'We did the same against Fulham. We were three up against Fulham and conceded a goal. We could have scored a few more - but before the match if somebody had said `We'll give you 3-1', I'd have taken it.'

"I thought Alan and Shola gave us a hard-fought game in attack through the middle.

"Shola got a goal, which will give him a lift, while Alan himself was very unlucky not to score just before I took the pair of them off.

"By that stage we were leading 3-0 and I could afford to start thinking about Wednesday's game at Blackburn.

"I didn't need to take every ounce of energy out of them, and it gave me a chance to bring on Craig Bellamy and Michael Bridges because the game was already won."

About being fourth:

'We're there for 24 hours. I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow at Chelsea and Charlton.

'I'm not saying which team will finish third - but I don't think it will be anybody outside the top three. That means the only spot available, I think, really is that fourth spot.

'It's a lucrative position, and we've got to try to get it.'

On Bellamy and new boy Bridges:

"I thought he (Bellamy) was ready to start. He is. When he came on he was like Nikki Lauda he was so fast."

"He (Bridges) is not a nervous guy. He just messed it up. They were waiting for each other to strike then Bridges miscued and missed the ball. He can't believe it and neither can I to be honest. We need goals like that to go in.

"I don't like losing but I accept and understand the reasons why I do lose games in the Premier League, and particularly at places like this.

"There's a right way to do things and a wrong way. Last week, we chose the wrong way; this week, we've had a go - and I'll accept that. I've got to put a positive slant it and I will do.'

"It's not over yet; that's the message I've given the players at the end of the game.

"There's a lot of football left. We've still got some good games coming up - particularly against the teams in and around us, in that little mini-league.

Urban Tales: Sir Bob and the eight strikers.

It was the late, great Jackie Milburn who once memorably said, "I'm like the crowd - I like to see the ball in the back of the bloody net."

And it remains a truism that while defenders get respect, it's only goalscorers who become the recipients of true adulation.

French wing artists and mackem netbusters aside, round these parts that inevitably means centre forwards - of which the three most recent inductees in our hall of fame were in the area last Saturday.

Putting aside the uncertain status of the artist formerly known as Andy Cole - booed in the league, cheered in a friendly, more recently ignored by his former fans and skulking unused on the bench at smogside today, we'll concentrate on what were once our twin towers.

It's now almost six games since Shearer last scored and amongst the local drinking / chattering classes there was some talk of when he would lose his once- guaranteed starting place to one or other of Sir Bobby's new model army.

In the event there was a slightly different kind of succession, as one Jack Hixon discovery gave way to another, the star-maker on hand in the stand on the occasion of his 84th birthday as Bridges made his toon bow when replacing Shearer.

Robson's subsequent comments about his having offered a starting berth to Bellamy for this game made interesting reading - whether he meant instead of or alongside Shola wasn't revealed however....

And as for Shearer, he may not have emulated his own feat of almost exactly seven years ago in striking three times here against the same opposition and no clear chances for him to end his near six-match goal drought came his way.

However it was his intervention that assisted us in fashioning the first and last goals and his presence in attempting a diving header that proved enough to disconcert Taggart into somehow clouting the ball past his own 'keeper (it is perhaps fortunate that Dabizas wasn't allowed to play, given his occasional propensity to implode and inadvertently test his own 'keeper.)

Worth his place today then - at least according to the stats but the pressure remains on Shearer's shoulders as much as it ever has been, with younger pretenders queuing up all of a sudden at club level in a way they never quite did with Sven.

Still, with the game won and a midweek league fixture to come, especially at an old stamping ground that tends to bring the best out of him, both manager and number 9 could afford to take a relaxed view of his substitution when questioned post-match.

And if Al can come off the bench in the future like his former Newcastle strike partner Les Ferdinand did in this game, warming up the crowd and converting a pinpoint cross, then he'll still be worth his weight in gold.

We've spoken before in this forum about our total respect for the former QPR forward, so it's just a case of re-iterating that, along with mentioning that the events that saw Ferdinand agree to leave Tyneside just as Shearer crippled himself at Goodison just sum up the ill-fatedness of this club. Unbelievable frankly, but totally in keeping with the malarkey we've all become acquainted with.

As expected, the arrival of Sir Les onto the field drew large cheers, although his appearance on the sidelines when warming up provoked a round of applause from the home fans that almost exceeded the roar that greeted our goals.

One nice touch from the crowd was to follow a massed chorus of praise for Sir Les with an equally fervent Shearer song - proof that we still maintain some perspective and we're not all in the Jim Henson category just yet, despite what our glorious leader may assert....

And there were warm ovations for the belated introduction of the "B team" on the field, when Messrs Bellamy and Bridges made their home returns and debuts respectively, after a good five minutes of standing around stripped and shivering before their numbers came up.

Both strikers were to have what looked like one half-decent shooting chance in the final few minutes - unfortunately it turned out to be the same one and as much a surprise as Bridges mis-kicking was the fact that Bellamy didn't shove him out of the way in his haste to test Ian Walker.

Maybe it was that last pint, but just for a second your correspondent was transported back to a former age, when we briefly had a pair of nippy strikers leading our line - Varadi and Brown. But I digress....as is often the case.

Both Bellamy and Bridges need games under their belt - despite being given clean bills of health by the medics, there has to be an element of self-doubt initially that only gets expunged by a run of games....and goals.

Self-motivation there then hopefully for both (in the case of Bridges a new deal), as well as the expectation of thousands of black and whiters - hopefully an effective cocktail and one which will allow the end of season transfer fund to be spent on areas of the side that require investment. The word is reality here, not Kluivert.

That's the famous five then, now what about the evictees from "I used to be a striker - get me out of the reserves"?

The trio of strikers (using the word in its loosest sense) that Bobby has jettisoned all appeared for their latest clubs while we were beating the Foxes on Saturday, and while LuaLua netted for Pompey, none of the three got a win bonus and their clubs all remain in the relegation clarts.

The man from the Congo struck a cracker at White Hart within minutes of arriving as a sub and celebrated in the usual flamboyant manner, but his side lost by the odd goal in seven. 

Meanwhile there was little cheer for Cort as his second appearance for Wolves and home debut ended in defeat at the hands of Arsenal and finally Chopra walked off the pitch at the City Ground after seeing his Nottingham Forest debut end in a single goal defeat, only to find that Paul Hart, the man who had taken him to Nottingham had just joined the ranks of the unemployed.

Hardly inspiring stuff then and in many ways justification for the manager's actions in closing the door on their ambitions to be the hero of the Gallowgate. 

With the cash from Cort safely banked, the expectation that we'll get a fair slice of our outlay back on Lua (now almost being spoken of in the past tense by Sir Bobby despite only being on loan) and the fact Chopra came up through the ranks, the spring clean of our striking department looks to have been a positive move at this stage. 

Quite frankly none of the three departees will be missed and those of us who had great hopes for Chopra a couple of years ago now have zero expectations of him making the grade with us - sorry to say that he got to a certain level and just stopped developing. We wanted him to be the new Shearer but unless something remarkable happens he's the new Brayson, Gall, Robinson or Coppinger.

To end where we began then, Les got the applause, Shola the vital goal, Shearer the assists, Craig and Michael the successful re-introductions and we got the fourth place, for the first time this season. 

Keeping there is the hard part and it'll need input from all four of our strikers to preserve the real European dream - at least now though there appears to be genuine competition up front for places, with viable options and combinations open to Robson. Which of the four finds their form in front of goal remains to be seen, but getting them fit and keeping them that way is a decent platform to build on.

This game may not have been very interesting, but the next few months could be rather more so, with eminently winnable games between now and that final day trip to Anfield. 

By the end of it all we'll hopefully be cheering goals by someone - whether the song is "same old Shearer, always scoring" or something else remains to be seen, but whoever shoots us into that fourth spot if we get it will be worthy of a Ferdinand-style ovation. 

Remember the past by all means be it Les, Carl, Lomana or even Nobby, but let's now concentrate on the present and support whoever's wearing the shirt. No looking back - and that includes the writers of this site.