Half time: Norwich 0 Newcastle 0

68 mins: There seemed little danger when Safri was given the ball just outside the centre circle but after advancing a few yards the Moroccan unleashed an unstoppable 35-yard thunderbolt that flew past Given and in off the angle. 0-1

90 mins: Substitute Kluivert grabbed the equaliser when the Dutchman tucked home a loose ball in the box after Shearer had been tackled. 1-1

90+4mins: Helveg put over a cross from the right and Ashton was able to beat Carr and Boumsong to the ball and direct a firm header past a diving Given into the far corner. 1-2 

Full time: Norwich 2 Newcastle 1

Graeme Souness said:

"We have another easy game against Manchester United on Sunday!"

Having felt that his players had been mentally and physically "bashed up" by the negative experiences of Lisbon and Cardiff, after this one Graeme Souness was left with a squad of players who'd suffered the football equivalent of going over Niagara Falls in a barrel. 

Being at such a low ebb before this game and facing a team who still had something to realistically play for, this result was of no great shock - although the manner of it was simply gut-wrenching. 

The feeling that somewhere the fates were conspiring against us was tempered only by the fact that were that to truly be the case, then it would have been a Huckerby hump hammering past Given, not a Marrakech express.

But after the seismic shifts of the last two games, this one barely registered on the scale, aside from providing further proof as to how much our season is gurgling down the plughole. 

A simple formula of too many games, too many injuries and too little in reserve has led to an absence of confidence on the field and resignation off it. The only thing we're doing collectively at the moment is wishing the days away to the end of the season.....  

We should just about have enough points not to get embroiled in any last week shenanigans, although teams have been demoted before with more than our current points tally.

This one got off on the wrong foot as Steven Taylor limped out of the squad after an ankle injury in training on Tuesday. In stepped Robbie Elliott and his return to first team football was marked by a blow to the head after just ten minutes. At times like this you do start to wonder about gypsy curses.....

He left the field for treatment for five minutes, returning with a Rambo-style bandage and by this time Alan Shearer had put two decent chances wide.

There were openings at the other end but Ashton and Leon McKenzie both failed to convert crosses from David Bentley and ex-Mag Darren Huckerby.

Penalty claims were turned down as Adam Drury brought down James Milner and then Laurent Robert crashed a volley from a high Stephen Carr cross straight at Canaries 'keeper Robert Green, before hitting the rebound high and wide.

Shearer headed just wide and Shay Given made a fantastic fingertip save from Francis just before half-time but there was still time for Shola Ameobi to hit a fierce drive narrowly over.

After the break, Elliott required more treatment and Robert almost set up Shola as both sides looked for the opener. Francis again missed from close range but Safri broke the deadlock minutes later midway through the second half.

There seemed little danger when the Moroccan was given the ball just outside the centre circle but after advancing a few yards he unleashed an unstoppable 35-yard thunderbolt that flew past Given and in off the angle to give Norwich the lead.

Our main threat seemed to have gone when Souness hauled Milner off to prematurely end possibly his best game for the club, but at the death substitute Kluivert rolled a shot in for 1-1 before running to milk the acclaim of the away section - brass neck or what?

It seemed that a point had been rescued and a decent enough performance on the pitch had been rewarded but a third blow to the guts in seven days was waiting just around the corner.

Helveg's centre from the right allowed former Crewe man Dean Ashton to head home his 6th Premiership goal of the season - one more than Paddy has managed...

The defeat leaves us 14th in the Premiership, equalling our worst position since Bobby Robson left way back in August - and to make matters worse and deepen the furrows on the manager's head, Blackburn went above us.

Should results go against us at the weekend we could be sitting just two places above the relegation zone by Sunday teatime.

Regardless of what happens in the next game though, it's to St.James' Park that attention will shift once again next week, as the smoggies and the Palace pitch up looking, to boost their own seasonal aspirations.

What happens then in front of around 100,000 pairs of black and white eyes will go a long way to determining the futures of many on Tyneside.

Bad results will surely stamp out the last of the Cardiff bonhomie and replace the cheers with boos and catcalls - just like this time last year, when Viana and Robert were abused by the crowd in the Wolves game, who delivered their own verdict on the Robson regime by exiting the stadium before the player's parade.

Amid much empty vessel bellyaching, there can be detected a definite sense in certain sections of support that enough is enough and El Presidente can go and whistle for his season ticket money, with punters keeping their powder dry, secure in the knowledge that for most games tickets will be relatively freely available.

A worrying number of supporters seem to have reached a point this season when they had a crisis of faith - and a lack of miracles in Lisbon or Cardiff to bolster them didn't help. 

Bobby's departure, Souness's arrival, the fight, Bellamy's antics, whatever, all seem to be taking their toll.

No doubt people will find many things to do with the money they save, but the time promises to be a bit more tricky - one Saturday shopping trip a season is enough to dissuade all but the most retail-addicted, surely. 

What would be a crying shame though would be that people who've staked significant parts of their lives and livelihoods to this club would be ultimately driven away from it by a brawling cockney, a sulky Frenchman and the rest of the motley disloyal crew.

Ultimately though, what people will deliver a verdict on within a few days of the general election isn't the squad or even the manager, it's the administration who delivered them and look like presiding over yet another failure. 

Quite simply, if you raise the expectations then fail to deliver, then the sense of disappointment will always be greater - the mood swings more violent.

Shearer might have taken the blame for this one, but again the pressure cranks up on Souness, as those unconvinced by his credentials upon taking the job see increasing vindication of their stance by looking at the Premiership table.

Whether he'll be allowed to rebuild and reinforce depends on the mindset of the chief shareholders, but we certainly wouldn't rule out yet another rendition of the August madness claiming another victim, messrs Dalglish, Gullit and Robson having succumbed.  

As we've seen time and time again, anything can happen here - and usually does. 

Tune in next week for more po-faced miserablism in the wake of the Old Trafford visit. Oh Manchester, so much to answer for.

PS - Regardless of your view on the Shearer retirement / contract extension, isn't it a good job that he's given himself the chance of another year? Had he not, then the last few weeks of his farewell to football would have been almost unbearably sad and awful....

Biffa

Reports