It is with that endorsement ringing in their ears that our players and fans trudge down the country for another shot at a trophy,

I much preferred our style of play to get to 2-0 up against Chelsea than the style of play after we had got there.

Debuchy said he only used NUFC as a ‘stepping stone’, can’t argue that a year on he is the first name on the Arsenal team-sheet, Debuchy – Sub.

Swansea v Newcastle: I would love to see McClaren throw in Rolando Aarons instead of Obertan and get Swansea on the back foot.

Newcastle v West Ham: ‘When we sold Kevin Nolan we were told we were moving on to better things. It doesn’t look much better at the moment.’

Tony Pulis: Better than Pardew? Possibly. Better than Carver “best coach in the Premier League”? Definitely. Best we could have got? Absolutely not.

Newcastle v Spurs – quite surreal when so much of the pre-match build-up isn’t about the actual football.

Welcome to Hell: Sunderland v Newcastle.

Everton v Newcastle – With only 1 win in their last 12 PL matches are the blue scousers there for the taking?

Louis Van Gaal’s all-conquering Ajax team of mid-90s was a special team but since then he’s been more of a big talker than a big achiever .