Hughton has some choices to make. Alan Smith goes back into contention for a midfield slot whilst Butty remains sidelined again. Coloccini will also play no part in this match. Other then that players are fit and Hughton will probably put all six new signings in. Leon Best will most likely start again after coming close to getting a first goal in Black n White on his debut on Friday. He’ll play along Carroll, whose place will be safe despite having to be in court this month. Let’s hope he’ll stay focused on the job in hand as he’s probably the only player most likely to wear the #9 shirt in future if he keeps knocking ‘em in!

Looking at the stats, it seems we are most likely to get something from this game. Derby have not managed to beat a top 10 side this season other then a woeful Nottingham Forest. Newcastle fans will be hoping for a repeat performance of Friday’s spectacular score line.

Totesport Online Betting – The place for football betting and odds

On-form Nottingham Forest finally lost a match against Derby making the gap only four points. Although we have a game in hand its certainly time for Newcastle to get back to winning ways if we are going to win this league. The unbeaten record is great but it’s no use taking draws all the time.

With the transfer window ready to shut, it’s difficult to see where Newcastle need to make purchases with the talent it has. Perhaps the team is good as is and they just need to get playing with a little more conviction like at the beginning of this season. Alan Smith was close to scoring his first goal in a Newcastle shirt but it seems to elude him all the time! Damn, I wish this guy would actually score! It’s a big campaign ahead with some potential ‘banana skin’ moments in the fixtures over the coming days – I’m referring to Cardiff and Swansea – both teams that are in the play-off positions and playing well.

Totesport Online Betting – Bet on all football fixtures

How many yellow cards does Alan Smith need to get in order for him to realise that he needs to calm down? He’s a great player but surely he’ll bear in mind that his season has been blighted by suspensions.

The hero, Kevin Nolan, cemented his goal scoring stature in the Newcastle team by tucking in a shot in the far corner of the net after a composed turn. The ex- Bolton man is now running up an impressive tally of 7 goals in 10 games  for a midfield player.

Chris Hughton siad of the player:

“When we took Kevin last year we knew he had goals in him.

“He’s an experienced player with an eye for goal and you can always count on him to do something like that.”

Hughton said this was a massive win for us and I couldn’t agree more. The slight wobble earlier in the last couple of months has meant that its a little tighter in the top six meaning that a few clubs actually have a chance at automatic promotion. However, in terms of keeping the pressure on West Brom and others, last night’s win was vital.

However, we have lost the services of Alan Smith for the next match. He’s worked tirelessly in midfield for us and the guy has been so far a hero in every sense of the word. Even the haphazard, Fabricio Coloccini managed to bask in a moment of glory by scoring with a powerful header in the firsthalf of yesetrday’s match. Top stuff.

Well, it poses some questions about Chris Hughton’s future at the club. Not negative questions by any means as whatever he has devised this season for the team is exactly what they need right now. He’s managed to instill some belief in the team players, who were as down in the dumps as us fans. He’s picked them up and got them playing football that actually beats teams. Granted, we have a bunch of excellent players from the Premiership but from what I gather they CHOOSE to play for Newcastle United and not desert us like some. They believe in the cause and they have the backing of fans like us.

Onwards to Blackpool and Plymouth..

The first half was played with some determination by Newcastle. Our newly appointed Captain , Alan Smith, didn’t disappoint holding midfield with some aggressive tackling and quality. However elsewhere that quality was sadly lacking . I can pin point Gutierrez, Coloccini and Ameobi myself. Coloccini was especially guilty of being pretty clueless in man marking and tracking department. His first half blunder allowed a Baggies corner set piece to put us one down before half time. He laughably stood by and watched whilst his man, Martis, simply ran around him! As for Gutierrez, he made some blindingly fast runs along the wing but his passing was woeful.  It puzzles me why Ameobi remained on the field whilst Andy Carroll was subbed late in the second half. I think my sister could take the ball off Ameobi! Also, it seemed that every-time he had the ball, the next second he’d be flat on his arse. What’s that all about Ameobi?

Damien Duff proved the man who had the knack of producing a quality finish worthy of the team. It was sorely needed to be honest. His goal was created from a deft touch pass from Nolan for Duffers to power it low into the corner.

Finally a shout out to Tim Krul. I knew he was capable of making some fantastic reflex action saves but count ‘em here. Krul produced four immaculate saves to keep us in the match! Newcastle United has the gift of having superb keepers (no matter how terrible the defence) and Krul was exceptional today.

Overall, a game played with frantic pace at times and finely balanced. A draw was a fair result at the end of the day. Hopefully, we’ll be able to tidy up some of the defensive errors for our next fixture against Reading. Another  note was Alan Shearer provided the BBC punditry and he’s still keen to take on Newcastle United managerial role IF someone asks him to. What we saw on the pitch shows up some of the team’s frailties which needs fixing desperately – let’s hope this week coming delivers some positive news as regards to the sale/ permanent manager as we need to be in the transfer market now!

West Bromwich Albion 1 – Newcastle United 1 – Early days yet!

I’ve been dreading the last match of the season since the start of the week. It’s been like a dark cloud hanging over me. The crunch match on Sunday will be a thrilling spectacle of guts and determination from Newcastle United. I’m pretty sure of it. We have some injuries on the cards namely Beye. Bassong is definitely out after an appeal on the red card received in the Fulham match on Saturday. This is my most nerve-racking experience I have had as a fan in a long well.

Anyhow, Alan Shearer doesn’t want to be despondent about Sunday’s match. Click here for an interview given at press conference today. It’s good that he remains confident on the proceedings. What any Newcastle fan wouldn’t want to see is a piss-poor effort in any half. If the players are worth their salt then they’ll give all. We can speculate as to whether he stays on after the match as manager but I’ve read that some people have been saying he can’t sit with the MOTD lot so soon after all that’s happened. Personally, I want him to stay on and tweek the side and ‘learn the trade’ as it were at Newcastle. Other worries are obviously what side Manchester United will field against Hull as their result is very much depending. I’m not worried there. I think it’ll hurt Man Utd’s prospects in their remaining competition matches if they lose against Hull.

It’s also worth pointing out that North East sides in general have been taking a battering this season. Although I don’t care less about Sunderland or Boro, it does make me stop and think what the hell’s going on.

Enough that, I’m sure I’ll await with some nervousness about the result and watch Sky from behind the sofa, through our hankies etc. whilst clutching a rabbit’s foot.

Speak to you again after the dust has settled. There’s a celebratory Newcastle Brown waiting for me if we perform the greatest of escapes.

5. Shearer – should he stay or should he go? I think a successful run of eight games would surely be enough to convince Ashley that Shearer should be the man at the wheel come the new season. Get that contract written up and signed asap.

4. Michael Owen – He’s been hesitant to get a contract renewal but with Shearer on-board for another season why not sign a rolling season -by-season contract? He won’t be playing in Europe but then again where else would he go?

3. Get rid of the dead wood – It’s time to shed some of the flops and has-beens in the team. We’re talking Smith, Barton, Viduka.

2. Buy New players – obvious one really. I don’t think Ashley will break the bank but with Shearer as manager, we should be able to attract some good talent to play for the team.

1. Sort Yourself out Ashley. To be blunt, Ashley’s rein on Newcastle this season has been a complete disaster. Throwing money in the club is all well but Keegan, Allardyce and Wise to name but a few bad incidents. The guy needs to get smart and read up on some NUFC history. He has to stop pissing around and show more better leadership at top. For God’s sake, communicate better to the fans when we really need to know what’s going on! Hopefully, Kinnear will move to the executive and put a football brain in the board.

I read this silly article in The Times online today about an open training session at Newcastle recently. It was interesting because of the names that were out there on the training field with the likes of Barton and Smith. Both players haven’t featured as much this season but if they play against Stoke, it would be something of a timely reminder of how we have lost players due to injury in probably our most unluckiest of seasons.

I’m not contemplating relegation just yet. I’m convinced that we’ll do enough to keep our head above water this season.  Right now, Shearer and the team needs 100 per cent support and he’ll get that from me.

Here’s the Youtube vid of the open training session:

If we look at the bigger picture, it was a hell of a lot better than previous games against Manchester. Martins made good on his promise to perform better and produced a sterling display that challenged Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic. Lovenkands also had a good game. Hughton had finally listened to bench a underperforming Ameobi and play both Martins and Smith from the beginning. Smith, to be fair, still needs a lot of match time. To my memory he’s not even bagged us a goal yet.

Overall, much improved and its a shame we couldn’t put this performance out for Bolton. Survival instinct has finally kicked in I hope and let it continue to our match against Hull and beyond.