Squeaky Bum Tyne: Newcastle United ready for the fight.

We are now coming to the business end of the season where trophies are won and promotion is gained.

However, my beloved Newcastle United are staring down the barrel of a very big gun indeed.

The "R" word is one I never expected to be associated with NUFC this season, but because of the negative tactics of the previous manager and lack-lustre performances of over-rated, over-paid players it is a frightening possibility too disastrous to ignore.

Everybody (including themselves) accept Derby are already, as good as gone. That leaves two places from eight teams. Fulham, Reading, Wigan, Brum, Bolton, Sunderland, Boro and Newcastle are all in the mire right now. The forty point mark is normaly enough to ensure safety in the EPL. With Derby so poor and Man Utd and Arsenal so good that total should be more than enough this year. We are currently on 28 points with 12 games left—six home and six away. I believe we have winnable games against Fulham, Sunderland, and Reading at home as well as Birmingham away, which providing we win should be enough to ensure our safety. That gives us Man U at Home Chelsea at Home, Blackburn home Everton away and Spurs away as well as Liverpool away to spare. Optimistic I know but not unrealistic either, besides optimism is a given for Toon fans given our long wait for silverware.

I'm not going to make any predictions as to who will go down, I wouldn't wish it on any fan. However I truly believe we will be okay, after Saturday we have some winnable games. I know it will be a scrap but we have the quality to pull through providing KK can install some desire into the players. He has inherited a squad suffering from a chronic lack of confidence, so my message to those doubters out there;  is "get real" . The board seen that the players were not performing for Big Sam and knew we were in for a scrap. They had to change things before it was too late. Two games against Arsenal ( widely regarded as the most gifted team in European football right now ) Away to Villa who are on a push for CL football next year, and a match against Bolton which their manager described at the time as,"the best performance since he took charge of the club", are no foundation on which to judge Keegan. The Boro game we would have won had it not been for the officials.

The pressure is now on for the players to start earning their astronomical wage and stop feeling sorry for themselves, because they put Newcastle where it is today. NUFC is in a dark place right now and with the exception of James Milner, Emre and Duff the players have a lot of soul searching to do sitting in thier multi million-pound mansions. 

We as fans also have a vital role to play.

My plea to the Toon Army: Let's get behind the team at SJP and inspire them to victory, lets be UNITED and stop this civil war, lets show the world why we earned the reputation as the best fans in the world, and look forward to KK rebuilding our team in the summer. Because the "R" word could soon become a nightmare our great club would struggle to recover from. I for one will have fingers, toes and eyes crossed from now until May 11, 3pm, a real day of destiny for NUFC.