72 mins Sylla header  1-1

90 mins Camara shot / Hughes deflection 1-2

Sir Bobby said:

About the game:

"We had it won. Whether it was comfortable or not, I don't know, but we had it won. We have to learn that sometimes you have to win games 1-0.

"There were a lot of changes after the goal and I suppose players forget who is supposed to be marking who and the fella (Sylla) got in the free header for the 1-1 scoreline.

"I thought, 'Well, we will be all right, we won't lose it'.

"Then Camara got a lucky deflection and from winning 1-0 in a tough spot like Celtic, we ended up losing 2-1. I went blazing mad. I didn't like one or two of my players saying, 'Well played lads'.

"I said, 'Hang on a sec, we have lost. Don't say well played when we have lost'.
Even in friendly matches that is how it has to be.

"We have to make sure that when we are in competition, which starts in 10 days' time, we don't lose matches where we are 1-0 up."

About the moment when he and Shearer met on the touchline after the latter was subbed in favour of Kluivert:

"My objective is to get everybody fit. As manager, that's my responsibility. To get Patrick fit he has to play games, so I have to play him, I cannot leave him on the bench.

"I think the two are similar, though I'm not saying they cannot play together. But Bellamy is a runner and he needed a game because he didn't play on Sunday.

"People should not read anything into it. Alan played Saturday, Sunday and tonight. Of the four strikers we have, who has played the most football? Nobody can complain about the lack of a shirt."

About the eye infection outbreak that saw Given, Caig, Bowyer and O'Brien left on Tyneside:

"It's a serious, serious business. We lost Shay Given, whose eye is in a wretched state. Then we lost Andy O'Brien and then Lee Bowyer, before Tony Caig went down with it this morning.

"The eye closes up with swelling and watering and it's very nasty. The incubation period is five to seven days, so there could still be some players who have got it.

"I have been in football a long time and I have never known anything like it.

"This could not have come at a worst time and we could not have been hit at a worse place. What it means is the players are going to have to live separately over the next few days.

"They have today off and tomorrow, as individuals, they are going to have to find a local park to do their training. We will give them all a work sheet and hope it keeps them fit.

"They will have Saturday and Sunday off and on Monday and Tuesday they will have to change in their cars as we will keep away from our training ground.

"The players will then have to go home and shower and come back again at 6.30 and do the same again.

"Our changing rooms are being fumigated and we do not know where this virus has come from. It is not very nice for the players who are infected and Shay Given looks as though he has gone a few rounds with Mohammed Ali.

"It does not just concern Newcastle United - the players could go home and pass it on to their families.


New boy Matty Pattison told the Chronicle:

"I enjoyed it, it was brilliant.

"It was the first time I had been in a first-team squad. I didn't think I would get on. It is a dream come true.

"The manager said `keep it simple and try as hard as you can'. I was a bit nervous to start with but once I settled down I was fine. I wanted it to go on longer."

"I can play centre midfield or on the left. I played two reserves games last season and I have played two in this pre-season. My aim now is a regular place in the reserves."

Paradise lost

Celtic  2  Newcastle  1

A last minute debut strike by substitute Henri Camara gave Celtic a 2-1 win in another uninspiring friendly kickabout as our pre-season finished on a losing note in front of a severely depleted and largely silent home support, who reacted to having to pay for this game by staying away in their tens of thousands.

Neither side were impressive in a disappointing first half, when Celtic had the better of the chances and also the bulk of illegal tackles - strong-arm challenges by Hartson on Bernard and Lennon on Milner leaving their mark in forcible terms.

Craig Bellamy broke the deadlock on the hour with a low drive past keeper David Marshall after good work from Brittain and Dyer - a second pre-season goal from the Welshman in three games.

For the second successive game, Sir Bobby then brought Kluivert on for the remaining 30 minutes at the expense of Shearer, allowing the Dutchman to play alongside Bellamy after experiencing Ameobi on Sunday against Lisbon. The number nine's withering look to the manager spoke volumes.

Newcastle handed a debut to academy midfielder Matty Pattison, who replaced Dyer and didn't disgrace himself, considering that he began the season on the subs bench for our reserve game at Shildon - there's a slight difference between the dugouts at Dean Street and Parkhead though....

A Mohammed Sylla header from a Wallace corner got the Bhoys back on terms on 72 minutes later and made it 12 games since a clean sheet, before Camara's late winner slightly against the run of play.

The sub, on loan from Wolves, beat Steve Harper with a lob that took a deflection off Hughes on exactly 90 minutes to give Martin O'Neill's side another premiership scalp after beating Manchester United in the USA.

We looked to scramble a draw in the two minutes of added time allowed by referee Willie Young but Kluivert's free-kick from a central position flew over the bar.

All in all it was a waste of a night for all concerned with both sides looking well off the pace, toothless and in desperate need of motivation and inspiration - quite what Martin O'Neill learned from replacing every one of his players except Valgaeren is open to question.

Harsh words from us again and perhaps a bit unfair, but this was our final warm up game and the overall impression is one of negativity.

Another week and a half before the Boro opener would normally give Robson a chance to get some of his stricken players back and for individuals to work on their personal fitness. 

However as he himself said above on Wednesday night, things are far from normal with the eye infection continuing to cause major upheaval:

On the plus side Milner had his best game since the lads returned from the Far East, Bernard looked strong, Bellamy came through another ninety minutes and netted well, while Jenas got back on the field after missing out on our previous three warm ups.

Collectively though there seems an intangible lack of spirit and a feeling that this is an unhappy ship. The presence of Speed as an authority figure on the field is gone and Shearer is already in head down mode.

Nothing matters until kickoff time at the Riverside, but in terms of confidence, form and morale this left much to be desired - maybe we can just flick a switch and suddenly get "in the zone" as our transatlantic chums would say, but on the evidence so far it looks a little unlikely.

We simply cannot afford to get off to another bad start this season.  

Biffa

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