Right, after a week of girding our loins and dispatching the house of horrors that was Villa Park to the trash can let us get back into positive mood.
Tottenham Hotspur, named after Harry Hotspur of the famed Percy family based within Alnwick Castle, arrive on their ancestral North East turf for a mighty match of Champions League destiny. There is much more than three points at stake.
So here are 10 reasons for Geordies to be optimistic:
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- United are at home where defeat is as rare as a drop of rain in the Sahara. Let us look at those who have arrived this season and failed to lower the Toon standard . . . champions Manchester City, Chelsea, Brentford, Fulham, Aston Villa, and Manchester United.
- Newcastle have lost only once at SJP in 15 matches (yes, somehow to Liverpool) conceding a mere nine goals which is a better record than everyone bar Man U while Spurs have lost five out of 15 away leaking 25 goals.
- The Mags have already won at Tottenham, 2-1 in late October, which is a significant physiological boost in their search for a double.
- The natives of Tottenham are restless - chants against Daniel Levy emanate from fan ranks every game and now they are booing their own players as Davinson Sanchez found out in the shock home defeat to Bournemouth which hardly lifted dressing-room morale.
- They are without a manager since Antonio Conte manipulated his departure leaving his No 2 Cristian Stellini in caretaker charge. Uncertainty prevails. No one within the club knows what the future holds next season. Levy, Stellini, Kane, Son. Will they all be there? Who will be the boss?
- Packed with big-time players like Kane, Son, Richarlison, Kulusevski, Dier and Lloris, Spurs nevertheless show an alarming inconsistency which reveals team spirit and desire does not match what lives within the Newcastle ranks.
- Wor Flags. They set the atmosphere from the start which enables home players to thrive.
- All three top scorers Miggy Almiron (11), Callum Wilson (10) and Alexander Isak (8) should be available at the same time after they have all had their injury problems this season which is a massive positive.
- A win and United will be six points clear of Spurs with a game in hand and the Londoners facing immediate matches against Man U (h) and Liverpool (a).
- Both sides may be searching for redemption but from different platforms. United's 3-0 loss at Aston Villa was a relative rarity (only 4 PL defeats all season) suffered against a red hot side whereas Tottenham's 3-2 home defeat to relegation haunted Bournemouth set alarm bells ringing given the opposition and was a real opportunity lost to pressurise the Mags. They are the more damaged goods.
There you are. I feel a lot better. Now comes the tricky part of course. Turning optimism into reality. No one thinks it will be easy. With their array of talent opposition have to be aware that Spurs can be capable of suddenly clicking and turning it on just as much as melting like a chocolate teapot which they did against the Cherries last time on the grass.
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However Newcastle have come back this wonderful season from a bigger blip than at Villa Park which brings reassurance. Remember they unbelievably lost three successive games 2-0 including a showpiece Wembley cup final but bounced back spectacularly to launch a run of five successive PL victories which put the show firmly back on the straight and narrow.
I have spent the week talking with superfans and old stars like Ian La Frenais (on Tyneside from Hollywood), Jimmy Nail, Bob Moncur, and Malcolm Macdonald and all remain steadfast in their belief that this has been an amazing campaign whatever happened at Villa. The slogan written in six foot high black-and-white letters is Keep The Faith.
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