59 mins: Ferguson shot 2-1

90 mins: Ferguson header 3-1

Full time: Magpies 3 Wombles 1

Ruud Gullit said:
 
"He (Duncan Ferguson) worked very hard with (Andreas) Andersson up front. Against Wimbledon it's not easy because they press you all the time."

Joe Kinnear:

To follow
 

Irish Times match report:

Given the splendour of his name, it always seemed likely that Alf Rothwell would be the man to speak to when a dose of common sense was needed amid frenzied optimism breaking out on Tyneside.

So it proved last week that when everybody else was cooing about the £8 million capture of the bird man of Barlinnie, Alf was sought out by Newcastle's evening paper and administered caution and wisdom in equal measure.

Alf, in his role as secretary of the North of England Homing Union, warned Ferguson that whereas he would probably settle in quickly at Newcastle United, his pigeons' happiness was less certain and depended on "how much time Ruud Gullit wants to give Duncan for his hobby". Alf sounded worried.

Ferguson's acclimatisation was immediate - it took the Toon Army all of nine minutes to chant his name - but Alf's concern for the striker's birds was justified. If Ferguson continues in such talismanic fashion Gullit will not let him out of his sight, lifts not lofts being the manager's priority.

"Everybody at the club has been given a lift by Duncan," Gullit said, "the players and the fans. Everybody is excited. He is a charismatic figure and he has brought a positive vibe to the club." Yes, but had the big Scot's signing given Gullit himself a lift in an otherwise difficult time? "No, I came by car".

Apparently that passes for humour in Holland but, after such an arid time since his arrival, maybe Gullit deserved the last laugh for once.

Eight days ago, in a frank assessment of the players he had inherited, Gullit identified only four of Kenny Dalglish's huge squad around whom he could build a potent future. From the back they were Shay Given, David Batty, Robert Lee and Alan Shearer. At 4.50pm on Saturday, moments after Wimbledon's Neil Sullivan dived over Ferguson's soft header to make the score 3-1, none of the Newcastle Four was on the pitch.

The victory was ensured by an alternative quartet. Steve Harper, having replaced the injured Given at half-time, was assured in goal and, just in front, Steve Howey was what a centre-half should be: commanding. In central midfield, despite contributing the pass from which Marcus Gayle blasted Wimbledon ahead, Gary Speed had his best game for Newcastle.

And then there was Ferguson. With flick after flick he gained instant respect simply by competing, a concept his partner Andreas Andersson is unfamiliar with. Andersson, who, incredibly, interests Sunderland, is feeble, and Ferguson's displeasure with him was apparent early. In a torturous opening from Newcastle, which brought to eight hours their drought of a single Premiership goal, Ferguson won header after header without reward.

Wimbledon were undisturbed. Gayle's emphatic finish brought a merited lead, but after 37 minutes Keith Gillespie at last got around Ben Thatcher to deliver a centre of some potential. Ferguson could not oblige but Nolberto Solano, substitute for Stephen Glass, volleyed past Sullivan.

Wimbledon still dominated to the interval, though, and the explanation for their relative collapse thereafter would have been worth hearing had Joe Kinnear been willing to supply it.

Kinnear was presumably miffed at the ease with which Ferguson was allowed to score two undistinguished goals. "I'm made up," Ferguson said in his best Scouse, "and Everton won!" The most famous hobby in football did not get a mention, Alf.

Biffa