I welcome the understated approach this time – It might just work | OneFootball

Ahead of Liverpool v Newcastle in the Carabao Cup Final, we are looking to gauge the thoughts of Newcastle United fans ahead of that 4.30pm kick-off at Wembley on Sunday.

So we have asked a number of regular and irregular contributors to The Mag a range of questions.

How they think things are looking ahead of this massive match.

Whether or not they have a ticket for this Carabao Cup Final and what they expect to see happen when Newcastle United meet Liverpool.

Next up we have Davey Hat-Trick:

Ticketed or ticketless for Sunday?

I have a ticket – I was in pot 2, as I am a season ticket holder who went to all of the home games.

The ticketing regime this time seems a bit fairer than when we played manure a couple of years back. The club won’t keep everyone happy whatever they do but they seem to have upset fewer fans this time.

What are your plans around the match this weekend?

It’s a quick in-and-out for me.

My mates are making a long weekend of it, to the delight of London’s licensees, but I’ll drive down Sunday morning at 6am, park up at my daughter’s in London and get the tube to Wembley. A poor night’s sleep on her settee, then up early doors Monday to avoid the traffic wardens.

Needless to say, I’ve been tapped up for a lift down, so I’ll enjoy the company of a man I know who will bring 12 cans of strong lager and force me to stop at every service station so he can decant them – via his kidneys – into the waterways of England

The old favourite, would you rather win this Cup Final on Sunday or qualify for the Champions League via the Premier League (Obviously bearing in mind the PSR/money side of things as well)?

Now that we’re in the final, I’ll take the cup win, just because it’s been so damn long, and this will be my seventh trip to Wembley to watch Newcastle. The previous six outings have yielded six losses, two goals for, and 15 against. I’m sixty-flipping-seven and I’ve had enough.

Maybe a bit more difficult, would you rather win on Sunday but have no Champions League qualification these next five seasons, or lose on Sunday and have Champions League qualification guaranteed for each of the next five seasons. (Obviously bearing in mind the PSR/money side of things as well)?

OK – you got me. Give me the Champions League.

What would be your starting eleven in the Carabao Cup Final?

Pope. Back five of Trippier, Krafth, Schär, Burn, Livramento. Bruno and Sandro in the middle. Then Murphy, Isak and Joelinton

What would have been your starting eleven if everybody had been available?

Pope. Back four of Livramento, Schär, Botman, Hall. Bruno, Sandro, Joelinton. Murphy, Isak, Gordon

What chance do Newcastle United have of lifting the trophy (rating it between 0 and 10)?

I would say 3 out of 10.

Liverpool are favourites – they are an extremely good side – but we matched them once this season.

We did the same against Man City and we’ve beaten Arsenal (thrice), manure, Spurs (twice), Forest (twice) and Chelsea. When we play well, we’ll give anyone a game.

How important was the West Ham match to our chances in the final? Has defeating the Hammers gave us a better (or worse?!!) chance, compared to if NUFC had lost on Monday?

Better, I think. And I don’t think we played anywhere near our best. We’ll need an extra 20% to stand a chance against Liverpool but I think we have an extra 20% available. Defeat at West Ham would have been hard to recover from.

Similarly, what impact do you think it will have on Newcastle’s chances, what happened at Anfield on Tuesday night against PSG?

I think the intensity will have damaged Liverpool more than the defeat. In the unlikely event of Newcastle going 2-0 up early on, they’ll start feeling tired quickly. If it’s 0-0 after 75, they will start getting genuinely fatigued. They score first, they will be able to control things

Who do you think are the three most important players on Sunday and in what order and why?

Livramento (or whoever plays at LB), because someone has to stop Salah.

Tonali and Bruno, because Liverpool’s midfield is Liverpool’s strength. The midfield of Bruno, Sandro and Joe is the best in the league, in my opinion. Apart, that is, from Liverpool’s…

Looking back at your time supporting Newcastle United, which are the times when you thought NUFC were potentially going to win something?

Well, I’m old enough to have seen us win something, so of course back then I thought life would always be that way. Silly me. Since then (1969), I guess the only time I really thought we were the best side in a competition was when we got to the semi-final of the UEFA Cup in 2004. I was gutted when we lost to Marseille.

(I know many people will talk about the Keegan team blowing a 12-point lead in 1996 but I always felt that team was too erratic. I was at the away game at Upton Park in the February. We lost 2-0, and I’m sorry to say, we looked like a team that was going to bottle it)

Would this automatically be the highlight of your time supporting NUFC if they beat Liverpool on Sunday?

It might sound daft but I’ll be chuffed for my mates.

I met them at the match when they reconfigured the stadium and we were seated next to each other. Most of them are 10 years younger than me and have no real recollection of us winning anything. There are some real diehards there with hundreds of loyalty points etc. They’ve supported Newcastle for decades and have had very little reward for their efforts.

Anything special planned if/when we win this Cup Final?

No, but I’ll do the idiotic thing and fly my scarf out of the window on the drive up the M1 Monday morning

Do you think if Newcastle United win this trophy it will live up to what you ever hoped it feel like, or do you think maybe a bit of an anti-climax, as in…is that it?

March 27th will mark exactly 60 years since my first Newcastle game and I’ve been thinking quite a lot about that.

I’ll be 68 in May, so I have to accept that I won’t be going to the match forever. If we win, it’ll be more of a satisfied feeling after so long, rather than elation.

How would you describe how you feel ahead of this match – excited, terrified, can’t wait, dreading it…?

I’m quite relaxed, 55 years of underachievement tends to balance out any enthusiasm.

And I, like that the club and the players, have played it down.

There is no universe in which we’d be considered favourites but I’m quite confident we’ll put on a performance. We’ve been feeble so often at Wembley that I just want a performance to feel proud of. I’m quite confident I’ll get it

Do you think Eddie Howe and his team have got enough recognition for even getting to the final, considering the fact that in this cup run Newcastle have defeated current top four sides Chelsea, Forest and Arsenal (twice!) just to get to Wembley?

Yes I do. Newcastle fans often think we get no credit, but our performances in those two Arsenal games in particular were lauded everywhere. Even the 12 angry men who produce AFTV agreed Newcastle outplayed them

In your optimistic moments do you think back to our first game in the competition this season, behind in the penalty shootout at Forest, then think maybe this was all meant to be…?

I don’t believe in fate.

If things were meant to be, Sir Bobby and Shearer would have won a trophy during their time at SJP.

Better, and strangely relaxed.

I think everyone – players included – wasted nervous energy before that manure game getting overexcited. We were spent before kick-off. I welcome the understated approach this time. It might just work.