Looking Back But Heading Forward

Firstly, I apologise for the lack of a thread in the last few days.

The reasoning behind it was that today would be a good day to look forward to the Birmingham game tomorrow and also still close enough to the weekends win to talk about that.

So, let's start with the weekends game.

It was a great win, especially after being in such bad form lately.

Brentford are by no means a bad side and even without Scott Hogan, they can be a real threat, as Lasse Vibe showed.

As always, Dwight Gayle didn't fail to disappoint, opening the scoring before being withdrawn through injury.

Daryl Murphy came on for Gayle and scored the winner, which has filled many people with confidence, following the injury to Gayle.

Looking forward to the Birmingham game, I think everyone would back Murphy to lead the line well.

There has also been rumours that some youth players may be rewarded with a start, making the experience of senior players like Murphy essential.

Perhaps this is why Rafa Benitez has blocked Cheick Tiote's move to Spain, or so the media are reporting.

Now, let's finish with a quick piece of nostalgia. Nine years ago today, Newcastle played Stoke City and Kevin Keegan returned for his second spell as manager.

Hopefully this week, our current world class manager will take us into the next round of the FA Cup.