Newcastle United were once again, found wanting in front of goal as they face Plymouth in the third round of the FA Cup. Boss Chris Hughton decided to use the full squad with players such as Krul, Kadar, and Nile Ranger getting first team run-outs.

The Toon Army, who descended on the South Coast in their thousands, could be forgiven for wondering why Newcastle weren't taking the FA Cup seriously.

The draw for the F.A Cup fourth round is as follows:

• Southampton v Ipswich Town
• Reading or Liverpool v Burnley
• Millwall or Derby County v Brentford or Doncaster Rovers
• Bristol City or Cardiff City v Leicester City
• Stoke City v Arsenal
• Notts County or Forest Green Rovers v Wigan
• Scunthorpe United v Manchester City
• West Bromwich Albion v Plymouth or Newcastle
• Everton v Nottingham Forest or Birmingham City
• Accrington Stanley or Gillingham v Fulham
• Bolton v Sheffield United or QPR
• Pompey or Coventry City v Sunderland
• Preston North End v Chelsea
• Aston Villa v Brighton and Hove Albion
• Tranmere Rovers or Wolves v Crystal Palace
• Spurs v Leeds United

Not a bad draw for Newcastle, but it's another unkind away trip that we could have done without.

In a step which will take him closer to a move away from the Elland Road club, Leeds striker Jermaine Beckford has formally requested a transfer away from his current club.

A statement from the Leeds United website is as follows:

Leeds United can confirm that Jermaine Beckford has handed in a transfer request.

Man City boss works on his shooting The splendid photo above is the handiwork of one Roberto Mancini. The two cheeky scamps in the scarves called Mancini over to pose for a photo, only to thrust the camera in his direction and urge him to get to work. To his credit, Mancini duly obliged. The chaps in [.

Our position of listening to you trot out the same generic excuse has become untenable OTP reader Ben Marlow is pining for a time when footballing folk gave half-decent excuses for their high profile fall-outs instead of reverting to lawyer speak. Ben said: "Reading the recent stories about Peter Storrie, Avram, that West Ham bloke, and anyone [.

Well we can postpone work on those "Sack ‘Arry" placards for the time-being at least. With a maturity that even they themselves probably did not realise they possessed our heroes adapted to the conditions better than the other lot, made better chances and saw out the game with consummate professionalism.

Well I would have settled for a draw beforehand – that it was such a memorable, high-octane, pulsating spectacle of a game was a bonus. As against Bolton in the last round, the AANP view is that our opponents have blown their best chance of victory by failing to beat us on their own patch. Back at the Lane and under the floodlights I fancy us to come out on top, injuries permitting.

A Cup quarter-final, under the floodlights and in front of a jam-packed White Hart Lane – if that doesn't get your juices flowing my friend you're probably better off at the Emirates. The Star Wars theme that greets the players as they amble out each week may not be everyone's particular brand of cognac, but pre kick-off it certainly makes the hairs on the back of the AANP neck stand to attention, and by the time it blares out this evening I suspect I'll be bouncing off the walls and ready to kill someone with my bare hands.

Ich bevorzuge Frauen. Ich bin mit Veronica zusammen. Sie ist 31 Jahre
alt, blond und hübsch. Ich danke den Spielern für den Job, den sie
machen. Das ist es dann aber auch schon.

Diego Armando Maradona, Nationaltrainer Argentiniens, liebt seine Spieler nur beruflich.

Even observing from across the Atlantic, AANP is well aware of the worrying signs that, for all the cheer and merriment created by our Champions League qualification, our heroes are doing a dashed good impression of a pack of mutts who have bitten off more than they can chew. I'm not quite sure how tiredness can be a factor so early in the season, particularly as many of the players had an international break, but there has been a sluggishness to our recent league form, and the forthcoming glut of CL games is unlikely to freshen up any of our heroes.