SUDDENLY exiled Geordies litter Newcastle's path like the ticker tape which their followers once had on standby to celebrate the championship.
Close on the heels of Alan Shearer and Graham Fenton, the Tynesiders who combined to secure Blackburn's dramatic victory over Kevin Keegan's side on Monday, come another pair of likely lads ready to do down their home town team.
Brian Little, who brings Aston Villa to St James' Park tomorrow, had a black and white striped jersey as a boy and has cousins who are season ticket holders. Tommy Johnson, whose attacking ability persuaded Little to let Fenton go, joins the Toon Army when he is not playing.
"Supporters and the rest of football can be assured we have no intention of giving anything but our best in the remaining games," said the Villa boss who sticks with the side that beat Southampton 3-0 on Monday.
"We owe it to ourselves the fans and to our profession as a whole that we maintain the high standards we have set ourselves this season, he said.
Newcastle, who may start nine points behind Manchester United, suffered another setback in training yesterday when Keith. Gillespie twisted an ankle which may prevent his facing Villa.
Gillespie's injury, while decidedly untimely, eases Kevin Keegan's selection dilemma for a game his team simply must win.
Had he returned, Robert Lee, consistently hailed by the Newcastle boss as "the best midfielder in the country", would have been favourite to make way, with Keegan unlikely to leave out the mercurially talented Faustino Asprilla.
The injury helps make up Keegan's mind for him, with Lee again likely to be asked to operate on the right side of midfield and Peter Beardsley given liberty to wander in the free role behind Asprilla and Les Ferdinand.
In the wake of the cruel Ewood Park defeat - their second last minute reverse within six days after the Stan Collymore hammer blow at Anfield - Keegan remained defiant.
"I won't give up until it's mathematically impossible and won't allow the players to do so either," he said.
While Villa have taken a solitary point from five meetings since Newcastle's promotion, two Easter wins suggest Little is countenancing no complacency. An other sub plot involves Shaka Hislop and Dwight Yorke, friends and colleagues with Trinidad and Tobago, although Keegan will demand that the heat is on Villa and their stand in centre back Ian Taylor.
Keegan can be excused for feeling it is time the leaders endure the odd twist of malign fate themselves. His old club Southampton, fighting for Premiership survival, may just be the team to inflict one.
Both Southampton's manager and director of football, Dave, Merrington and Lawrie McMenemy respectively, are Geordies, while the captain, Barry Venison, once led Newcastle. Moreover their need for points is if anything more pressing than United.
If there is to be an upset, Matthew Le Tissier will surely have to be back to his best. The Channel Islander has yet to score from open play this season. But Dave Beasant, the former Newcastle keeper who is likely to be recalled by Merrington, believes Le Tissier could be hailed as "Wor Matty" come this evening.
"Matt's started to do things in training that give us all hope," Beasant said. Southampton also have a dubious FA Cup defeat to avenge Against a team unbeaten in 19 games, and reinforced by another Tyne and motion man, Steve Bruce, it is a tall order.
Two of the five relegation candidates, Coventry and Queen's Park Rangers, tangle at Highfield Road in a battle of wits between Ron Atkinson and the man he may now regret having dubbed "The Crab," Ray Wilkins.
