After a truly terrible string of results this year and only one win in 2009 (away at West Brom), we eventually won a six-pointer, only our seventh win all season. After a hugely dissappointing 0-0 draw at home to fellow strugglers Portsmouth last week, in what was deemed also a six-pointer, we actually played very well at home to the Smog-monsters and thoroughly deserved these vital three points. Newcastle being Newcastle did, of course, make somewhat hard work of a poor Middlesborough side, gifting the visitors a lead after just three minutes.

The goal itself came from one of our better players this season, Habib Beye. Tuncay cleverly turned inside the box only for Harper to stop his attempt at goal and somehow, the ball got tangled beneath Beye's legs, hit off his shin and bobbled into our goal. An own-goal this early on was not in the plans, but to the players' credit, head's did not drop as they perhaps would of prior to Shearer's arrival. Yes, courage, self-belief, determination and spirit are all words to be used in relation to the black and white's performance here, and how often could we do that this season?

Having been somewhat destroyed by Chelsea at home 2-0, next up we faced the might of Stoke City away in what was deemed as a must-win game. We drew 1-1. Granted, we played pretty poorly for most of the game, there were a few positives to take from this game.

Firstly, other than Middlesbrough beating Hull City, other teams around us also were beaten. Hull (as mentioned), Sunderland and also Blackburn Rovers all lost, meaning that we are just two points off safety, one behind local rivals Sunderland.

The arrival of Big Al has coincided with some more long overdue but great news - the departure of Dennis Wise from his role as Director of whatever! Nobody seemed overly sure exactly what Mr. Wise actually did during his time at Newcastle, but his controversial and utterly mysterious position has thankfully been brought to a halt. He was and never has been popular with Newcastle fans, since his playing days at Chelsea through to the present day. OK, we have signed an array of supposedly talented youngsters from across Europe, but in such testing times this season, surely first-team, proven players were the priority, and Wise did nothing to help us out on this front.

BREAKING NEWS (BEST NEWS EVER)

ALAN SHEARER IS NOW NEWCASTLE MANAGER!

Yes, that is correct, not an April Fools! Big Al is now the boss till at least the end of the season to see us through our remaining eight games of the season. Realistically speaking, he has no experience in management and very little time to put our season right, but if the Geordie legend's arrival doesn't lift the players, then nothing will. I am ecstatic and can hardly hide my excitement at the thought of my boyhood hero sitting in the dugout at St. James', regardless of how well he does. At the end of the day, he has nothing to lose, and will be backed 200 million per cent by the geordie fans.

Having plunged well into the depths of the relegation zone after a dismal draw at Hull City, and then defeat at home to Arsenal 3-1, things are grimmer than ever on Tyneside - no surprises there then.

We are now third bottom of the table, with the gap between us and our rivals getting bigger and bigger by the week. It seems no-one, repeat NO-ONE (thanks Mr. Cashley) is going to help us in our bid for survival. Chris Hughton is clueless, Joe Kinnear is ill and equally quite clueless, in my humble opinion, whilst out of our current squad, I have faith in not one of them. Of all that I thought could perhaps save us was Obafemi Martins, but after his weakest of all weak penalties ever against Arsenal, my faith is even lost in him.

A gutsy performance against the world club champions and quite possibly the best team in the world at present, Manchester United, suggests that we have a more than decent chance of Premier League survival this season. Yes, we were beaten once more 2-1, and gained again nothing from a match that we could have easily pinched a point from. Manchester United, unbeaten in the league for what seems like decades, were firm favourites to not only win on Wednesday night, but to absolutely destroy us, particularly as Edwin van Der Sar was still yet to concede a goal in an almost European record of 13 games. One more match and the record was his.

However, in the ninth minute of this entertaining encounter, new signing Peter Lovenkrands was on hand to pounce at the hands of the Dutch stopper, to put is in 1-0 in front early on. Jonas Guttierez shot from just outside the box, only for Edwin to spill the shot surpirsingly into the path of Lovenkrands. This was good stuff from the struggling geordies and we were unlucky not to go 2-0 up towards the end of the first half when injury-free Obafemi Martins shot inches wide, leaving us wondering what might have been.

After a thoroughly disappointing 2-1 defeat at Manchester City, we could then only gain a single point at home to our local rivals Sunderland. Much like our display at Man City, we were once again awful in the first half, and played reasonably well in the second.

Djibril Cisse put the visitors ahead after Fabricio Coloccini failed to play the Frenchman offside, allowing Cisse a clean one-on-one with our new number one, Steve Harper. Harper did well to save Cisse's initial shot on goal, only for the striker to prod home the rebound with an open goal.

Having gained an unlikely point from Stamford Bridge and also from the Smoggies away at The Riverside with two back-to-back scoreless draws, it seems that Joe Kinnear is bringing some much needed stability to our battered and bruised football club. The point at Stamford Bridge was a hugely uplifting and deserved result at a stadium where we would normally concede three or four goals and go home very fed up. The team showed fight and spirit, whilst super Shay Given proved once more that he is one of the greatest goalkeepers in the land with a string of superb saves, repeating the achievement a week later at Boro. Also worth a special mention is the huge improvement seen in the heart of our defence, with Fabricio 'the hair' Coloccini and Sebastian Bassong putting in memorable shifts recently, the latter looking excellent, especially considering his tender years.

I have to say that although I do not want Kinnear to stay as manager in the long run by any means, I am pleased that he has been given the job at least until the end of this season. He will bring fight and determination to the team, as well as some (probably short term) stability that should see us avoid relegation with ease judging by recent performances. Also, he has stated recently that funds will be available in January to strengthen our tiny squad, without the need to sell. However, if I remember rightly, isn't this what Keegan said, only to be left somewhat embarassed and humiliated by a disastrous regime that broke promises? Kinnear has also insisted that he is the man who chooses the players to bring in, with Dennis 'inch-high, private-eye' Wise simply given the task of going out and getting them, which is surely what should have happened whilst Kev was the boss. Strange, eh?

After a truly horrific display against local rivals Sunderland on Saturday, we battled hard for a much-needed 2-1 win against West Brom on Tuesday night. After putting in a surprisingly decent first half in which we could and should have scored more than the two goals we got, things were running smoothly.

It took only nine minutes for us to break the deadlock. A wonderful through ball from the hopefully rehabilitated Joey Barton allowed Shola Ameobi to run at their last man, only for the naive Ryan Donk to bring our very own Pele down with a clumsy tackle. Barton clutched the ball and pelted home the penalty, his second goal for us and his his second penalty for us also. So two goals, two penalties, that is.

After two fairly sound displays against Everton away and Manchester City at home, both producing satisfactory 2-2 draws, we face Sunderland away tomorrow with the expected return to action of controversial midfielder Joey Barton. The scene is set for yet another classic derby match, and I cannot help but admit that this as fearful as I have ever been going in to one. Joe Kinnear today announced that Michael Owen is only 40-60% chance of being fit for the game, and Jonas Guttierez is also unlikely to start. With this in mind I feel we may well struggle tomorrow, although it has to be said that Shola Ameobi looked a different player against Man City last Monday night, and credit must be given to the manager if this is to be the re-invention of a footballer who has always, in my eyes, failed to meet the demands of the Premier League. Perhaps Sir Bobby Robson burdened him when he famously said watching him was like watching 'Bambi on ice'.

I have always wanted Shola to make it at the top level, as there is no doubt that he has potential, but just when this potential will be realized is another matter. Here's hoping that he can score for the second game in a row and prove most people wrong about his goal scoring abilities. I have also noticed that we have a prolific youngster playing in the reserves at the moment by the name of Nile Ranger, who is scoring goals for fun at the moment. This has been noticed by many up here in geordieland and many, like myself, believe that youngsters like Ranger, should be thrown in at the deep end as oppose to persistent non-events such as Ameobi, amongst others. However, this is Shola's big chance, and having scored against Man City, I get the impression that this really is make-or-break time for the Geordie born striker and he will be keener than anyone to put his lethargic displays of the past few years behind him.