The View From The Other Side - Newcastle United (Part 1)

On Sunday, City play host to Newcastle United.

After relegation in 2008/2009, The Magpies only spent one season in the Championship, making an impressive immediate return to the Premier League.

We're six games into the season and Newcastle have made a decent start, albeit with some mixed results. A 6-0 win at home to Aston Villa and a 1-0 win at Everton look impressive; Defeats at home to Blackpool and away to Stoke less so. However, in football the results don't always tell the full story.

To get a view of how The Magpies fans are finding life back in the top flight, Without A Dream took a trip over to http://www.nufc-forum.com. Over there we found two supporters who couldn't wait to share their thoughts with us on NUFC.

On a personal note, I must add that I am very much looking forward to having the Toon Army back in Manchester. Regularly the loudest travelling support in the league, I am sure they'll contirbute to a great atmosphere on Sunday.
Cracking on then; First in the two-parter is a poster from the NUFC Forum known as NCBAY. Many thanks to him for sharing his views with Without A Dream - it is very much appreciated.

http://twitter.com/RichardTheBurns

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W.A.D: Thinking back to pre-season, what were your hopes for the 2010/2011 season. Where did you realistically see Newcastle finishing?

NCBAY: Only one hope for the season - safety, I'd have happily taken 17th if offered at the time.

W.A.D: Six games into the season and Newcastle are tenth. You've taken Villa apart, winning 6-0. But you've also lost at home to Blackpool. Overall then, happy with your start?

NCBAY: Yes and no. On the whole the performances have been very encouraging, even against Blackpool we should have had the three points as we were the better team - 13 shots on target, but it just felt like one of those days. The Stoke game has been the only game where I havent been happy with the performance, we struggled to deal with a very tall, physical side who came for a point and left with three. But this is NUFC so you expect these kind of results. The Villa game was fantastic and with the arrival of (Hatem) Ben Arfa and in particular (Cheick) Tiote I'm relatively positive.

W.A.D: To the rest of the football world, the Mike Ashley situation appears to have calmed down a bit. What are your thoughts, and the general thoughts of the Newcastle fans, about Ashley now?

NCBAY: - There are two camps with Ashley - those who will never forget and those willing to give him a chance. I'm in the second camp. He's made some unbelievable errors of judgement but he has backed Hughton when needed and we aren't a push over in the transfer market any more (Ben Arfa in particular looks like an excellant deal) and aren't going to buy past it 'stars' on ridiculous wages any more. When you look at other teams (Cardiff, Pompey, Manure, Liverpool etc etc) and past owners / chairmen we have had then I know it could be a lot worse.There's a long way to go but he still comes to the ground to support the team and unlike some people I think he wants to still be here. He has spent the best end of £220m (£100m of debt he wasnt expecting) and I think we are moving in the right direction. If he hadn't come in when he did our situation would have been a lot worse (Leeds, Pompey style).

W.A.D: Who is your favourite Newcastle player?

NCBAY: Of all time it would be "Pedro" - peter beardsley. Of today's team I'm not sure I have an out and out favourite, (Andy) Carroll obviously, Barton looks like he is finally coming good, Enrique is usually excellent and Iv'e got a soft spot for (Peter) Lovenkrands after he played and scored against West Brom a couple of days after his dad died - true commitment. (Steve) Harper also falls into that as well with his commitment to the club but Krul and Forster (currently on loan at celtic) may mean he doesn't get much game time after this year. As long as they try I'm happy with any one who pulls on the colours in all honesty.

W.A.D: Which player would you most like to sell?

NCBAY: I don't think we have that luxury as the squad isn't huge so rather than getting rid of a particular player, I'd say we could really do with a first class right back.

W.A.D: Is Hughton the right manager for Newcastle in the long-term?

NCBAY: Yes, I think and hope he will be. He is calm, quiet and looks to be a thoroughly decent bloke - something we've missed since Bobby Robson. As a manager, I have been more than impressed with him since he took over last year. He recognised the positions we needed strengthening and did it with little outlay, he has us playing with a belief and purpose that hasn't been seen for many a year and I don't think many people could have done that from the position we found ourselves in after relegation. I hope the owner and fans stay behind him as he could turn out to be an absolute gem.

W.A.D: Having seen City spend crazy money on player recruitment over the last two years, what do you expect from The Blues this season?

NCBAY: Not sure, it's always hard spending so much and getting a team to perform. Based solely on the cash spent they need to be top four at least and this year maybe even top two - Arsenal will struggle defensively and Manure look like they won't have the best of seasons. Mancini could also do with a trophy or he may find himself out of a job.

W.A.D: Thinking specifically now about the game on Sunday, who is Newcastle's dangerman? Anybody who should be particularly fearful of?

NCBAY: Depends which Newcastle turn up. Carroll will be a danger if your centre backs aren't on form, Ben Arfa can turn a game with a moment of magic and Barton will hopefully benefit from playing against his old team.

W.A.D: And looking at City's team, do you think there is anybody you think you need to pay special attention to?

NCBAY: Tevez and Johnson as we struggle against pace and any decent left winger.

W.A.D: Finally, score prediction for Sunday?

NCBAY: I'm always optimistic so I've plumped for a 1-0 win for us, with Barton getting the goal - here's hoping!