Newcastle....

[Eric, Dutch]

Great call, Eric. Typical, suggesting Newcastle might feel the nerves of new expectations by qualifying for the CL. Wigan away so far turned out to be just a blip. Chelsea, like Liverpool, clearly played with their mind on the FA Cup final, but Toon beat them fair and square. With 2 beauty's from Cisse. This player caught my eye when he was playing in Germany, but never regarded him as a target for City. When Newcastle went in for him I thought he looked perfect for them, other than I couldn't see him partnering Demba-Ba as they both look too similar. Well, Cisse proved the bargain and Newcastle now look very strong with Cabaye and Ben-Arfa two very nice players as well. The Senegal-pairing upfront look dangerous and it's their opportunistic way of playing (and moreso shooting at goal) that makes them hard to defend. The weak spot is their defence, unless their goallie Krul turns out heroic on the day, again.
Well, I'd rather Chelsea did a better job on Newcastle on the night, but we rarely ran into an outform team this season, maybe Spurs away the odd exception. It'll be a toughy at St. James' Park and again the mentality will strech the result a long way. Mancini and his staff will have to show their abillity to handle Pardew in a tactical way. Normally at this stage a point would do (like a point at Stoke wasn't too bad), now we simply need a win and a win only. Indeed, a harder job than beating our noisy neighbours who, by the way, have turned very quiet ...

[chopper]

Well my prediction that we would need 4 goals to beat United was slightly wide of the mark. So for Newcastle I am predicting that we will need 2 goals to win because I think they will score but not many. Whilst United were quite content to park the bus because they only needed a draw, whatever happens tonight, Newcastle will have to play for the win and that will suit us down to the ground. I wouldn't change the team at all nor the tactics.

I have attempted to influence the match by putting another £50 on united to win the league at 15/8 probably the best odds you could have got all season. That means I now have £275 resting on the outcome of the next two games. I am hoping I lose every penny.

Is it all your own money Deano or did BJ and PJ chip in?

[Blue John]

Well my prediction that we would need 4 goals to beat United was slightly wide of the mark. So for Newcastle I am predicting that we will need 2 goals to win because I think they will score but not many. Whilst United were quite content to park the bus because they only needed a draw, whatever happens tonight, Newcastle will have to play for the win and that will suit us down to the ground. I wouldn't change the team at all nor the tactics.

I have attempted to influence the match by putting another £50 on united to win the league at 15/8 probably the best odds you could have got all season. That means I now have £275 resting on the outcome of the next two games. I am hoping I lose every penny.

Is it all your own money Deano or did BJ and PJ chip in?

A shrewd investment Seriously though, I will be amazed if we go up there and win. A far bigger ask than beating Whiskeynose's tired old men

[PJS]

If the EPL was pro-rated over the last 2 months, Wigan would be champions and Newcastle runners up based on form.

Its funny to see some waking up now and realizing what is going to be one of the hardest games to play, thank god we have got Wigan out of the fixtures already.

If you take out their blip vs Wigan, Newcastles last 7 games read: 7 played, 7 wins, 15 for and 1 against. Including the Wigan result, you get a not too shabby:

played 8, won 7, lost 1, scored 15, against 5.

Eric and Chop will be on here pointing to our last 4 wins on the trot.......

It would be ironic that Mancini would do what Fergie did vs us and reverted to safety first............even if we win 5-2, its the only result that helps. I would go all out attack and try to outgun these guys early, nick an early goal and then press on the counter.......

First goal will be crucial.......if we concede first, that's the title over right there

[ob1]

Newcastle are a good side and Pardew has done a very good job there, looks like he has a good eye for players, and they are on a great run so this should be a very tough game but if you want to win a title you have to meet and overcome challenges like this. Our big players stepped up to the mark on Monday and must do so again. Now, more than ever, we need our finishing to be at its sharpest.

[bluemoon risin',]

FFS PJ! I despair. I understand your concern, yes Newcastle will be tough but we can beat them and I think we WILL beat them.

I swear to god that if we were in the trenches of the 2'nd world war, and you went for the White flag, I'd shoot you out of your misery!

[ob1]

I'm making no predictions but my nervous system is going into meltdown, or maybe it's just jet lag?

[Eric, Dutch]

[quote PJS] Its funny to see some waking up now and realizing what is going to be one of the hardest games to play, thank god we have got Wigan out of the fixtures already.[ unquote PJS]

And you wonder why I'm on your back all the time? Ffs man, read! instead of being the wisenose all the time. Nobody on here suspected we won the title on Monday-evening, none of us said Newcastle would be a walk over. We don't need your facts to realize that or how well Newcastle are doing the last few months. What we did, PJS, was celebrate a win in a very important match, maybe so far one of the most important matches in the history of our club, not coincidentally vs our main rivals from just outside Manchester. We celebrated a win in what was to you "just another match". Either way, it had nothing to do to explain your "waking up"-call, nor do we now give in your tragic messages you get out of your glas globe.
I don't expect you to understand this, but Joe Hart, you know, our goalkeeper who had a day off on Monday-night, said how important it was to feel the positive vibe from the fans in the stands. If Eastlands was filled with 47.000 "realists" like you, I wonder how the players would feel. I'd say pretty miserable, or at least as miserable as the ones in the stands. Pfff ...

[Deano58]

Well my prediction that we would need 4 goals to beat United was slightly wide of the mark. So for Newcastle I am predicting that we will need 2 goals to win because I think they will score but not many. Whilst United were quite content to park the bus because they only needed a draw, whatever happens tonight, Newcastle will have to play for the win and that will suit us down to the ground. I wouldn't change the team at all nor the tactics.

I have attempted to influence the match by putting another £50 on united to win the league at 15/8 probably the best odds you could have got all season. That means I now have £275 resting on the outcome of the next two games. I am hoping I lose every penny.

Is it all your own money Deano or did BJ and PJ chip in?

All City fans are incurable optimists otherwise we'd have given it up as a bad job years ago. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that PJ and BJ are the ultimate optimists because they keep coming back, year after year despite being convinced that it will all go tits up. It's easy to keep supporting if you believe it will come right.

Anyway, i'm having another £80 on United. That way if we win it's cost me £180 quid, cheap at twice the price, but if United win, my season ticket is paid for. it's a win win situation !

[chopper]

I think I will keep my powder dry a little longer Peej.......but you are in for one hell of a bollicking down the track. As for your waking up comment...... do me a favour. Have you woken up to the fact that Wolves and Norwich are shit yet? you know the sides you proclaimed we would struggle against. Or have you opened your eyes yet to the fact that Mancini will be here next season because the owners ARE happy with our progress? You don`t ackowledge when you have got it wrong, but are oh so quick to rehash your posts when you wanna big yourself up. For the record, I have always maintained that toon will be a difficult game as has everyone on here.