The scene: a silent home crowd, suffering in the Tyneside sunshine as reality
intruded in the shape of the men from Old Trafford.

We might not have been buried under an avalanche of goals this time, but
otherwise this was a near-replica of last season's home humiliation.

Certainly the mood of the crowd for once seemed to reflect the true position we
were in. Hanging on to a half time advantage courtesy of a rare raid on the
visitor's goal, the equaliser silenced the home fans and there seemed little
doubt that the Scholes walk-in goal was the clincher. We simply never looked
like we had any say in the result.

If there was any surprise after that, it was that the visitors failed to extend
their lead further before the end of the game, allowing Newcastle a brief
glimmer of hope when Chopra's late effort was blocked by Ferdinand after Chopra had attempted to round the hitherto untested Howard.

Had that gone in though, and salvaged a point, it would have been an almost
scandalous miscarriage. Not that it would have prevented us celebrating wildly,
but even more so than Shearer's leveller at Leeds, it would have obscured the
fact that there are problems a-plenty for the Newcastle top brass to contemplate
at this early stage of the season.

Bafflingly Sir Bobby indulged in some post-match kidology worthy of Dalglish by
declaring himself reasonably contented with our performance.

He must surely have had a rather different point of view once the cameras were
turned off, as his misfiring side confirmed to a worldwide TV audience that we
remain Premiership contenders only in our own minds.

The absence of Woodgate afforded Bramble an early opportunity in the first team
that his display in a midweek reserve game scarcely warranted.

And while he was by no means the worst player on the field and did have his
moments, unfortunately he also had his now familiar lapses. The same could be
said of O'Brien, while another altered full back pairing of Griffin and Hughes
shared the common characteristic of being incapable of finding a colleague with
a pass.

But it was in midfield that the biggest problems lay, with nobody emerging from
the contest with any credit and our front pair enduring a virtual absence of
service over the course of the whole game.

Speed toiled in the manner of a man desperately searching for form and brought
about unfortunate comparisons with the twilight appearances of Robert Lee.

After a full shift in Belgrade, the Welsh captain looked anything but fresh and
already seems to be at risk of being overplayed.

Bowyer, who must surely be Speed's replacement in the centre of the field,
received the good support from the crowd that he craved but contributed little
to the cause.

Regular readers will by now be aware of our inability to join those who hail the
appearance of Kieron Dyer on the field as something akin to a biblical event.

And once again it's depressing to report on his minimal contribution to this
game, offering the opposition a first-hand confirmation that on this form he'd
struggle to command a place in the Old Trafford lineup.

Compared to the industry of Roy Keane, Dyer fluttered about hurting nobody with
his meandering runs and in that sense bore comparison with Robert.

At least the Frenchman registered an assist, even if he contributed little else
to proceedings and his support of the defence at Leeds looked like nothing more
than a mirage.

Turning to the rest, Viana was an absolute waste of time when appearing in the
second half, while Jenas merely reproduced the unproductive runs of Robert.

Once again we were grateful to the goalscoring instincts of Big Al and it
doesn't bear thinking about what his loss to the team would do to us. With
Bellamy knackered and Cort and LuaLua spurning chances to be a part of the
matchday sixteen, an awful lot rests on those shoulders.

Disappointing also to report that Ameobi had a quiet game up front and although
his service was poor, he didn't look capable of using his own unique talents to
unsettle the visitors.

So, very little of a positive nature to take from this game and with a vitally
important Champions League qualifier to come in midweek, the chance for other
sides to put us further behind in the running.

While other sides have strengthened their squads through purchases and loans,
Bowyer aside we've opted to stick with the same players (or have been forced to by the moneymen). At the moment they simply aren't repaying the faith shown in them by the manager.

The only way is up. And we couldn't even blame bloody Rennie....

Biffa

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