Half time: Newcastle 0 Chelsea 1

Sir Bobby said:
 
To follow

Gianluca Vialli:

To follow
 

Old football adage number 86: "you can't win 'em all." 

Well, playing like this, we'd struggle to win any. This was very much an off day for the black and whites, and Chelsea were no great shakes either, a combination which produced an almost instantly forgettable afternoon's entertainment.

Robson elected to cover for the injured Kevin Gallacher's non-appearance by leaving Nolberto Solano on the bench and shoring up his backline with an extra central defender. All the more annoying then, that three central defenders failed to stop the diminutive Gianfranco Zola from winning balls in the air on a number of occasions. 

His striking partner Chris Sutton seemed more interested in tussling with defenders and leaving his foot to be any real threat and was replaced in the second half amid shouts of "What a waste of money." Dennis Wise was eerily quiet, confining himself to sly grins as his corners were accompanied by heightist chanting from home fans.

An early indication that things weren't going to turn out as desired was the worryingly early time that our defence and midfield were reduced to lofting hopeful high balls in the vague direction of Duncan and Al. This presented no real challenge to Leboeuf or Thome, in stark contrast to the Brazilian's last appearance at Gallowgate, when his Sheffield Wednesday side were skittled.

Heresy it may be, but on the evidence of the last two games, our midfield is struggling a wee bit in terms of forward creativity, leading to gaps developing between the front and back lines and a succession of uncompleted passes and disjointed moves. Domi seemed to be struggling to get up and down the pitch in his usual stylish manner, and second half replacement Solano was in uninspired form as the black and whites reverted to a more orthodox 4-4-2 formation. 

Added to that the continuing inconsistency of Dyer and suddenly a hell of a lot of responsibility fell on Speed and Lee. At present they aren't delivering; in the Welsh captain's case this is probably a transitory state of affairs, but for Lee it seems that he could be in terminal decline, at least as far being a regular starter is concerned. 

It would seem to me at least that a better use of his undoubted talents would be in shorter bursts, epitomised by his display at Sheffield when he was barely sighted until the last fifteen minutes but was then our best player.

Work needs to be done on Dyer as well, who isn't making the same quality breaks that he was before Xmas. While undoubtedly whole-hearted in his efforts, and unlucky not to score in the dying seconds of the first half, he seems to put himself at a disadvantage through his positioning and movement into space when United threaten, especially down the flanks. 

Certainly the absent Gallacher was missed and a lack of width and consequent absence of crosses meant Shearer and Ferguson were underemployed. The belated introduction of the Georgian Loon also failed to supply the necessary influx of poise and quality, and things were to become increasingly ragged in the later stages of the game, as his blind alley running got us nowhere.

So, the unbeaten home record Bobby enjoyed is now history, and our inability to beat sides from within the M25 area in recent years remains something of an achilles heel. 

Testing their iffy 'keeper more often might have paid dividends, but it's testament to our resurgent home form that teams in the upper reaches of the table again come to Newcastle prepared to defend in depth and look to hit us on the break. A touch more quality and guile, and less of the bludgeonly unsubtle approach we resorted to will be required on future occasions. 

We may have the answer already, but Diego Gavilan remains an unknown quantity, having barely dirtied his boots for us yet and spending another afternoon perfecting his batman impression, running along the touchline with his unzipped coat billowing in the breeze.

PS No value in talking about this game in the context of a warm-up for the semi-final, as we've got four potentially tricky games to come first, Liverpool, Everton, Watford and Bradford having all taken at least a point off us already this season. Add to that the probable fitness of Weah for Wembley and comparisons between then and now are academic. Doesn't look very clever though....

PPS Mention has to be made of the re-appearance of Steve Howey, making his first senior start for a year after injury. His fitness has certainly improved since his recent reserve outings, but he seems to have marked his return by putting gravy browning in his hair. 

Mrs Howey looks to have been at work again, her handiwork inadvertently resulting in her hubby's hair having a purple tinge before Xmas.... 

Biffa