Will we qualify for the Champions League? Sadly not...

[LesPaul]

I voted no. I don't want to be too disappointed.

[54]

Still went no, think well finish 5th.

[Si]

In style.

[Mole_Toonfan]

Personally todays result is a massive in the race for 4th to me, it will make Spurs already shattered confidence go down the toilet......

 

Despite the fixture list, 1 win in 10 games is damning i dont see Spurs being able to do enough.

 

Arry seems to have decided he wants the England job and not inspiring any confidence into Spurs when they need it most " he keeps saying its ok its still a fantastic season we can still finish 4th " which in a sense is true but they are extremely low on morale and confidence and need a boost and he doesnt look like providing it.

 

I reckon if we finish above Chelsea we will finish 4th, i really do see Spurs collapsing in the home straight.

[MW]

If we can nudge ahead of spurs next weekend, I may start believing. For now, it's only hope. 5th for me

[Pixelphish]

5th for me at the moment as well. I think we have the ability but those final 3 games of the season are going to prove difficult indeed, not that Stoke and especially Wigan won't be. Ideally when City come here the title will already be wrapped up and Everton will 'already be on the beach'.

[Guest Roy the Irish Magpie]

Can I wait till nxt weekend to vote? I think I will.

[Pixelphish]

To echo previous posts, no matter what happens, this season has been fucking mint and the pundits can eat our collective shit.

[ToonImms]

I think our run in looks tough, can't see us getting champions league but as has been said we could lose all the rest of our games and I'd still be ecstatic with how this season has gone.

[ElDiablo]

Interesting to see how the players deal with having this opportunity. Half expecting their arses to drop and draw and lose to Stoke and Wigan, but then again I thought the same would have happened by this stage and we just keep ploughing on. Players like Ben Arfa, Santon, Colo and Cabaye have all been in and around the champions league before which might be key, even if it's simply believing we can get there.

[Sifu]

I'm still on the fence like. Will probably have a proper think about it after the outcome of the Stoke game - ff we win that, I might just start believing......

[Pixelphish]

The fact we've taken 4 points off Man U, no matter the squad this year, gives me great hope.

[Guest magpie99]

I voted no. I dont think we are strong enough defensively to beat Chelsea away or City at home. Even though Chelsea have a tough fixture list, they have a very good squad and rarely lose at SB.

 

I watched City murder a very good Norwich the other night and if they have lost out to MU by the time they plahy us, I see their pride in their own [performances overcoming thdeir disapoointment.

 

I can see us beating Everton though.

 

Wigan and Stoke will be tough but I see us beating Stoke, Everton, drawing at Wigan but losing to Chelsea and City and ending up 6th on 66 points. Chelsea on 67 points and Spurs on 69.

[Optimistic Nut]

10 points, with at least 1 of those coming at Chelsea, will do it imo.

[juniatmoko]

Imagining Simpson & Willo vs Aguero & Teves... cant see us winning against City even at home. Biggest hope is we won Wigan + Stoke + Everton & berserk against Chelsea to get at least draw.

[oldtype]

Imagining Simpson & Willo vs Aguero & Teves... cant see us winning against City even at home. Biggest hope is we won Wigan + Stoke + Everton & berserk against Chelsea to get at least draw.

 

Sunderland beat them.

 

Us at home with the fans and players on a high with the possibility of Champions League qualification with City demotivated due to the game being meaningless with their manager probably leaving at the end of the season or already gone, possibly even fielding a weakened team?

 

Of course we can beat them.

[nufc4eva]

Imagining Simpson & Willo vs Aguero & Teves... cant see us winning against City even at home. Biggest hope is we won Wigan + Stoke + Everton & berserk against Chelsea to get at least draw.

 

Sunderland beat them.

 

Us at home with the fans and players on a high with the possibility of Champions League qualification with City demotivated due to the game being meaningless with their manager probably leaving at the end of the season or already gone, possibly even fielding a weakened team?

 

Of course we can beat them.

 

This, likely to have nothing to play for by that point and we will have the desire to get something. Same with everton, Chelsea and Wigan hardest games for me. Pick up 4 points n I think we will do it

[Elliottman]

With us having Stoke this weekend and Chelski having Arsenal away, there's a huge opportunity for us move 5 points clear of them.

 

Just need to hope that QPR give Spurs a game too.

[Karjala]

I can see Arsenal beating Chelsea, QPR getting something from Spuds, and then lets see what we get, goes without saying that 3pts would be massive.

 

Stoke have a terrible away record.

[54]

Imagin if we won and Spurs and Chelsea lost,

[Lotus]

Unluckily, Wigan, Man City and Chelsea seems to have hit something resembling form.

[alexthegreat]

To echo previous posts, no matter what happens, this season has been f***ing mint and the pundits can eat our collective s***.

 

Yep, heres where we were just 2 years and 9 months ago. "imploding" according to our own players:

 

Slow death! Newcastle players plead for end to Toon agony

By COLIN YOUNG

UPDATED: 08:31, 13 July 2009

 

After more than 16 years at Newcastle United, goalkeeper Steve Harper may have thought he had seen it all and lived through enough of the club’s trials and tribulations.

But Harper is just one of the many perplexed and frustrated members of the Newcastle squad who has been back for pre-season training for almost two weeks now.

Still there is no sign of their saviour, Alan Shearer, or any manager for that matter, and their agonising and prolonged sale drags on.

 

 

Frustrated: Keeper Steve Harper wants the uncertainty surrounding Newcastle to be resolved

Harper, who returned last season to reclaim the No1 shirt following Shay Given’s exit in January, has warned the once proud club is ‘dying a slow, painful death’.

And after their week-long training camp in Ireland and a 3-0 win over Shamrock Rovers, even the normally cautious and diplomatic caretaker manager Chris Hughton, the man put in temporary charge of team affairs for the fourth time by owner Mike Ashley, has admitted players are on the verge of revolt.

Hughton has been in contact with Shearer, who is patiently still waiting for news of his confirmation as permanent boss, but the man who led the club to relegation in May is having little or no influence in first team affairs, much to the chagrin of Harper and Newcastle fans who who will have noted Fraizer Campbell, one of Shearer’s close-season targets, has signed for neighbours Sunderland.

 

 

Harper said: ‘What happened last season was desperately disappointing but just when you think there’s an opportunity for this club to put itself right, build and get straight back up, the opposite happens.

‘We want it to be resolved so we know where we are and where we’re going because at this moment the football club is dying a slow, painful death. For five or six years now it’s been a gradual, slow implosion.

‘We’ve got to soldier on but the sooner the better for everyone concerned – but most importantly for Newcastle United.

‘A lot of fans have come up to me and said ‘‘In two or three years, it might be a blessing that relegation happened".

'Obviously everyone is very disappointed that it happened but if something good comes out of it and the club rebuilds then maybe I can see that point.

'But at the moment the club isn't rebuilding — it’s in a state of limbo and it's no good for anyone. We just want to get this club going back in the right direction and the situation is very, very frustrating for all of us.

‘To be fair to Chris Hughton, Colin Calderwood and the lads, we have made the best of what is a dreadful situation.

'We can’t do anything about it as players but it is awful and the sooner it’s resolved, the better for everyone because we can start again.

‘All we keep hearing is “next few days, next few days, next few days”.

'Everybody – fans, players, staff – want it resolved so we can rebuild this football club because we're in an awful state at the moment.

‘Everybody is in limbo — fans, players, staff. The players don’t know what’s happening, staff don’t know what’s happening, the fans don’t.’

 

 

Confusion: Nile Ranger can expect to start for Newcastle but none of their players are certain of the future

Newcastle came away with a 3-0 win against Shamrock Rovers, although they were playing a bunch of reserves and trialists because the Eircom League of Ireland side had more pressing engagements on Friday night, having secured an important 2-1 Eircom League win over Bray Wanderers which took them to second place in their division.

In a lively first half, Steve Harper was forced to make important saves from Padraig Amond and the impressive Slovakia striker Pavol Jurco as Kevin Nolan, Nicky Butt, Fabricio Coloccini and Damien Duff provided evidence that pre-season matches are vital to build up fitness, but not necessarily an indication of form.

 

More...

• Ashley hopes over £100m Toon sale fade as Malaysian billionaire denies deal

• NORTHERN EXPOSURE: Clock is ticking for doomed Newcastle as Fraizer Campbell and Co stay well clear of Toon

But if the first half was Shamrock Rovers versus Shambles United, the visitors, who included Joey Barton from the start, improved after making 11 changes at the break.

Steven Taylor celebrated a goal within five minutes as if he had scored the winner to keep Newcastle in the Premier League before strikers Shola Ameobi and Nile Ranger - possibly Newcastle's first choice starters in a month - added the second and third in the last four minutes.

 

In limbo: Alan Shearer

It was a rare victory for Hughton, who returns to the club's Newcastle base today, still hoping for news of Ashley’s sale.

But he admitted while he was just about able to keep the majority of his squad focussed at their luxurious base in the countryside at Carlton House, that could all change this week.

He added: ‘I do not sense any frustration among the players yet probably because we had the first week at the training ground and then we have been in Dublin.

‘The first four days were in Newcastle and that is usually quite a good time because they are catching up with each other, telling stories and it is normally quite a good time for the players.

‘Then it has helped coming away because we are away from Newcastle and we have been in a very very good training complex where we have just been able to concentrate on the quality of training and we have been shielded away from everything else.

'But I accept that might change from Monday once we are back in Newcastle.

‘It is one day at a time and we have already planned next week's schedule and we know at any stage that could change with any announcement that is made and a new manager could come in and that is all we can do until we are told otherwise.

‘Whatever is happening we have to prepare as a group for the start of the season.

'It will be a tough season in a tough league and the aim has to be to come up straight away and whoever is in charge that will be their aim. I am getting on with the job in hand and if there are other things going on I am not aware of them.’

 

More...

• Ashley hopes over £100m Toon sale fade as Malaysian billionaire denies deal

• NORTHERN EXPOSURE: Clock is ticking for doomed Newcastle as Fraizer Campbell and Co stay well clear of Toon

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1199187/.html#ixzz1s8dLe8w3

 

[wormy]

I was just sat, letting it all sink in last night. We are actually challenging for the Champions League right now, with the guarantee of Europa League no matter what next season. It's fucking insane.

[Sho Time]

I think we can do it, we have no pressure to finish in a CL place whereas Chelsea and Spurs have expected it since the start of the season. Spurs are in terrible form and Loftus Road is no easy place to go - QPR have beaten Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea there and also given Man City a bloody close game when they were flying. They've found form which is something Spurs don't have so that will be a tough game for them. With the way things are going for Spurs, every game is going to be a tough one for them this season and I can see them just falling short.

 

I don't want to bang on about the other teams because it's pointless speculating on what you think their results might be but as I say I feel surprisingly confident as us being able to get 4th due to our collective team spirit and with our front 3 we can attack any team in the league without fear. Our defence may be suspect on paper but we've conceded 1 goal in 5 games which is absolutely fantastic, this is even without Colo for a few of those games which just goes to show how strong a side we are when we're all pulling in the same direction and working for each other as we have done all season.

 

As a club we're not even playing for CL football, we've already admitted "it's just a possibility" which again takes the pressure off our shoulders and allows us to carry on with the same approach we've had all season, just taking one game at a time, try and win each individual game and see what happens. Looking at the games we have I know we have tricky fixtures, but if we carry on doing what we've been doing, that 10 point target in 5 games isn't anywhere near impossible - especially if Man United have already won the league by the time City come to SJP.

 

No matter what happens this season we've done something we can be unbelievably proud of and we can hope to build on it by keeping our best players and signing some more, which if we're serious we can hopefully do. This is the first time since the days of Sir Bobby that I've ever been truly optimistic regarding Newcastle and some of the days we've had under Pardew have really looked like we're going back in that direction. Everybody deserves credit and everyones chucked it Pardew and Graham Carr's way which is more than fair enough, but I think John Carver has been hugely undervalued this season - he learned from the best under Bobby and I don't think it's a coincidence that all this is happening in such a short time since he came back.

[AliGupter]

Result today means Spurs can concentrate on the league now. No distractions and they've got a nice run in.

 

I think 4th is gone now unfortunately. Was always a long shot.

 

Never, the biggest thing is what we can control, we'll be playing Chelsea 3 days before the Cup Final with them potentially having nothing to play for in the league by then, we've got a fucking great chance of getting something.