas that you normally wouldn't, and it would be great if he could keep performing and getting rave reviews, and help his club (return to League One) as much as they are helping him.

Yeah, said it on another thread, that I have absolutely nothing against WBA, but because of this appointment, I am finding myself wanting them to lose, petty I know, but that's the way it is . Mind, my interest in football is very high at the moment, so I'm always looking for little alternative narratives.

Whether he was actually a prime contender from our POV is another matter, but if he was, I wonder if Rodgers regrets instantly dismissing the vacancy back in October?

FFS. It was 2-0 Man Utd, by the time I was writing this and was looking like a sure Leeds defeat, but not so much now, but it's great just looking at the league table exactly a month ago on Jan 20th and seeing how much ground we've gained on the pack above: https://www.11v11.com/league-tables/premier-league/20-january-2022/ https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/table Palace - we were 12 behind with a game in hand, now 4 with a game in hand Brentford - were 11 with 2 games in hand, now 2 with 2 games in hand Leeds - it was looking like 10 behind and now 1, but that could be 2 or 4 points in the next 30 mins. Everton - were 7 behind having played a game more, now level having played a game more It was definitely looking like 3 from 4 just before the Leeds game, but definitely not the case now, and it's brilliant that so many others have been brought back into the mix after our great run.

Signed up 16 years and still using 'we'

Norwich and Everton ahead. Everton's must have been disallowed, still 0-0.

Burnley always were the biggest risk of the bottom lot, not only were they the shortest odds to survive of the bottom 3, but they are often hard to beat, and you can tell by their (relatively good) goal difference that they are always in pretty much every match, and it doesn't take too much to convert draws into the odd win. I'd still much rather be in our position generally, but they are to be considered a threat, but thankfully, as others say, there are teams above us who we can catch, so even if Burnley did pass us, it might not be a disaster.

A shame Sky couldn't have taken their cameras to Rotherham vs Wigan instead. Wigan have just gone a goal up which, while automatic is obviously looking unlikely, is the worst result for Sunderland if there was a slight chance. Wigan are 6 behind Rotherham with 2 games in hand, and a far worse goal difference, so I would rather Rotherham slipped up with them having the points on the board and being 13 clear of Sunderland having played the same amount of matches (as it stands). Rotherham were around 1/33 for automatic promotion pre match, whereas Wigan were 1/6.

Joey was impressed with him tonight.

Wigan 2-0, so should be 3 points. They will be 7 clear of Sunderland with 3 games in hand, so you'd be hope they would be be almost out of reach at this stage. Hopefully they get something from Rotherham as well on Friday. Good set of scores for Cabbage so for in the Championship.

I haven't seen it, but Brighton do have Burnley on Saturday, so would be nice if it could be overturned (if even possible in this VAR era).