3am fever
Most Geordies are more renowned for coming in at 3am in the morning rather than setting their alarm at that time, but it's a sacrifice some of the Toon Army must make as they embark on the latest leg of their Euro tour.
The 5.55am KLM flight from Newcastle to Amsterdam is set to be full of weary eyed black and whiters who will make the journey over the North Sea before getting their respective trains to Alkmaar for the big game on Thursday.
Some of course, the ones who got their first, will fly out later but the minute United's tie in Holland was announced for the Thursday night, seats on KLM's flights went like hot cakes.
And so after a European tour that has taken us to Norway, Latvia, Estonia, Italy, Germany, Belgium and now Holland many will wonder if this will be the last of the season.
Thinking negatively a 2-0 win for AZ is enough to take them through.
A draw suits Newcastle or even the gamble of a 1-0 loss.
And optimistic Magpie out there obviously the win sees us singing and dancing into the last eight.
Dare we dream of making it to the Hampden final?
Many of us are all focused on this tie for now but results in Holland have been kind in recent years.
We'll never forget Craig Bellamy's goal in Rotterdam in the Champions League while the 1-0 win over NAC Breda was just enough to get through on one of Europe's lesser nights.
Hopefully by the time kick-off comes on Thursday, the Toon Army will be awake and in full voice to make sure that place in the final eight is a reality and not a distant dream.
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Lee Ryder - Proudly born and bred on Tyneside, the Chronicle's chief sports writer has followed the fortunes of the club over the last three decades as a Toon fan and football writer.
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Here we go again, exciting or what!
I look for strong midfield performances in these games so that the defense is not under constant pressure and the strikers get to kick the ball.
I'm sure the lads will do us proud yet again.
We should get through alright, as long as we don't try to defend backs to the wall for 90 mins. If we do we will lose the game because we still don't seem to cope very well under pressure.
I'm sure we all wish the lads well and hope Martins puts in a strong performance and gets nearer the 20 goal mark.
A good performance from a strong midfield with plenty of service to the front 2 but not at the expence of the defence and we should be ok.
Hampden park here come the Geordies!!!!!!!!!
This one's a bit edgy. I can see them scoring early on and making it even more scary. But I do think we can catch them on the break with pace. Whether we can finish or not we'll have to see. Pack the midfield, with Dyer and Duff breaking wide either side of Martins. Then bring the bald frog on for the last ten minutes to nod one in and win 1-0. Alternatively, concede after 3 minutes, again just before half-time and two more in the second half. Quite possible. We'll see.
1 goal by New Castle and the game is over. If AZ scores first it still won't matter. The midfield wings has to keep the pressure on and the center midfield has to control possession. No turnovers = win.
It wouldnt be Newcastle if it wasnt so tense man
Lets be honest as geordie's are geordie's and tommorows game will be really stressful and we can hope that newcastle get through and i just hope that we do not go there and just defend as this team could pick us apart and please no more about newcastle getting a goal and then its over rubbish as remember lisbon and how that went.