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.

Whitewashed By 'Arry And Co.

This instalment should be kicked off with a critical review of Saturday’s whitewash defeat at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur and that’s exactly what’s going to happen.

After a week of media microscope treatment for Harry Redknapp, the whole nation was tuned in to watch Newcastle United throw away a match in record time and gift title-hunting Spurs a generous three points.

I have a sixth-sense for identifying complacency but to be quite frank it didn’t take that to predict an embarrassment last weekend.

The run of good form Alan Pardew has instilled into the club has been highlighted throughout the season and rightly so but in turn as the good PR heightens so does that imminent fall from the sky. Everybody knows the current NUFC squad is at worst a top half team and no better, something that ‘Arry and co enforced a reminder of.

Hull City manager Nick Barmby was approached by Sky Sports with a proposed weekend feature piece but the crew were turned away in a bid to keep the spotlight off the Tiger's good run of form to prevent the football world from picking up on how well they had been playing, all to avoid that 'fall from the sky'.

All the talk of ‘top four/five/six’ had understandably gotten into the players heads on Saturday and as a result had forgotten the things that originally brought all that talk about. A team cannot cross the white line just expecting to play well by default.

I didn’t manage to cast my eyes over the team's warm-up but I imagine it was lacklustre, light-hearted and lightweight because the troops certainly weren’t rough and ready to battle from the first whistle on Saturday.

Pardew and Steve Stone need to ensure that the pre-match preparation hard work is followed through in the warm-up and consequently not thrown into the gutter on the ten minute mark because a clinical team like Tottenham Hotspur will capitalise on that mistake and... embarrass you.

No FA Cup fixtures remain to bolster the fixture list which is somewhat saddening because with both Manchester City and United out of the fold, it could be anyone’s to lift this year. I can’t help but wonder.

Senegalese duo Papiss Cisse and Demba Ba

However a free-weekend for the squad to do whatever they like to rest up and recharge will do no harm (excluding any Joey Barton/Andy Carroll/Nile Ranger-esque misdemeanors), especially for the returned African trio of Papiss Cisse, Demba Ba and Cheick Tiote.

I for one am becoming ever more impatient by the day to know how the Toon Army's season is to conclude.
Will it be a disappointing finish to an encouraging start or will last weekend prove to be nothing more than a blip with the team defying all odds by pipping Liverpool and Arsenal to the European post?

We can dream.

Cloud Eight

The overachievement of Newcastle United this season has heaped further expectation and pressure onto the team.

It is time that someone, preferably Alan Pardew, takes a step back to highlight the following:

1. Man City (54pts)
2. Man Utd (51pts)
3. Tottenham (46pts)
4. Chelsea (41pts)
5. Arsenal (36pts)
6. Newcastle (36pts)

NUFC prop up only five teams and any level-headed Geordie would not be surprised to see those clubs above us especially at this stage in the season.

The attractive sixth spot comes as a result of a few factors:

• The Premier League adopting a pattern, the same which has run its rule over the Championship in recent years with it becoming so difficult to predict the outcome of any fixture.

• Two or three players at NUFC hitting 'Player of the Year' form to claim points which would ordinarily have been lost.

• Alan Pardew instilling a die-hard ethos into the playing squad as well as doing what he can to eliminate any high maintenance personnel who bring negativity towards the club (the exception is Hatem Ben Arfa who has outspoken about his prolonged bench-warming duty... understandable).

• A pinch of luck.

AP has turned NUFC from a club that is less stable than the coalition government into one that is now the surprise package of the season.

Newcastle United Manager Alan Pardew

AP hasn’t yet seen a campaign through from start to finish with Newcastle and he now speaks of the Europa League but in doing so he is lumping unwanted expectation onto not only the club but himself.

There are many potential hazards that could harm the club's domestic form e.g. the unavailability of Cheik Tiote and Demba Ba as well as The FA Cup padding out the current fixture list.

Last year, Premier League survival was all that any Geordie wanted to achieve and to escalate those targets within one year to qualifying for the Europa League is unrealistic despite current form.

The dangers of sitting on cloud nine are that everything is seen through rose-tinted spectacles and if somebody doesn’t turn down the pressure levels sooner rather than later, I predict that AP’s head will be on the block and once again the club will be back to square one.

It’s no secret that the Geordies have high expectations but there is absolutely no requirement for these expectations to be rocketed.

Can everyone please take one step back on to cloud eight and accept;

‘We are overachieving, enjoy it and build on this form game by game without that reluctance to prematurely rework our targets.’

Blue Monday

It’s ‘Blue Monday’ today, the most depressing day of the year according to experts.

The start of a new working week is upon us with all winter festivities long gone and the realms of summertime far from reach.

However the Toon Army are an exception to the rule this year.

The Sports Direct Arena @ St. James’ Park was witness to the Magpies' collection of three points and in opposition to the traits of the black and white bird - the win was certainly not stolen.

Yesterday’s encounter between NUFC and QPR provided the perfect platform for Alan Pardew to select at team that would expectedly win and win they did, 1-0.

A home tie against a newly-promoted outfit was a no brainer for the bookies, fans or neutrals in backing Newcastle for the victory, ultimately mounting all the pressure onto the Tyneside outfit.

With top-scorer Demba Ba and engine room Cheik Tiote both unavailable, as they flew out in search of lifting the African Nations Cup for Senegal and Ivory Coast respectively, any sceptical Newcastle supporter would have been wary of an unpredictable QPR side.

This was a team in the perfect position to exercise the ‘new-manager-syndrome’ and come up trumps for Mark Hughes, likewise to the Mackem Muffins since Martin O’Neill's arrival.

Leon Best stole the headlines yesterday after his nifty footwork sent Rangers’ defender Luke Young for a custard pie before he slotted home into the bottom bin in collected fashion.

The Gaffer now has a team selection headache in ranking his forwards come the return of big DB. It was quite clear that before yesterday Shola Ameobi was the favoured option over the former Coventry City man but yet another sluggish performance from Ameobi and with the club quite openly seeking a new centre forward, it could be one of his last turn outs.

On the upside though, Danny Guthrie showed once again that he has technique, range of passing and a dynamic style of play that keeps the ball moving in the right areas.

With players like Tiote and Yohan Cabaye fighting for the same position, it is always going to be a losing battle for him to keep his place in the central midfield berth. His efforts are appreciated but his general reward is being stuck out on the flank in the return of the formers, only for one bad game to see him dropped again.

Surprisingly or unsurprisingly, to date the Scouser hasn’t sounded out his displeasure at being overseen, something that is quite an anomaly in football today.

That’s it, my first thoughts splashed straight down onto the page after yesterday’s game.