Newcastle sealed their safety in the Premiership with a home victory against languising Birmingham City on Saturday afternoon. It wasn't the prettiest game, and there were a couple of opportunites for Newcastle to increase their lead in the second half. But in the end, a lot of hard work and battleing for the ball in the midfield paid off. It was a very nice recovery from the total lack of effort displayed at Anfield last week.

Newcastle now have 44 points. It's looking like 39 points will be the safety threshold for the table this year, which is exactly where Birmingham is currently stuck with two more matches to be played.

This game featured a rare chant from the Toon Army: "Attack Attack Attack." The Newcastle faithful might be fiercely loyal, but their patience is not infinite. They knew a victory on Saturday guaranteed another campaign (season) in the Top Flight beginning this August. 

With Chelsea playing soft and Newcastle's final game of the season at a seemingly re-energized St. James' Park, could they finish the season with two wins and 50 points? How about one win and 47 points? A 10th place finish in the table is still within reach, if they finish strong and finish plays well.

Now on the far more knowledgeable Newcastle United blogs:

Black & White & Read All Over: "At the end of a week during which our new home shirt was revealed, an unspectacular St James' Park victory over Birmingham brought confirmation that it's sleeve will carry the official Premier League badge into the 2011/12 season."

View From The Shite Seats: "The defence yet again failed to cover themselves in glory, but with PL survival assured for another season, Pardew can begin planning how to deal with the inevitable loss of key players in the Summer transfer window and how to spend the £24.50 he will have available for transfers."