Newcastle United face Crystal Palace on Saturday in the Premier League.
There will be no 1001st game for Steve Bruce, who was finally relieved of his duties this week.
The new owners are hard at work finding a new manager, with Paulo Fonseca the most heavily linked at the moment.
In the meantime, Graeme Jones will lead the team on an interim basis.
It is not clear how long this spell in charge will last for the 51-year-old.
It is going to be very interesting to see how the players respond.
By many accounts, Jones has been a popular figure at the club following his arrival back in January.
It remains to be seen if he can inspire them to a first victory of the season.
Palace have been looking decent under Patrick Vieira, and should really have beaten Arsenal on Monday night.
BBC pundit Mark Lawrenson has made his prediction for Saturday’s clash.
In his eyes, the removal of Steve Bruce will not be enough to prevent yet another defeat.
Predicting a 2-1 home win, he said: “This is a free hit for him (Jones) because he’s not really in the running to take the job permanently.
“Callum Wilson is back fit for Newcastle, and you saw the difference he makes to their attack with his early goal against Tottenham.
“I’d be more worried about the Magpies at the other end, though, even if Wilfried Zaha is not well enough to play for Palace.
“Palace have not quite managed to turn some good performances into wins yet under Patrick Vieira. Monday’s draw with Arsenal was another example of that, because they should have won – but they are progressing nicely.”
Release the shackles
Saturday’s game will be fascinating.
It will be interesting to see if Jones sticks with the formation Bruce had been using, or if he decides to be a little bolder.
It would be really nice just to see Newcastle go for it.
Jones, as Lawrenson says, has a free hit and should just release the shackles.
Give the players the chance to play with freedom, and it may actually relieve some of the pressure on a defence that has been far too leaky so far.
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