NUFC (normal home with white socks):  
Given, Charvet, Hughes, Goma, Barton, Dyer, Solano (Gavilan 85mins),  Speed, Gallacher (Ameobi 70mins), Cordone, Shearer.
Subs Not Used: Harper, Griffin, McClen.
Booked: None
Sent off: None

CFC (normal home - blue everything):  
Cudicini, Panucci, Le Saux, Leboeuf, Desailly, Hasselbaink, Wise, Melchiot (Morris 78mins), Di Matteo, Flo (Zola 83mins), Harley (Dalla Bona 83mins)
Subs Not Used: Hitchcock, Gudjohnsen
Booked: Flo, Panucci
Sent off: None

Goals:

None.

Match facts:

Goalless draws: First at home this millennium. Last one was the 0-0 that saw our exit from the UEFA Cup at the hands of AS Roma last December. First in the league since the opening fixture of the 1998-9 season when we drew a blank against ten-man Charlton under Kenny.
Clean sheets: No jokes about Kieron Dyer, please. By our not-always-reliable reckoning, you'd have to take a journey back to May 1997 to find the last time we kept three consecutive clean sheets. Champions League qualification was secured under the stewardship of Mr Dalglish with clean sheets at Arsenal (1-0), West Ham (0-0), Man United (0-0) and at then at home to Forest (5-0). 
Senior Debut of Shola Ameobi - first Nigerian to play for the Toon. Congratulations young man. Gold star would have been awarded had he scored (obviously) or further provoked the dwarf-like one into getting the red card that we gambled our charity £2 on.
Number of fans to watch NUFC so far this season (five games): 244,173 (an average of 48,835)

The two nicest(!) managers in the Premiership quoth thus....

They said: The softly-spoken, shiny-pated, silver-spooned aristocrat faced his tormentors and launched forth:   

''We came here to get the three points and the way we played, I think, showed that,'' he said. ''Newcastle played very well.

''It was wide open. Both teams tried their best to win the match, so that was a good attitude for a team that has been under fire for the last three days. We showed that composure and confidence. We could have won it, we could have lost it - it was a cracking football match.

''We did something wrong obviously in the last 15 minutes against Arsenal. We had to talk about what went wrong and try to put it right as soon as possible because in England, you play so many matches you have no time to rest. We've got to work hard to improve things, and I think we did today.''

We said: Our trophy-clutching, bus-pass holding, former pitman undid his suit jacket button and mused:

''It was nip and tuck all afternoon,'' he said. ''There was very little to choose between the sides. It was always going to be about the first goal. It was always going to be a sensational goal or a controversial decision by the referee or a mistake by somebody which would turn the game and, whichever team it happened for, they were going to win.

''It was a 0-0 draw, we've got a point and we haven't looked a shade inferior to Chelsea in any shape or form over 90 minutes. I know we had home advantage but, for the third time in succession, we have had no goals scored against us, which is a boost to us.

''Our defence is looking much better now. The two centre-halves are really two pillars now. In that sense, I'm happy. We've got 10 points from five games - that's two points a game. We actually had five big players - Rob Lee, Didier Domi, Nikos Dabizas, Carl Cort and Christian Bassedas - not available to us today.

''With those five and a little bit more that we hope to manufacture in due course, we will strengthen the squad. We'll be stronger all round and we will have more quality and I would say that we'll have a pretty good season without saying that we'll threaten anything.

''We've got nine points - more than we had at this point last year, so it's gone well.'' Robson was particularly pleased with the performance of 20-year-old defender Aaron Hughes, who coped admirably with the threat of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink a day after signing a new five-year contract.

''We've given him a new contract and he's grateful for it,'' he said. ''It's nice for a player to say thank you. He's doing very well for us. He's not a big physical guy, he's not like Jaap Stam or Alain Goma, who incidentally is doing very well for us, but he's very sharp, he's very alert, he anticipates well, he reads the game beautifully. He's a very good defender.''

Robson also voiced the opinion that Chelsea will have been happy to leave Tyneside with a point.

''You've got to remember who they were playing,'' he said. ''We're not a knock-over. Believe me, they'll be happy with a point from this game.'' 

Waffle: 

If proof were needed that the influence of drink upon the occupants of the corporate section is a dangerous thing, the awarding of the man of the match to Kieron Dyer is a prime example. While no stranger to the odd buckshee shandy myself, I can at least claim i've never been that hammered that I couldn't spot a good performance through half-closed bloodshot eyes.

By falling for the quick-footed charms of England's number one substitute, the freeloaders missed a great opportunity to pay public tribute to the unsung hero of the season so far, Aaron Hughes. Happily uncle Bobby isn't as myopic as some of the fans, and has acted to secure the young Cookstown sizzler** on an extended contract.

Since being handed his first senior start at a damp and virtually deserted Nou Camp by Kenny, he's enjoyed runs in lineups picked by both the miserable jock and his Dutch successor, taming several big-name players in the process. However, the arrival of Robson seems to have been the catalyst for a raising of his all-round game, once he'd proved to an initially sceptical new boss that he deserved his place and that a mooted loan deal for Colin Hendry was unnecessary.

The instant response of a good performance in the 8-0 drubbing of Sheffield Wednesday and his first senior goal set him up for a good season thereafter, and a further important goal at Goodison Park and noteworthy handling of the Roma striker Totti went hand in hand with a cementing of his place in the Northern Ireland team under new boss Sammy McIlroy.

This season he began as a full back at Old Trafford but thereafter has linked up in the centre of defence with Goma, and has publicly stated that this is his best position, something i'd certainly agree with.

Against Chelsea, he faced the perennially-dangerous Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, who found the way to the goals at St.James' without any bother in his Leeds days, and by and large kept him at bay. His partner Goma also seemed to show some cohesion and understanding, and if anyone made the rearguard look lopsided and vulnerable, it was Barton's prancing on the flanks.

Not much else to say about the game, although i'm sure Griffin was a bit miffed by having to make way for Barton again after the former had done nothing wrong while the latter was barred from playing. Cordone and Shearer are something less than ideal as a front pairing, as the Argie tends to play too far away from uncle Al - the imminent return of Carl Cort is well-timed if he makes it for the Dell. Nobby never rose to the heights of his Spurs flyer, but it was that sort of a game really, plenty effort but no classic. 

Still, an all too rare clean sheet again this lot is a rare event - the first since September 1995. Unspectacular but steady progress.  

Postscript:

Obviously not everyone thought that Newcastle defended reasonably well, especially loveable old Ken Bates, who pushed Vialli on to his sword a couple of days later and thus made a tidy profit for bookmakers all over the country who'd taken bets on John Gregory being the first Premiership Manager to go up the road this season. After the shenanigans on Tyneside in two of the last three seasons, it's quite nice to be able to sit back and watch other people wash their dirty linen in public, but I for one am disappointed by the lack of social misfits hanging around Stamford Bridge for the TV cameras to capture in all their intelligence-free finery. Perhaps that's something unique to Newcastle that brings these loons out whenever something cracks off at United.

PS - in deference to the blazer-wearing gin swillers who are the lifeblood of our club, I have to admit that more than one person sitting in my section thought that Carl Cort came on for United in the second half.....and we ain't in the top tiers of the stand. Proof that whether it's Pimms or pints, the effect is the same.....

**Cookstown sizzlers were Irish sausages advertised many years ago by a young George Best with a slogan of something like "get a cookstown sizzler inside you" - i'm sure he would much rather have had a bottle of buckfast...

Biffa