Well that's 2010 almost at an end. Another Soap Opera of a year in the history of Newcastle United Football Club.

We have enjoyed some real highs this year but, as ever, they have been matched by some awful lows.

Here are some of my memories (there are loads more but I would end up going on forever!), feel free to comment and add your own.

JANUARY P6 W2 D3 L1 F9 A6

The calendar year began with a thrilling 0 v 0 FA Cup round 3 draw down at Plymouth. They came up to Tyneside for the replay and a Lovenkrands hattrick buried them.
We were eliminated from the cup only 10 days later, going down 4 v 2 at West Brom - that game coming only days after we drew 2 v 2 with them in the league at home.

The January transfer window saw us bring in Wayne Routledge, Mike Williamson and Leon Best on permanent deals with One Size and Paddy van Aanholt coming in on loan. Danny Simpson also made his loan from Manchester United into a permanent move.

The best piece of business in this window came from a departure - Geremi finally shipped out to Turkey.

FEBRUARY P6 W4 D1 L1 F15 A7

The first game in February was arguably our best performance in the Championship - promotion chasing Cardiff slaughtered 5 v 1 at SJP. Ironically this was followed up in the next game with what was probably our worst performance in losing 0 v 3 at Derby.

We followed up on the Cardiff result with resounding home wins over Coventry (4 v 1) and Preston (3 v 0). Andy Carroll particularly enjoyed February - he netted 5 times.

MARCH P6 W4 D2 L0 F16 A5

March began with another big home win with Barnsley beaten 6 v 1. We then picked up a point in a hard fought 2 v 2 at Boro.

The highlight of the month of March was a vital 2 v 0 home win over Forest - Jose scored his 1st (and only) goal for us and his celebration was incredible. The lad was ecstatic and somehow managed to elevate his already high reputation amongst the fans. He is a Legend. (Keep Tweeting Jose!)

APRIL P6 W5 D1 L0 F15 A7

Another great month for us on the pitch - and another undefeated month.
We won promotion with a 2 v 1 home win over Sheffield United - Kevin Nolan defied gravity when he managed to score an over-head kick.

The lads paraded the Championship trophy after a 2 v 2 draw with Ipswich - that was a great day. The games against Sheff United and Ipswich will live long in my memory - really emotional and enjoyable days (and nights!). I thoroughly enjoyed our season in the Championship.

MAY P1 W1 F1 A0

Our only game in May was the final game of the season - a 1 v 0 victory at Loftus Road. As much as enjoyed it, let's hope we aren't down there again any time soon.

SUMMER

Nicky Butt's contract expired and he left the club for good after making 134 appearances. He is currently enjoying an Indian Summer playing for South China!

In came James Perch, Sol Campbell, long term injury victim Dan Gosling, Cheick Tiote and Hatem Ben Arfa on loan as Mike Ashley continued to do business on the cheap.

Promising young giant goalkeeper Fraser Forster headed out to Celtic on loan.

AUGUST P4 W2 D1 L1 F10 A6

We could not have been handed a tougher fixture for our return to the Premier League - Manchester United away. Although we were beaten 3 v 0 we gave a decent account of ourselves.

Premier League football returned to the City of Newcastle with an incredible 6 v 0 win over Aston Villa. Wor Andy netted 3 and silenced some of the critics who doubted that he would be able to score goals at the very top level.

We took a point at Molineaux against a horrible, cynical Wolves team. They seemed more intent on systematically fouling Joey Barton and despite no protection from the referee, Joey managed to restrain himself. Alan Shearer had a right old laugh about it on Match of the Day..... We were unlucky not to take all 3 points from that one.

SEPTEMBER P4 W2 D0 L2 F6 A7

Blackpool pulled off a surprise by winning 2 v 0 at SJP and playing some great football in doing so. They have since gone on to show that it was more than just a one off by winning at Anfield and becoming the first team to beat the mackems in the league at the SoL.
We took all 3 points at Goodison Park thanks to a phenomenal Hatem Ben Arfa strike - at that point it looked like we had signed a superstar.
Shola destroyed Chelsea at the Bridge in the League Cup (no, honestly, he did!) scoring twice in a 4 v 3 win. I went along to that one just for the craic and a few pints and came away having witnessed a magnificent victory!
The poor home form continued as we lost 2 v 1 to Stoke in a classic 'game of two halves'.

OCTOBER P5 W2 D1 L2 F10 A10

Nigel de Jong almost ended the career of Hatem Ben Arfa. (http://blogs.soccernet.com/newcastleunited/archives/2010/10/break_a_leg.php) The referee did not even award a free kick in what was one of the worst performances from an official in the history of football. He awarded City a penalty for a foul that occurred outside of the box and missed a blatantly obvious foul on Shola that should have been a penalty to us at a crucial time. Does money also buy you officials even if it is only in the ref's subconscious?

Home woes continued - we were diabolical for an hour against Wigan before managing to come back and grab a draw courtesy of a late Colo goal (and another superb celebration).

On October 23rd we went to Upton Park, played brilliantly and won a vital game. During the game rumours began to circulate that Chris Hughton was going to be sacked and that Kinnear or Pardew were waiting in the wings to replace him (http://blogs.soccernet.com/newcastleunited/archives/2010/10/back_him_or_sack_him.php) It took Ashley another 44 days to get around to doing the dirty on Hughton and appointing his mate Pardew - as we had known for weeks.

NEWCASTLE 5 V SUNDERLAND 1. That is all.

NOVEMBER P5 W1 D2 L2 F4 A8

A superb victory at The Emirates was followed up by 3 very poor performances and only 1 point from Blackburn 1 v 2 (H), Fulham 0 v 0 (H) and Bolton 1 v 5 (A) though we ended the month fairly well with a battling point vs Chelsea.

DECEMBER P4 W1 D0 L3 F5 A9

Ashley finally managed to give his mate Pardew the job on December 9th. Hughton was sacked on the 7th following an awful performance and defeat at West Brom. Lambias stated that the club were looking for a more experienced manager to take charge - then contradicted himself by appointing Alan Pardew (as predicted).

We beat Liverpool 3 v 1 and in the post match interview Joey Barton was quick to point out that it was Chris Hughton's tem that had won the game as Pardew had only been there a couple of days.

Therefore, after Birmingham away was postponed, Pardew took full charge of his first game in a 1 v 3 loss to Manchester City on Boxing Day. We played well but were undone by stupid errors.

The final game of another turbulent year came at White Hart Lane. We were poor and lost 2 v 0, spending the entire game humping the ball long to Carroll who with no support was left to try and do it all himself. Pardew was limited in terms of who he could pick from (Nolan suspended, Enrique injured) but the setup and approach to the game were incredibly naive. Lets see if his mate backs him in the transfer market.

2010 in all competitions:
P47, W24, D11, L12, F91, A65 - Not a bad effort at all. Thank you Chris.

2010 Top Scorer: Andy Carroll (26 goals) Including goals against Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Man City
2010 Player of the Year: Andy Carroll
2010 Young Player of the Year: Andy Carroll
Best Signing: Cheick Tiote
Worst Signing: Leon Best (with an honourable mention to James Perch)
Best Moment: I will leave that one open to you lot

2011 Expectations: Ashley wont spend any significant money, though we might get 1 or 2 in on loan. We will avoid relegation, but finish bottom 6 and start in that way next season too. And even though Pardew has been promised full support - at some point in 2011 he will be close to the sack (I don't think Ashley can help himself).

Please feel free to add your memories - favourite goals, great moments or anything that springs to mind.

Follow me on Twitter @MarcSDuffy