Newcastle manager Jamie Best gave a rare interview to Sky Sports News after this weeks crunch match against Leicester City

Jamie, a massive win against relegation rivals Leicester, you must be delighted?

Wow, what a game. Leicester pushed us right to the death and i'm so proud of my boys for having the spirit to pull through, when you go three goals up and get pegged back you're thinking its not going to be your day but we rode the storm and came out stronger in the final 30mins. Leicester have a great side and Mark has done well to try and build on last seasons promotion but i felt we had the edge today and it's a massive three points but we are still not safe and there is still work to be done.

As you say you are not safe yet after Man City winning, do you think they can catch you?

I expected them to beat Spurs today so it made the Leicester game even more important as they now can't catch us and they have a much easier run in than ourselves and City. City need to win all of their remaining games and although their form has improved i'd like to think they wont beat the teams much higher in the league, they play Portsmouth, Arsenal and Cardiff i believe so they would do well to take 9 points from those games. The main thing is it's in our hands, we know one more win will see us safe and although we play Chelsea and Man United in our next two fixtures we finish up with a trip to Spurs where i am confident we can get a result.

What do you feel has changed your form then because thats now only 1 loss in the last 7 fixtures, including 4 victories, had you started like this you may be fighting for Europe?

Obviously i would liked to have started the season in better form but we haven't deliberately dropped points, i think the league is much stronger this season, Portsmouth have been great since their promotion and obviously Leicester have their connection with Juventus which has seen them strengthen a lot, so although our form has improved i always felt reaching our target of top 6 was a bit too far. We did the same last season and managed to pull it back at the end, we kept players fit and made a few transfers which helped, but this season a change in tactics has seen us perform much better and our shape has meant we can score more goals and at the same time be a much tighter unit at the back. Before we hit this run of form we were losing games by a single goal despite matching them largely all over the park so its nice to get the reward now in the form of 3 points.

You mentioned your target there of a top 6 finish, last season you were told that the board expected a significant improvement and with your contract due to expire how do you feel the future sits for you?

If i am brutally honest i think i'll probably have to scour the job pages come the end of the season, i have had no contact with the chairman regarding a contract, i've not met my target and although the squad is stronger and we look like we could survive this season i don't think that will be enough. Never say never of course and we will see what happens, i love the club and have invested a lot of my own money into Newcastle and there is work here to be done, i'd love to be backed by the chairman and allowed to push on next season but again we will have to see what happens, you never know in football.

Thats very honest of you, if you did lose your job would you apply to manage your boyhood club Man United who have lost their long standing manager Craig Radford in the last couple weeks?

I couldn't possibly comment, until i am told otherwise i am the manager of Newcastle United, i do and have always supported Man Utd howeveri wan to finish the job i have started here and until the board makes their decision my mind needs to be fully focused on Newcastle and them only. Man United are a great club with a proud history, so they probably wouldn't want me anyway!

And finally a word for Daniel Robertson who has taken over your chairman club Fiorentina?

Well what can i say about the lad, when i purchased the club they had a manager in place already and they were sat at the bottom of the division, Huw Evans contacted me to say that he felt he could no longer contribute the time he felt needed to turn the club around and although i was disappointed to lose the manager so soon after taking over we didnt dither on it and it allowed us to go in a new direction. Daniel apporached us and you only have to look at the job he was doing at Reggina to realise the stuff he was saying was based on fact and that he really could turn the club around. He came in at a time when the club was embarking on a massive run of games and he has delivered, winning all of the games against the teams around him and this week defeating Napoli who are in the top 6, so although there is still work to be done we are delighted with how he has performed so far and we hope this continues through to the end of the season. 

Coakleys Corner 

Chelsea 2 Liverpool 0
A lacklustre Liverpool handed the title to Chelsea in what was a poor game at Stamford Bridge. The result seems inevitable with goals from Poli and Krkic completing the victory. Despite an attacking line up Liverpool managed just a single shot on target. Liverpool fans will be looking on the bright side as they remain second and two points ahead of Pompey after they lost to Arsenal.

Coakleys Corner
It wasnt a great game but its clear to everyone that Chelsea are by far the best team in this league. They have been undefeated all season and the strength and depth they have no one can compete with. Liverpool seem to be in a time of transition at the moment but I back them to take second place. Congratulations have to go out to Chelsea.

Manchester City 5 Spurs 1
City demolished Spurs in what was a must win game at The City of Manchester Stadium. A spurs win would have all but relegated City but they came out fighting and put on there best show of the season. Despite the big name signing of Torres it was Kezman that took all the leadlines and the hattrick ball. Man City fans will be cheering on Cardiff players this week in the hope they can take all three points which would in turn make the Man Citys game with Pompeys the biggest of Man Citys season.

Coakleys Corner
It was a brilliant result, they have players like Vidic, Mexes, Kaka and Torres now who if used correctly can keep them up. Its a huge game for them against Pompey, if they win that game I believe they will stay up but its a big ask against a good pompey side.

Cardiff 1 Manchester United 2
United continued to win despite the departure of manager Craig Radford. All goals game in a frantic nine minutes when United took the lead through some smart work from Smiljanic, however this lead was shorted lived as City replied with a fine striker from Nicky Maynard. The winner came from a fine header from Vukcevic.

Coakleys Corner 

It was a deserved win for United but we battled hard and with a touch of luck we could have nicked an equaliser near the end. United have a lot of quality though out the team and at this stage of the season we had to evaluate the players fitness so we had to chop and change ready for a huge game against Spurs. We were delighted to complete the signing of Ruiz on deadline day as well and it gives us that extra depth in defence.