It had all been going so well; too well, perhaps. But, it's all over now as Bournemouth came to St James's Park and took all three points, any faint hopes of a title chase, and really rubbed our faces in it, to be honest.

Isak, who had broken the club's record scoring run against Wolves, was a mere spectator at the weekend, and the team looked deficient in every department in the face of what was a fantastic performance by the visitors.

Still, there's a pretty decent chance we'll start another winning run at Southampton, The Lasses (TM) have made some ambitious signings, and Josh from Philly is in Toon to raise our spirits with some brotherly love.

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It wasn't quite serene progress against Bromley in the FA Cup on Sunday, but there was a brutal beauty in the strikes provided by Lewis Miley and Will Osula either side of an Anthony Gordon penalty.

Some key questions after the weekend. Did anybody put their hand up for a first-team place 'proper'? What's going on with Martin Dubravka? Why did Chris drag George into town in the wee hours?

And, with a Jas McQuade thunderbolt, The Lasses TM also went through to the next round of the FA Cup. Attention for everyone returns to the league where opportunity knocks with some winnable fixtures on the horizon.

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This is getting ridiculous; Newcastle's run of wins, Isak's run of goals, Gordon's contributions, Murphy's assists, all continued and they will start the home leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final with a two-nil lead.

The tie's far from over, with nobody keener to emphasise that than Eddie Howe, but what an incredible run of games this has been, a truly historic run, and you wouldn't bet against it continuing...

Of course, we can't forget Saturday's hard-fought league win barely ten minute's drive away at Tottenham. We'd like to praise the opposition, ravaged by injuries, for our toughest test in a good while. Instead, the manager made it all about him with a bizarre post-match performance.

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Newcastle United don't win at Old Trafford, or at least they didn't. After last season's Carabao Cup victory, and off the back of a massive upturn in league form, we travelled to Manchester with a spring in our step and hope in our hearts.

The rest you know.

Spurs and Arsenal next. Playing like this, why not? Happy New Year everybody!

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Recorded at the magnificent Strawberry pub in the shadow of St James's Park, Pod on the Tyne (with some allowances for flu season) assembled an audience of friends, colleagues and (the Waugh) family for our traditional Christmas special.

Looking back over a magnificent seven days, a rollercoaster of twelve months, and with a glimpse ahead to 2025, there's plenty of festive cheer in supply.

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Newcastle's problem in recent times has been getting the job done against so-called lesser teams. This Saturday, they proved they absolutely can do it against so-called Leicester teams.

From Gordon to Burn via Murphy, Hall, and Sandro Tonali there were quite a few eye-catching performances but it's impossible to know what it all means because the opposition were so feeble on the day.

Brentford will provide a stiffer test in the Carabao Cup quarter-final on Wednesday night, but one thing we will have now is a good win in our sails.

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The Premier League is a bit crazy this year. Bar one or two teams at the top, and one or two at the bottom, it's a massive bunfight with everyone beating each other week to week.

With that in mind, we should all react reasonably when we go to the team with the best home record and get turned over. Except this wasn't exactly that; this one needs some context.

Oh, by the way. Has anyone seen Chris?

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Newcastle and Liverpool served up another Premier League classic, drawing three all at St James's Park on Wednesday night.

Eddie Howe's side looked close to their aggressive best, pressing and harrying the league leaders, creating chances, and scoring some lovely goals.

But, there's always Salah, and that nagging sense that we can only get ourselves to 100% for the big games. Where was this intensity against West Ham?

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Jacob Whitehead was at Selhurst Park on Saturday, because of course he was. Sadly for him, Newcastle were distinctly gummy.

Masochists can read Jacob's full match report here...

In fact, the whole affair was so disheartening we've postponed this week's episode until after the midweek fixture against, **checks notes**... oh dear!

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What is this feeling, we all wondered... squad strength, three wins on the bounce, and a seemingly hapless West Ham trekking North on a chilly Monday night. Ah yes, confidence!

Unfortunately, confidence and Newcastle United have never been great bedfellows, and so it was again. Bruno lost another coin toss, Howe's side spurned the few good chances they managed to create, shipped two bad goals, and then slid into second half chaos.

The Lasses didn't fare any better, losing 6-1 to Liverpool in the league cup. Could that be a sharpener in a competitive season? It'll take a while to find out, the fixture list is looking very bare over the next few weeks.

More info on Run Geordie Run and his 2025 t-shirts can be found here.

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There are still five days left in what feels like an even-longer-than-usual international break. Chris is so sick of it, he's literally sick.

A few of Newcastle's players may not take quite such a dim view, though. Oli Kay drops by to consider whether Newcastle is now the place to be for England hopefuls with Anthony Gordon getting his first goal at Wembley while Hall and Livramento made their senior bows.

The Lasses(TM) didn't have it all their own way at St James's Park. In fact, Southampton had much the better of the first half and it took a 99th minute equaliser from Deanna Cooper to rescue a point in front of a loud, proud, but slightly smaller than hoped crowd.

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