Goals from substitute Shola Ameobi and full-back Jose Enrique saw Newcastle increase their lead at the top of the table and further stamp their authority on the Championship.

In a tight game with chances for both sides, it was Nottingham Forest’s goalkeeper Lee Camp who was the busier of the two ‘keepers. Andy Carroll’s volley in the first half showed just why Fabio Capello is showing an interest in the centre-forward, but Camp was equal to the effort, diving smartly to pull off a reflex save. The Newcastle defence didn’t have it all their own way though as Forest came forward with increasing confidence. It was difficult to judge on this performance why they haven’t won away from home in seven successive appearances.

After injuring his ankle in the first-half, Andy Carroll came off to be replaced by Shola Ameobi. The watching Alan Shearer would have been proud of Shola’s strike. After being played in by Nolan, Ameobi turned his marker and hit a low let foot shot across the Forest keeper which went in off the post.

Shola’s goal wasn’t his only contribution for the night as his smart back-heel played in fan favourite Jose Enrique who shot right-footed beyond the keeper. That saw Enrique mobbed by his teammates and it was plain to see the bond that the Newcastle players share – a far cry from the players who represented Newcastle when they were relegated.

This victory means that Newcastle can finish no lower than fourth, and a defeat for Nottingham Forest accompanied by a Newcastle win this weekend will see the Toon promoted. Chris Hughton’s name was once again chanted from the terraces and he deserves every accolade – this is a Newcastle side who are truly United.

Just when you thought things were going well for Newcastle United, out comes a revelation that two of the Geordie lads at the club have been involved in a bit of a bust-up. Steven Taylor has a suspected broken jaw while Andy Carroll is said to have damaged his hand.

Newcastle have sensibly kept schtum about the incident, preferring to deal with the matter internally. Alarmingly, wor Andy is becoming known to the national media for being in the headlines for all the wrong reasons – having recently been accused of assault in a Newcastle nightclub. In a small twist of fate, the ever provocative Joey Barton comes into contention for Tuesday’s game against Doncaster Rovers having not played since September.

We could do without this off the field nonsense, whether it’s kept behind closed doors or not. Nothing need distract us from the task at hand – making Newcastle United a Premier League club once more.

In what was tipped as a potential banana skin for Newcastle, we could have been forgiven if we went into this game with a small amount of trepidation. After all, West Brom visited Ashton Gate and came away with nowt, so that meant anything we picked up, would be a bonus. A win would have ensured a play-off place.

Bristol City were managerless after sacking their manager Gay Johnson during midweek but it didn’t seem to dampen their spirits any. City went one up in the 10th minute thanks to a Lewis Nyatanga goal. The Toon came back into it though and there were several chances which we squandered, most notably by Leon Best who wasted several good opportunities. Things went from bad to worse though for NUFC as Nicky Maynard scored an absolute belter right before half-time. Newcastle could have clawed one back right on the stroke of half-time as Danny Guthrie failed to make the most of his chance in front of goal.

In a pretty even second-half Newcastle United waited until the 71st minute to get their first thanks to a poor throw by Bristol’s Keeper Dean Gerken. Gerken’s dodgy throw went straight to Gutierrez and the Argentinian put Newcastle back in the game and completely changed the momentum of the match. Just three minutes later, Andy Carroll managed to get the Toon level after he nodded home a Wayne Routledge cross which sent the Toon fans crazy.

The game was definitely Newcastle’s to lose and they pushed forward to try and seal the game. However, it wasn’t to be as several blocks by City defenders and a couple of decent stops by keeper Gerken made sure a share of the points was the end result.

All in all, a decent result and the manner of the fightback was superb. We only have to hope the injury to Fitz Hall won’t be too serious and we’ll be back on our merry way to the Premier League.

As voices of discontent gathered at the back of the Milburn stand before the game, they were equally as vociferous in their support for their team once they got inside the ground. The second largest attendance of the day (43,067) certainly made their feelings known.

The Newcastle fans had something to shout about other than the owner as Jonas Gutierrez ran from the halfway, and finished with a shot that went past ‘Keeper Joe Lewis. The shot took a deflection but it’s thought that Jonas will be given credit for the goal (please dubious goals panel?).

NUFC kept up the pressure as the fans bayed for blood and they got what they were looking for when Andy Carroll headed in a Danny Guthrie corner. Newcastle went in 2-0 up at the half and continued in similar fashion in the second-half thanks to a quality strike from Danny Simpson. Simpson, on loan from Manchester United, cut in from the right and hit a shot that ended up in the top corner.

Peterboro managed to claw one back on the 80th minute with Dean Keats finding the back of the net with a close range finish. It was too little too soon though as Newcastle United took all three points and maintained their top of the table position. The Toon are clear at the top of the Coca Cola Championship by two points, and six points clear of the teams in a play-off position.

No points however were given to the Toon stewards as they made Newcastle fans who unfurled anti-Ashley banners take them down. I don’t know about anyone else, but freedom of speech is a right – just not at St James’s Park, apparently.

There aren’t many things worse than what’s happened to our club over the past week or so, and I was hoping that it wouldn’t have too much of an impact on the NUFC players. Fortunately (and rather fortuitously), they battled to a hard fought victory over Sheffield United.

The Blades made the Newcastle players work hard for this victory, which on another day, could so easily have gone against us. Steve Harper who in particular played an absolute blinder pulling out several stops to keep us in the game. The superb reflex save against Darius Henderson during injury time being the pick of the lot. The reaction amongst the Newcastle players after that save showed just how much NUFC wanted the win.

Newcastle struggled in the first half with few chances being created. The industrious Sheffield United kept on the pressure but the Newcastle defence was (unusually) resolute. One thing that really did annoy me was our use of the ball when we had possession. Jonas Gutierrez being particularly guilty of running up blind alleys and giving away the ball too often for my liking.

The Newcastle goal came after Kevin Nolan won the ball with a strong challenge who then played it to Ryan Taylor, who’s well struck shot took a huge deflection off Chris Morgan and ended up in the back of the net. Newcastle’s performance was a little better in the second half and Andy Carroll had a great header strike off the upright and bounce out.

Sheffield came back into it though as they pressed for the equaliser. They had several good opportunities to grab a goal but some solid defending and Steven Harper in sublime form saw Newcastle take all three points. On the balance of play, I think we just edged it, but make no mistake, the Newcastle United players knew they were in a game tonight.

Thanks to a late goal from new loan signing Marlon Harewood, Newcastle United managed to avoid defeat, and with it, go three points clear at the top of the Championship.

It wasn’t all plain sailing though and QPR proved they were no pushovers. They went in front on the 7th minute after a mistake from Jose Enrique allowed Ben Watson to slide the ball past Steve Harper. After 19 minutes Newcastle were gifted a chance to equalise from the penalty spot. Steven Taylor took a shot which hit the arm of Damion Stewart and the ref had no choice but to give Newcastle a penalty. Up stepped Danny Guthrie to put the ball home only for his weak shot to be easily palmed away by ‘Keeper Radek Cerny.

This gave the Toon the impetus to push forward and once more Guthrie was involved as he chose to shoot wide rather than play in striker Andy Carroll. The big striker then almost had one for himself as his shot was cleared off the line. However, Newcastle’s efforts went unrewarded as they went in one goal down at half-time.

The second half brought to life the Toon’s glaring lack of pace. Gutierrez came on to replace Butt to give us some width but failed to make much of an impact. It was either a stroke of genius or touch of desperation when Harewood was brought on to replace Nile Ranger in the 61st minute. The new signing made a great impact after getting on the end of a cross to put the ball home.

After the emphatic 4-0 victory over Ipswich, this was always going to be a tougher test as the R’s came prepared to have a go at Newcastle. Fortunately, even though the lads didn’t play particularly well, we managed to to maintain our unbeaten home run, extend our lead to three points, and we currently have the best goal difference in the league. Crisis? What crisis?

Newcastle United climbed up to second place in the Coca Cola Championship after their 3-1 win over Plymouth Argyle. Newcastle made hard work of this win though and were very lackluster in the first-half. Going in 1-0 up at half-time thanks to a Steven Taylor header, Argyle came out for the second half like a team on a mission.

Determined to put their bad start to the season behind them (and where better to do it at St James’s Park?), they started the second half much the stronger and finally got the equaliser thanks to a Karl Duguid strike. After the defeat in midweek Toon boss Chris Hughton decided to give both Alan Smith and Geremi a start in our midfield – apparently Chris doesn’t think much of pace, a snail could have outran our midfield.

The game turned on it’s head though as Ranger and Guthrie came on for the disappointing Barton and Lovenkrands. The subs clearly provided the impetus we needed as their direct running caused the Plymouth defenders all kinds of problems.

Nolan then put Newcastle ahead with a header at the far post thanks to a great ball from Danny Guthrie. New father Andy Carroll then cemented the win with a cracking finish in the 84th minute.

The win leaves Newcastle second in the table, one point behind West Brom who put five goals past the Smoggies at the Riverside.

Newcastle, unbeaten this season go into the game tomorrow looking to cement their place at the top of the Championship. However, they will have to do so without big Andy Carroll, Shola Ameobi and Jonas Gutierrez. Return signing Peter Lovenkrands is also a doubt as there are questions about the pacey attacker’s fitness.

We’ve always said that when we get a few players out we’ll suffer for it, and here we are barely into the second month of the season and we’re having to play the kids. Look for Nile Ranger to feature up front with a possible substitute place for much fancied Harris Vuckic. There is some good news though – Geremi and Coloccini are available for selection. Happy days.

Newcastle United old boy Michael Chopra is in great form – scoring four home goals and a total of seven for the season.

I think this one is too close to call and I just can’t see where Newcastle are going to get goals from.

Verdict: Cardiff City 1 – Newcastle United 1

Newcastle, unbeaten this season travel down to London to take on Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. Last week, Neil Warnock, Palace’s manager was justifiably infuriated by the goal scored by young Spears which was disallowed. Let’s hope the refs will be equally in our favour tomorrow!

NUFC Team News: Barton won’t feature for the Toon, while young Andy Carroll and Nicky Butt are expected to take some part in the game. I wouldn’t mind starting with the same team that beat Sheff Wed earlier in the week – let’s keep this momentum going.

Palace Team News: One of Bobby Robson’s signings, Darren Ambrose, has made a great start to the season scoring four goals in four appearances. Watch the lad go and have an absolute stormer, it would be typical.

Prediction: Crystal Palace 1 – Newcastle United 2

Newcastle’s first game back, and the entire nation were waiting for them to slip up against promotion favourites West Bromwich Albion. The prelude to the game saw Alan Shearer go on record to say that he would “dearly love” to be manager of Newcastle United.

Rumours of a bust-up within Newcastle’s camp saw Joey Barton (surprise surprise) demoted to the subs bench. The first half was pretty even with both sides having chances to take the lead. It wasn’t until Martis put West Brom ahead a few minutes before the break – Ameobi managing to take a kick at his own keeper in an attempted clearance and making sure Harper didn’t return for the second half.

All credit to the Toon though, they came out after the break looking determined to get back in the game and the equaliser came with Damien Duff being put through by Ameobi. The Newcastle squad looked absolutely knackered though and mid-way through the second-half Chris Hughton made an odd change bringing Joey Barton on for Andy Carroll. Tim Krul kept Newcastle in it with a fine display of three or four top notch saves and stand in captain Alan Smith put in a gritty and determined display at the centre of Newcastle’s midfield.

This was a decent display against the promotion favourites. However, if Newcastle don’t get in any additional players, then they’ll be in deep trouble. Coloccini looks way out of his depth even at this level, and Jonas’ final ball was very, very average. The starting eleven today had no pace whatsoever, and whoever the next Toon boss is, finding players with pace should be a top priority.