On Tuesday evening the NUFC tag on Twitter went into meltdown with the legion of delusional 'ITKs' (fantasists claiming to be football agents or other people In The Know for those of you who steer clear of Social Media) claiming that Alan Pardew had been sacked. The North East based football writers went quiet presumably investigating if the rumour was true. Thousands of Newcastle fans grabbed their phones as soon as they woke up on Wednesday morning to see if the rumours had been confirmed, but there was nothing from the club.

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An amazing accumulative attendance of 1,202,612 people paid good money to watch Newcastle United at St James' Park this season in the most difficult economic climate in modern times. Unfortunately for them, their football club have lost nine of their 19 league games on home turf - two more than they suffered in the disastrous 2008/09 relegation season. The last three home games alone have seen Newcastle concede ten goals without managing a single one for themselves. Pathetic. Fortunately, this season Newcastle managed to avoid the same fate as they suffered only four years ago, but that is as much to do with poor teams below them in the league as anything else.

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Rating the season out of ten. 3/10. Some of you will think this is too high and others will criticise my negativity -- but it's been a long, difficult season for us supporters. With one home game remaining, Newcastle have already lost eight at St James' Park -- that's more than they lost at home the year they were relegated. Add to that the fact that they only achieved two wins away from home and it's been dire for the fans who spend an awful lot of money to watch them. - Pardew plays down comments Europe added some much needed interest and excitement but even that was often far from spectacular.

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The Government tell us that Tyneside has one of the lowest life-expectancy rates in Great Britain. They tell us that this is because of poor diets, too much alcohol and smoking. I beg to differ -- the number one life span reducer in the region has to be watching Newcastle United football club. - Match report: QPR 1-2 Newcastle - Brewin: Haplees Hoops hand Toon lifeline Today's 2-1 win away to Queens Park Rangers guaranteed that Newcastle's Premier League status would be preserved. This game alone took a year or two away from me!

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This has been a very poor season for Newcastle United. With two games remaining they are still not safe from relegation -- a position no one, not even the most pessimistic person, would have predicted back in August as the campaign kicked off. The strain is showing on manager Alan Pardew both physically and now in his press conferences. -Heneage: Pardew 'realistic' Earlier this week, Charles Sale of the Daily Mail wrote a piece with the headline: 'Ashley faces GBP;10m bill to axe Pardew after agreeing bumper eight-year deal' Sale wrote: 'Alan Pardew.

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Newcastle kept their first clean sheet away from home for four months in Saturday afternoon's 0-0 draw at West Ham United, but away wins for Wigan at West Brom (3-2) and Aston Villa at Norwich (2-1) mean that Newcastle have slipped further towards the relegation zone with only two games to play. Newcastle, in 16th, are just one point ahead of Sunderland, who play Stoke on Monday, and just three points ahead of Wigan, who currently occupy the final relegation spot but have a game in hand. - Premier League standings Newcastle have a serious problem with second-half performances when away from St James' Park.

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If you went back a year or two and asked Newcastle fans their opinion of Cheick Tiote, the overwhelming majority would have been incredibly positive. He was a hero. A warrior in midfield capable of taking on and dominating some of the finest footballers in the league (more on that later). He'd win the ball and play it simple -- and he'd do it incredibly effectively though he picked up an awful lot of yellow cards along the way. - Pardew hurt by criticism of players If you asked the same people now they'd tell you that he should be nowhere near the first team and should be sold at the first opportunity.

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The Premier League is absolutely bonkers. Newcastle's one and only league away win in the past 12 months came at Villa Park against Aston Villa on January 29. A few months later, Sunderland came to St James' Park sitting behind Newcastle in the league and won, 3-0. A couple of games after that, it was Sunderland's turn to go to Villa Park knowing that a win would as good as secure their Premier League status. -Pardew: Magpies must stick together Many Newcastle fans assumed that an apparently rejuvenated Sunderland had turned the corner so began to hope that they would beat Villa.

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If Alan Pardew stays in charge of Newcastle United for the remaining three games of the season then the club could well be playing Championship football next season. After a week of more excuses and finger pointing from the Newcastle manager, Pardew seemed to wave the white flag even before Saturday's game with Liverpool kicked off by lining up with a ridiculously negative team selection, offering the visitors, minus their main attacking threat, the chance to take the game to the home side, who were desperate for a result.

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With four Premier League games remaining Newcastle United are two places and six points above the relegation zone -- a position that surprises even the most pessimistic Newcastle fans following last season's fifth placed finish. How has it come to this? There are so many failings that if I was to write about all of them in great depth this blog would cover thousands upon thousands of words. - Taylor upbeat over Toon survival - Pardew: I'll listen to fans when safe In my opinion the problems began in the Boardroom when they failed to strengthen on a squad that everyone knew was weak.

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I asked a question on Friday about what a combined North East XI would look like if made up from the players available for Sunday's Tyne-Wear derby. Facebook and Twitter responses from Newcastle and Sunderland supporters agreed that nine if not ten of that 'dream' team would come from Tyneside. Sunderland fans argued that Danny Rose would be included (I agreed) and some argued that Simon Mignolet would make it in ahead of Tim Krul - I disagreed there but acknowledge its a close call. This, added to Newcastle's home record in recent derby games led the Newcastle supporters to approach this game with a rare confidence.

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Sunday's derby game against Sunderland at St James' Park could end up being Newcastle United's last really meaningful game of the season and let's hope it is. A win for the Geordies would take them up to 39 points with five games to play and they'd be eight points ahead of their local rivals and Wigan in the bottom three. - Randall: Sunderland joy in Newcastle - Ben Arfa: I'm ready for Sunderland - Heneage: Tense derby in store These games are important even when there is nothing at stake but local pride, so imagine what this will be like with Premier League survival thrown into the mix.

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