The Newcastle game was the best 0-0 draw I’ve seen for years as City tore into the league-leaders from the kick-off. Last week I said it was the ideal fixture to follow three defeats and the lads didn’t disappoint.

It was a great atmosphere, with at least 29,000 inside the Walkers and my 125 Lounge was packed. Ian Marshall turned up to say hello, but I had to turn him away. Marshy had brought eight of his mates that I had to evict from the room as any more people would’ve made it a fire hazard! Being Scousers, they stole all the programmes as they left!

Nigel Pearson said his side deserved the three points and I’d agree. They created the better chances and, even with ten men, kept decent possession and took the game to The Magpies. In fact, I think City made Newcastle look poor.

Referee Andre Marriner was shocking. The red card was harsh and I couldn’t believe it when he missed that high challenge on Waghorn towards the end of the first half. To make matters worse he booked Bruno Berner a few seconds later and I was raging. The high tackle could’ve been a straight red and he didn’t even give a foul. It was the perfect opportunity to even things up and refs usually do that.

It was one of the worst decisions I’ve seen and it happened right in front of Nigel Pearson. I don’t know how he kept his composure. Maybe that’s why I’m not a manager. If I had been stood that close to the incident I would have been sent off for sure!

The defence were absolutely outstanding, with Morrison, Hobbs, Brown and the returning Berner all putting in heroic displays. It was arguably skipper Matt Oakley’s finest performance of the season as he did the running of two men following Wellens’ dismissal. The front three of Matty Fryatt, Martyn Waghorn and Paul Gallagher were all impressive and I expect to see more of that formation.

Chris Weale was as solid as ever in goal and he’s been an ever-present this season. It makes a big difference to last year when we had about six different keepers and Weale is the best we’ve had for a while, probably since Ian Walker.

Nobby Solano impressed me on his debut, even though it was only a short cameo. His arse looked massive in those white shorts and he’ll definitely bring more width to the team! His touch and passing still looked top drawer and I’m sure once his fitness and match sharpness improves, we’ll see a lot more from him.

Like John Terry, the lads should look to score away from home this Saturday against Blackpool. Bloomfield Road is never an easy place to go, but if we take the Newcastle form on our travels, we’ll have a great chance.

Ian Holloway will be well up for it against his old club and The Tangerines are just one place above Leicester, having played two games more. It’s going to be tight, but victory would see us steal a march on them and our other play-off rivals.

Former Leicester midfielder Steve Thompson, who I’ve known since we played against each other as kids, is Blackpool’s first team coach. Thommo’s always been a good friend and he asked me about DJ Campbell last season, before they took him on loan. I said to take him as we wanted rid! But, to be fair DJ did well and scored a few goals and they’ve just borrowed him again until the end of the season.

Coming in on loan is Alex Bruce who will provide good cover for the defence, both centrally and at right-back. As a teenager at Wigan I played against his dad, Steve, who was lining up for Gillingham. Brucie was a good player and one hell of a competitor, even back then. If Alex is anything like that, he’ll be another clever Pearson signing.

The lads will again be in action on Tuesday night, hosting Doncaster in the first of two consecutive home games. Donny play the right way under Sean O’Driscoll and I expect an open game, which will give Pearson’s men a chance to attack.

I mentioned John Terry earlier and the speculation surrounding his off the field activities has been crazy this week. In my opinion the media and the fans should leave him alone and let his football do the talking. It’s a private matter between him and his family and Wayne Bridge and his family.

I’m not condoning what he’s done, but it’s not a football issue. He shouldn’t be binned as England captain either. If you look at the stats we’re much better with him as skipper and changing the captaincy would cause further disruption to the squad.

If you were at the Newcastle game last weekend, or in the pubs surrounding the ground, you may have seen a few fliers promoting the Walsh Man’s blog and 125 hospitality lounge. I’d like to say a big thank you to my printers Richmond Cavendish for all their help with those.

I recently became a shareholder at Baffone Italian restaurant on Humberstone Gate. The owner Massimo is a great bloke and the place has a really nice atmosphere. I’ve got plenty of fond memories of Baffone’s from my playing days. We ate pasta there on Friday lunchtimes before games and went back to celebrate on Saturday nights if we’d won.

I’m on another dry spell with my wager, but that will soon change. This week, I’m backing Rotherham, Forest, Sheffield United and Rochdale. Fitzy from Turner & Kendrick will again be donating a £25 bet for Wishes4Kids.

Steve Walsh Blog in association with: