Aston Villa's trip to the Toon...

Aston Villa travel to St. James' Park tonight to take on a Newcastle team that suddenly seems to be being praised more than anything following their dismal start to the season.

I have always liked Newcastle, despite my second team being Sunderland courtesy of my father, but in recent years there can be no denying that the club has become a bit of a farce.

Such a proud area, with tremendous fans, an impressive stadium and legends connected with the club such as Sir Bobby Robson, Alan Shearer and.. Warren Barton. Yet they seem to be doing their best to ruin all that.

I am writing this blog after reading all of the praise that Martin O'Neill has been giving Joe Kinnear and Joey Barton. I am very sorry to any Newcastle United or football fan who may not like this, but I simply disagree with it all.

Sure, Newcastle have improved of late. Slightly. They have earned a couple of better results and are starting to play with a bit more confidence however correct me if I am wrong, do they not still sit bottom of the Premier League?

Joe Kinnear is an old school manager who apparently did well at Wimbledon. I remember Wimbledon from when I was younger and despite what state they were in when he took over, I never remember them being anything but a relegation-battling side year-in-year-out. Football has advanced so much over the past decade and in my opinion Joe Kinnear is guilty of not moving with the times. He proved this with that ridiculous press conference. It wasn't only his language that leads me to believe he has no idea what he is doing, but the fact that most of what he said was utter rubbish. He hadn't even read the stories about him properly and even if he had that was no way to go about responding to them.

Now on to Joey Barton.

Barton is a fantastically talented footballer. Since going professional he will have had it all handed on a plate to him; money, respect and admiration. But unfortunately Joey Barton is also an idiotic thug and nothing more. I am all for players earning second chances, but it just seems like no matter how many goals he scores or how well he plays at Newcastle, in my opinion he has had one 'fresh start' too many. Court case after court case, one contraversy after another and a disciplinary record that in my opinion loses him the right to an easy life as a professional footballer.

By writing this I am perhaps tempting fate. Barton will probably go and bury the Villa tonight; bag himself a hat-trick then get replaced by Joe Kinnear who rounds off the win with an emphatic finish, before revealing a celebratory shirt that reads 'F*ck you Shaun Staff'.

But I very much doubt it.