How big a game is Newcastle vs Nottingham Forest this weekend?
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00:00Hello everybody, how's it going? I'm here to give you another Newcastle United daily update.
00:05What better way to start than recapping that terrible, terrible performance of that day down in Manchester City.
00:12There was a lot of optimism going into the game.
00:15And you've got to think, just one look at the history book sort of didn't really explain why that was the case.
00:22Newcastle haven't won away from home at Manchester City in the Premier League game since September 2000.
00:29They haven't won a league game at Man City Stadium at all, obviously.
00:34Main Road got knocked down in the early 2000s.
00:38The only victory there came in the Cowboy Cup in 2014.
00:41There's been 5-0 heidens, 6-1 heidens, multiple 4-0 heidens.
00:46And supporters saw another one the other day.
00:49But regardless of the history books, living in the present, there's no excuse for that performance from Newcastle the other day.
00:57I think a lot of the optimism came, obviously you've got the Cowboy Cup final coming.
01:03There's a lot of positivity around Newcastle at the minute.
01:06And obviously looking at Man City, that game being sandwiched in between two huge Champions League games for them.
01:13And they've not been at their glistening heights like they normally would be this season.
01:18I think Newcastle fans thought, you know what it is, they could get something today, they could pull off a shock.
01:24Even the bookmaker, as we looked at the odds before the game, Newcastle love.
01:28I don't think I've ever seen Newcastle be as short a price as they were to go down there.
01:33And ultimately it was a case of history repeating itself.
01:36Newcastle, they may as well have shook hands before the game and said, right lads, you can have the three points now.
01:42And just not bother even playing the match because Newcastle really were that poor.
01:46A little personal anecdote, I was away, I was actually away on a visit to Amsterdam with the lads.
01:52So we were watching it in the bar and I wasn't in reporter mode, I was in supporter mode.
01:57All I had were black and white tops on, ready for the Newcastle game.
02:00Finally found a little sports bar that would be able to put the game on and actually have the volume on.
02:05And within half an hour we were starting to regret asking to put it on.
02:11The match almost sort of became secondary in the second half to obviously having a few players in Amsterdam, it was that bad.
02:17Newcastle, they couldn't string a couple of passes together.
02:21I know they were playing Manchester City and everything, but I think it was a little bit of a reality check that
02:27if Newcastle don't get the rock together pretty quickly,
02:33they could sort of blow all this sort of optimism that they gained over December and January.
02:39I think that nine game winning run now sort of looks a distant memory.
02:46And you look at the pictures coming up, you've got to question, is this Forest game on Sunday, is it a must win?
02:54Now Newcastle have already beaten Forest twice this season away from home.
02:58Once on penalties in the Cowboy Cup and then once in the league 3-1.
03:03But you've got to think of St James' Park.
03:07Newcastle haven't been at the rock solid best that they normally would be at home.
03:12They've obviously lost to teams that should be beaten.
03:15Not for a lot of surprise packages in the Premier League this season.
03:19After Forest you've got Liverpool in midweek and you know you're starting to think, is this a must win?
03:25You look at the table and they're now a couple of points out of the top four positions.
03:29I think Newcastle need a good result just to bring that feel-good factor back.
03:34There's a lot of people, quite rightly so, to be fair, wondering whether Newcastle players' minds are elsewhere.
03:42Eddie Howe answered that question after the game.
03:44He said, I hope not, because they've still got a lot of games to go before the Cowboy Cup final.
03:50But we saw it two years ago, we saw Newcastle players sort of switch off for that month or so.
03:55I think they won one game in seven leading up to the Cowboy Cup final.
03:59To say that happened again would be a real shame.
04:02So yeah, I think they need to go to St James' Park on Sunday and they need to put on a good performance against a tough team.
04:10Against a team that, you know, a couple of years ago Chris Wood got a hat-trick and that was the start of his revival, if you like.
04:16So yeah, let us know how you're feeling in the comments below.
04:18Where would you rank that Nottingham Forest game this weekend on the must-win scale?
04:23Because the last thing Newcastle need, you know, they've got Liverpool in the midweek after that.
04:28Then they've got Brighton in the Cup, they're looking to go strong in two Cup competitions this season.
04:33Then they've got West Ham away and Liverpool in the Cup final.
04:36The last thing any Newcastle fan wants ahead of that Cowboy Cup final is to go down with a team where the confidence has shot to bits.
04:44And you've got to think, back-to-back defeats in the Premier League at St James' Park, Bournemouth and Fulham, this is a tough game.
04:51You know, Nottingham Forest sitting in the Champions League places, this is a hard game for Newcastle.
04:56I personally think it's a must-win, I think it's one that they've got to go there, home soil, crowd behind them.
05:03They need to put in a good showing because results in the Premier League lately just haven't been good enough.
05:08Especially when you consider where they were a month or so ago and they were flying high.
05:14Isak was banging in the goals and they've obviously got a Cup final on the corner.
05:18Let us know your thoughts in the comments below everyone and I'll see you again later this week.