Second Wind? or Gone With The Wind?

After salvaging a late draw at home to S*nd*rl*nd and falling to defeat away to Arsenal, the season is Newcastle United's to throw away now.

Promising results have been consistent yet surprising for the Magpies this term and the current league position reflects that rate of performance.

However with the likes of Liverpool, S*nd*rl*nd, Everton and Fulham all sitting just below in the standings and finding more momentum in picking up points than the Geordies, I for one am beginning to worry.

A sexy sixth spot could very easily transform into a tenth or even bottom half finish if heads drop and a 4-5-1 timewasting and defensive show is continued to be put on between now and mid-May.

It appears that things are turning stale in Alan Pardew's camp and there was little entertainment for a Newcastle fan watching the dour gamplan enforced by the Toon Army and I was falling into the belief that the black stripes were actually red and it was Stoke City playing and not the exuberant team I've watched all season.

The Gunners' 21 shots to the Magpies sparse 5 tell the obvious story and as a result kept an in-form and fired up Tim Krul busy. Unfortunately because of that, I cannot sit here full of excitement and will be antipaticing a very nervous finale to the campaign.

Howay the lads!

For The 147th Time...

147 the highest break in snooker, Alfa Romero 147 successfully manufactured since 2000 and 147 the number of contests taken place between Newcastle United and Sunderland.

Today's 12 o'clock kick-off features two clubs who are subsequently succeeding from the poor form and inconsistencies of other teams in the Premier League this term.

The grapevine tells that Toon striker Papiss Cisse is set to play after a week of relaxed training in aid of his recovery from a strained hamstring. He should hopefully be partnered with top scorer and international teammate Demba Ba in leading the striking line.

Three from last week's midfield bank of four should retain their spots in Cheik Tiote, Yohan Cabaye, Jonas Gutierrez with either Danny Guthrie, Gabriel Obertan or Hatem Ben Arfa replacing Ryan Taylor if he hasn't managed shake off his injury woes.

Alan Pardew's side was defensively poor last week but I expect the back line will remain the same and hopefully the Wolves match will prove to be nothing more than an anomaly.

Can we expect a repeat of this fixture from last season - a phenomenal 5-1 win?

I am not interested in head-to-head statistics dating back to 1992 nor am I intrigued by novelty facts because the 22 players on the SJP turf today will more than likely never have shared a pitch before with the exact same faces and even if that was the case, there are too many variables to be swayed.

A player's age, form, manager, tactics, atmosphere, personal life, physical condition and state of mind all affect the outcome of a game and make it impossible to expect a result one way or the other - a debate for another time.

However, the Black Cats are a rejuvenated outfit since the appearance of well respected Martin O'Neill. On his arrival the Irishman managed to steer the Mackems away from a miserable campaign in just a handful of games but their last four encounters breakdown as WLWL.

I for one will be hoping that the Toon Army can find a way to decrypt the emerging pattern above.