Ex-Newcastle defender John Beresford has stated that two wins from their last three will be enough to keep the Magpies in the top flight for another season.
After making his name as a marauding left back during Newcastle’s ‘Entertainer’s’ period in the early to mid nineties, the 49-year-old has taken to the press this week to give his thoughts on United’s current relegation scrap.
With their final three fixtures coming against Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur respectively, it will be the former two that manager Rafa Benitez will earmark as ‘must wins’ for his side. Assuming the Magpies get nothing but a couple of premier league fantasy football points out of the final-day clash with Spurs next month, relegation rivals Sunderland and Norwich cannot pick up more than four points in their final four games in order for Beresford’s prophecy to be correct.
Will six points be enough? Judging by Sunderland and Norwich’s final four games, we’re really not so sure.
Norwich final four fixtures:
Arsenal (away)
Man United (home)
Watford (home)
Everton (away)
Sunderland final four fixtures:
Stoke City (away)
Chelsea (home)
Everton (home)
Watford (away)
So the Hillsborough verdict is in & the families believe justice has been found?!.
I don’t mean to sound heartless, but I believe it’s went from one farce to another.
According to the jury, the only think that was not at fault was the behaviour of the fans/crowds.
I think this is a case of make this go away – bring it to an end.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Stu – I’m confident enough we can beat those two, and now that Spurs have surely lost the title I think we can give them a good go.
Thing is, I still see the Scum getting at least 2 wins….A real pity that Arsenal couldn’t just hammer them 10-0 the other day, that point along with the goal difference could kill us off 😕
Newkie(Quote)
Exactly where I’m at mate.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Regarding Hillsborough – don’t get me wrong, I’m pleased for the victims & families.
What I don’t want to see, and worry will happen, is a scapegoat.
The FA and Shef Wed were as much at fault for what happened that day as the emergency services.
But my concern is that it will be pinned onto the police & in particular the commander in charge that day.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I am shocked that Spurs are where they are. They have a very good first team but the subs that came on last night were Son, Mason and Chadli. Not exactly a trio to send fear into the hearts of the opposition. With Alli probably suspended and their season in the bank I think we stand a chance. Also, Lamela was pretty average for 2 seasons until this year and without anything to play for he might just dial it in again.
Everybody is saying that Leicester are overachievers but I think that applies to Spurs also. They have little squad depth and had few injuries. The emergence of Alli and renaissance of Lamela helped them immensely and Pochetino had them outwork every team they played. Will they do that in the last game of the season with nothing at stake?
We have to get to Spurs with something to play for before any of this matters though.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
With all the new managers coming in and massive amounts of money to be spent in the summer, Spurs could easily finish 6th next year. Levy hardly spent any money last summer and they have a new stadium to pay for and will not be so lucky with injuries. Will they finish above:
Man City
Chelsea
Man United
Liverpool
Arsenal
Leicester (???)
This was Spurs’ year when the planets aligned and they had a chance to win it all. I can’t see that happening again, especially if Man U or Citeh decide they want Kane.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I’m finding it hard to accept that a team that has been playing so for so long but only picked up 2 wins in 13 can now all of a sudden pick up two wins in 4 – especially given their next two fixtures are pretty tricky, unlike ours.
Stuart79(Quote)
Lightning will certainly not strike twice for Leicester either. When Kante and Mahrez are poached they are at best mid-table. There is no way that a defense of Simpson-Morgan-Huth-Fuchs will repeat the feats of this year.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Stu – where we seem to start games poorly, Sunderland seem to finish games poorly – conceding late goals to either loose or draw games.
If they can tighten up and close out there games they could conceivably win 2/3 of their final 4 games.
I think by 5pm on Saturday we will have a clearer idea of how this could go.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Eric – I would take Chadli in a heartbeat, but I agree with what you are saying. They haven’t really had any major injuries, and have been very fortunate with Kane as I don’t see anyone in their squad to cover him.
But regarding your other post, I think they will strengthen in the summer & will still be up there next season.
I don’t see that for Leicester though. I think they will be a mid table team next season.
You could well see West Ham in the top 6 next season though.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy – surely you don’t see the scum winning 3 games do you? A big ask! As big an ask as us winning 3 (despite Stuarts assertions).
If I put my optimistic hat on I can see Norwich 34, the scum 35, Us 36. The idea of two or three wins for anybody seems fanciful at this stage.
Nevertheless HTL!
Georgio(Quote)
Problem is, Sharpy they haven’t done that all season and they’ve been playing well. Is it not hard to see them magically changing now – especially with a couple of tough fixtures coming up? Us on the other hand are only just starting to get in a good bit of form and have huge confidence from the last three fixtures.
Stuart79(Quote)
Stu – Sunderland have been in similar positions a few times, and under Poyet they were in a far, far worse one. We may have had relegation scraps going down to deadline day, but really we’ve been quite comfortable compared to this year – people may say “Bosingwa gifted us safety” or some bollocks but really only last year was bad – and that because of the abysmal form under Carver, we had more points under Pardew in Jan than we do even now 😆
Basically what i’m saying is sunderland are used to scrapping it out because they’re used to being rubbish – that will help them mentally though, they’ve survived worse than this. Us though? Pretty new territory having to win 3 matches to be safe at the end of a season…
Newkie(Quote)
Don’t buy that, Newkie. Last season we went to the wire and stayed up. Sunderland have always been safe before then in recent years so in that respect we have been there and done that in terms of last day games – they haven’t. But in reality a relegation scrap is just that. Our players have been there and so has there’s so no advantage either side in that respect. Sam has only ever been in one relegation fight about 15 years ago with Bolton – same time as Rafa was in one with a Spanish team.
Stuart79(Quote)
But actually, Newkie you make a good point about Sunderland putting a good run together that has kept them safe. That basically means it can be done. They’ve done it for the last couple of years and Leicester did it last season. So why not us this time?
Stuart79(Quote)
But Sunderland have a different Manager and almost completely different team to those that survived the last 2 seasons so how can they have experience of staying up?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Yes, Eric. I don’t think any team has advantage in that respect. All clubs have experience in relegation battles.
Stuart79(Quote)
Of the Sunderland team that ended last season at Chelsea there were only 3 holdovers who started against Arsenal last weekend – Mannone, Van Aanholt and Defoe. They do have a few others in the squad like Cattermole and O’shea who didn’t play in one or the other. Still, it is a totally different team to the one that narrowly avoided relegation last year and certainly to the one that did the same the year before.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
We’re going down.
funkyjesus(Quote)
Yes, down in history as one of the great come backs 😳
Stuart79(Quote)
It is the ex-player pundits who do really lazy research. They trot out the same old myths like:
Allardyce is used a relegation fight – wrong
Sunderland players are used to a relegation fight – wrong
The staff and players are totally different to the previous years.
Even though they played the game, I wouldn’t trust Robbie Savage or Paul Merson’s giant balloon head opinions on anything. A website called Football365 keeps tabs on their predictions for top and bottom and they change as the table changes and they never admit to what they said before. You may as well ignore whatever they say.
Savage will tip Leicester for relegation at the start of the season and then mid-March will say they will finish top four. Then he will completely forget his original prediction and then in April begin to say that as he said Leicester are now title contenders.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
What I am saying about the pundits is that they will make their predictions and then when they change their minds totally they will do a mea culpa in that one piece. After that it will be like their new prediction is what they said all along because they are so knowledgeable, ya know.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Savage, in particular, changes his mind one week and then says he told you so about what he changed his mind about. It is like Troy on here taking credit for saying we should appoint Benitez, after we had appointed Benitez, when he had not even mentioned his name in the previous 3 years. And in fact had done the exact opposite and said we should be happy with Pardew because he is an average Manager and that is all we could get. YCMIU.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
It just shows what Rafa thinks of our signings over the last year,he played two of our “nine” signings,if he stays I can see quite a few being shown the door quite quickly
Icedog(Quote)
We’re not going down funky mate.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
ERIC of all the pundits I much prefer D Murphy,I really like Martin/K he always talks the toon up,plus big Al says he was the hardest defender he ever played against some tribute like
Icedog(Quote)
we’re in must win territory now and to be honest I think we have a talented bunch of players who have started to really put in impressive performances when needed. I really do believe that in the last three fixtures we need it a lot more than the club’s we will play and added to the talent we have it gives us a great chance.
Stuart79(Quote)
But just for clarity; Only twice has 36 points not been enough to keep a team up in the last 10 years. When you’re at the bottom wins are hard to come by. But just like the best horses, they produce late and come up and win at the post.
Stuart79(Quote)
Aye ice. I can think of a few he’d like to see the back of. He must just laugh to himself when he sees them. I’m sure he shook his head in amazement when he looked at the so-called squad Charnley and Carr built.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
I’m very interested to see Pardew’s “tactics” against us. How is he going to manage without Williamson to be his set piece target?
GeordieTwo(Quote)
I think Rafa will pick pretty much the same team, except…
Wijnaldum for Perez because of the extra goal scoring threat at home.
Possibly Mitro for Cisse mainly to counter Palace’s set piece threat. Their forwards have hardly scored any goals this season and the whole team has scored very few from open play.
I doubt Shelvey will start as he is not a defensive mid and he is probably in straight up competition with Sissoko for the attacking middle and captaincy. I doubt we need any more controversy with the return of Pardew.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Icedog(Quote)
With Rafa we’ll get a proper balanced squad. Something Carr and Charnley (and Ashley I’m sure) have never heard of. We’ll have a proper senior striker and proper CB’s. We’ll have a midfield that can attack and defend. Give him some money and get out of the way Ashley.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
They’ve won once in the league in 2016 I believe ice mate. That sounds about par for the course with Pardew.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
It will be interesting to see how much Pardew comes out of the dugout and the crowd reaction. When we were on a really bad run Pards would be stuck in his chair.
I wouldn’t boo him. He didn’t get us relegated although I didn’t like his football or personality.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
It is so weird that Palace have the most goals from set pieces in the PL and we couldn’t score any under the same Manager. Willo and Ugly John to blame?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I saw some comments last weekend from Kenny Dalglish thanking Rafa for rebuilding the bindipper academy. Many of the young players that are in the first team now are players Rafa brought in as kids. He could do the same for us.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
So Ali has been charged with violent conduct,minimum three day ban if found guilty
Icedog(Quote)
Ice: it is pretty irrefutable evidence that he hit him. I am just surprised the West Brom player didn’t hit the deck in a crumpled mess (even though in reality that blow wouldn’t deck a 7 year old girl). They can’t not ban him after the Vardy ban. Good news for us as Spurs do not have a deep squad.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
ERIC I think Kane will hold back a bit or get one of those thigh strains 😉 with euros due
Icedog(Quote)
Icedog(Quote)
Georgio – not really mate, I’m simply saying they have what could be considered as 3 winnable games too. They would fancy their chances too I reckon.
If we can beat Palace & Stoke beat the Scum this weekend I think that would be a big boost in our favour.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Eric – good news for Roy Hodgson as well I’d say. That’s his season over so have yourself a rest son and make sure your passport is in order.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sad news at the club today.
Young academy player Tyler Garwood 14yrs has died of meningitis.
The clubs asking fans to hold a minutes applause for him on 72 mins.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy – We will be out of the bottom 3 after Saturday’s game. I can’t see Sunderland beating Stoke. They’ve been beaten badly last 3 games but have played good sides. They’re not easy to play against at home and I don’t see Hughes as someone who would accept that kind of performance again against a side in a relegation battle. I’m going for 2-1 win.
Stuart79(Quote)
Stu – totally agree mate. I suggested that about Mark Hughes yesterday, but there is still a small part of me that think – as much as that’s how it should go, this is NUFC we are talking about.
Mike Ashley has probably pissed fate off somewhere down the line, and he’ll certainly have sold Lady Luck a cheap n nasty tracksuit.
We should beat Palace & Stoke should beat the Scum – if it goes that way I’m all in on us staying up. I’m just a bit reluctant to let my guard down all the way just yet I think.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I wont be all in on us staying up until it is actually confirmed. Our away form is atrocious, Villa or not… 2 years of watching absolute dross has taken its toll on this guy <<<<<<<<<<<< haha.
Shamrock(Quote)
Slowly but surely Sharpy is bending to Stuarts will. He is the Uri Geller of the blog.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Just joking Sharpy 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
SHAM your being kind mate! two yrs try and least double that if not more
Icedog(Quote)
Hahaha it’s a momentous day in football id say Eric. Hillsborough gets its justice & Stu and I see eye to eye 😯 hahaha.
Truth is I totally agree with him about our chances of winning our games. I just can’t write the Scum off just yet. I really want to, but there is this nagging doubt in the back of my mind – for the same reasons Sham has said I guess.
Sharpy17(Quote)
On Sunday morning the Stu-O-meter will be 75%
Stuart79(Quote)
Ice I guess years of underachievement conditioned me to accept the dross as the status quo – but the last 2 seasons in particular have been mind numbingly awful. I mean on a par with watching celebrity big brother, listening to James Blunt or doing a humongous pile of ironing…
Shamrock(Quote)
STUART scum are carrying a lot of luck,how the hell Catt has not been sent off I don’t know,his yellows must be building up
Icedog(Quote)
I’m watching the City game – I still have no clue what the hell those extra touch line official are for?!
Sharpy17(Quote)
SHAM thought it was the end of big brother when ch4 gave it the heave ho only for ch5 to take it,I know a lad from our village that won it,what a heap of rubbish it is,people in a room watching people in a room,you kidding me! ffs
Icedog(Quote)
Sharpy if Troy gets on and agrees with anything I say it will really be a momentous day. The stars will have aligned and it will be time to put a bet on the Toon staying up.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I don’t believe Sunderland can win three or four games but I think it’s perfectly possible that they could win two of the four fixtures they have left. If they do we are down, as even with two wins and a draw (which I think would be difficult) we still would have a worse goal difference to them. If they don’t win two games and we do, then we will survive as I can’t see Norwich even winning a single game. We have to hope stoke can draw or win at home to Sunderland on Saturday and that we beat Palace (which is not a foregone conclusion). Then they only have three chances to get their two wins. I think we have gone up to 40% of staying up, Sunderland 59%, Norwich 1% 🙁
DJG(Quote)
DJG – If we can win our next two we will stay up. Sunderlands easiest games are Everton and Watford but if we’ve won our two that puts them under a lot of pressure in them two games.
Stuart79(Quote)
That gagging order that the Sun got about a married football manager sexting doesn’t look like it is Pards. They have been dropping hints and I think they are pointing at Ryan Giggs but not explicitly saying it. They say there is a chant saying “… he shags who he wants”. Is that Giggs?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
We are going down.. sorry….. although it is good to see that the “reality ” crew now have us defying all history and staying up..” reality” indeed… 😆 😆
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
Palace have only won once in 18 games. Wonder who the manager is?
As long as Anita keeps Bolasie quiet I think we’ll win. He should do as he’s been brilliant at RB and far far better than Janmaat. He’s very tactically aware and very fast plus a goal and an assist lately. He was also our best player during last seasons run in.
And it’s Hillsborough time again. That was one truly horrible, sad day but surely now it’s time to lay the memories to rest. I’d like to.
Georgio(Quote)
Defying all history… 😳 😀
Some people have no idea what history means obviously! 😀 😳
Stuart79(Quote)
And what has history told us this season Stuart?
If you want to be pedantic and take ‘all’ as our entire history then good on you..
Historically, when other bloggers posted comments like what you are now, you used to shout them down and called them deluded. When did you pick up the rose tinted glasses? . All along you just wanted to be like us.. that is why you were being such a ****, it was just your way of trying to fit in.. it is all clear to me now! 😆 😆
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
AMF that’s a bit rough mate,is there a need??
Icedog(Quote)
History over the last two or three yearts shows us a team has come from worse situations than ours and stayed up. That’s the only history I am interested.
Stuart79(Quote)
Ice, I have only just read what he said at the end. I only normall read the first line of his posts as they’re usually pretty boring. I wasn’t dissapointed… 😯 🙂
Stuart79(Quote)
So Villa have 13.000 spare tickets for the toon game but refuse to sell any to the toon,thought they would need to rise as much cash as they can
Icedog(Quote)
😀 😀 😀
Icedog(Quote)
Ice, yep… copped more than my fair share of **** from certain members of this blog.. don’t recall too much mediation around comments aimed at me, mate. Just laughed off by most.. . Stu is a big boy, he gives as good as he gets. .
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
Toon fans will get their hands on them somehow, Ice.
Stuart79(Quote)
AMF I used to enjoy a bit carry on with you and footy crack when you wrote some good threads,can we have the old Aussie back please
Icedog(Quote)
Hope Rafa keeps the players in the right frame of mind this could be a real tricky game don’t want the players thinking its a done deal,I would hate to see that bloody Pardew with a smirk on his face
Icedog(Quote)
Ice, used to enjoy the craic with you too mate.. sadly it is in short supply now days..
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
Bloody Mike Dean in charge on Sat,he’s the swine that missed the double hand ball against Norwich and not a lover of toon,he lives in the Wirrel near Rafa he should set his house on fire if he doesn’t have a good game (for us)
Icedog(Quote)