Paullow

Hull fans seemed to like him, and he did OK at Wigan, but yes, the vast majority didn't like him, and certainly the fans of the 3 most high profile jobs that he has had.

This was Ambrose on Talksport:

Yeah, while we'll all have our preferences on who we'd like, we're certainly not in a position to be picking and choosing who we want to go down, yet. Fail to beat Brighton, Palace beat Stoke tonight then we're looking at 4 tricky away games in a row (Saints, Chelsea, Everton, Spurs), and while things are looking much better at the moment, and it's starting to look more unlikely that we'll go down, a few bad results on the trot, and that will start to change. I'll want every team currently below us to lose to every team currently above us until we're on 30 odd points and looking far more comfortable.

To be fair, in the 7 matches from 11th December to the end of January, they only won one of their 7 league matches (5 points), so weren't in great form, hence the sacking, and not many points clear of the teams behind them. That said, they are recently relegated, and had been in the top 5 all season up until the end of match 28, so they clearly have the players and ability to be up there, and they rolled the dice on wor Bruce, hoping he'd have an immediate bounce and get back to the results they had earlier in the season, but that's clearly not happened. I can't see how / why he would stay beyond this season though. He's 61 now, generally hated by his last two clubs, or three if you include Sheff Wed (although that hatred was slightly different circumstances), and the game has definitely moved on. If they can't see him at the club in 2024 (and surely they don't, realistically), they surely have to get someone else in, younger, hungrier, with fresher ideas.

https://wbaunofficial.org.uk/forumdisplay.php?fid=4 There's certainly plenty of Newcastle fans on there - 37 members, and 197 guests.

100% want Leicester to win, I don't really care if we finish 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, or 17th, as long as it's not any lower than that. Stay up this season, hopefully comfortable midtable next season (with no relegation worries), and then push on from there. Another question - hypothetically, if Leicester had to win of their next two games, but lose the other, which would you prefer (they play Leeds at home on Saturday)?

Get in

WBA did get their first shot on target just before, and have just hit the post with a counter attack. A draw is probably fair, but while it was tongue and cheek above, I can actually see them getting a late winner.

Swansea should be ahead FFS. Awful header from Swansea's striker. Bruce will probably get a Hayden / Everton late late goal with their first shot on target.

I'm watching this match as if it was Sunderland playing Swansea. The resentment is real

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.