Let’s be clear, Newcastle have had a great season after a somewhat shaky start. Alan Pardew has got them firing well, but they do keep having off days. Let’s hope they have another one today and allow us to score back to back victories for the first time since we have been back in the Premier League. We have our tails up after last week’s win against Cardiff, but one win doesn’t mean we are out of the woods, At 5 O’Clock tonight we could either be bottom of the league or as high as thirteenth.
As far the team selection is concerned, Sam Allardyce has quite a few decisions to make, not least whether to restore Ravel Morrison to the starting lineup. I hope he does. I really think he could combine well with Carlton Cole, whose confidence must be sky high at the moment. That’s assuming Cole starts ahead of Andy Carroll. It would be a bold, and possibly reckless, move to start with Andy Carroll, but Allardyce may feel his presence would so discomfort that it would be worth it even if he only lasts until half time.
In defence, I imagine Adrian will start. Everyone seems really impressed with his form. Apart from me. Yes, he’s made some great shot-stops, but he gives away too many soft goals. I hope I am proved wrong.
Let’s hope James Collins really is ready to come back and is not being rushed, otherwise we really will be in trouble. I doubt whether many people have been convinced by Roger Johnson so far, so it will be interesting to see how he performs in his first home game.
I’m taking a friend to his first ever game today, so let’s see if the Hammers can impress him. He says he has supported Tottenham in the past but doesn’t know why and has gone off them. So we might have another supporter by the end of the afternoon. He swears he’s not fickle…
PS Let’s hope Arsenal stuff Fulham today. Someone needs to shut their new manager up.