72 mins A short corner routine from the Strawberry corner eventually found Gardner who looped over a cross to the back post, where Jaidi beat Ameobi and headed over Shay Given. Davies got the final touch from point-blank range as the ball dropped on the line.3-1

Full time: Newcastle 3 Bolton 1

Glenn Roeder commented about goalscorer Shearer:

Sam Allardyce said:

"I'm very disappointed in our performance today, that's from up to going 3-0 down. We never performed to anything like the level we can do.

"Then when we decided to try to play like we can, it was too late. That was after we had gone 3-0 down.

"Clearly from a defensive point of view, we have conceded two goals on set plays that we really shouldn't have done.

"We gifted the game to Newcastle, really, with not much between the two sides in the first half.

"They capitalised on what we should have done better with.

"Both the free-kick and the cross on Alan's header which normally our goalkeeper would have dealt with comfortably, sadly he hasn't.

"That really is the overall reason why we lost the game today."

A comparative feast for those at Gallowgate, after the famine that has afflicted these parts in recent times - to paraphrase a rotten choccy ad, "caretaker you are spoiling us".

This wasn't a classic game of football: Bolton weren't in the mood for that and only really got their aerial bombardment going when three goals behind.

But after a slow start, we once again picked up the positive thread that has been a constant feature of the post-Souness era for the side.

Where our former manager seemed more interested in taking the Bolton boss by the scruff of the neck (at least judging by his negative press comments), our caretaker focussed on getting his team to do that in this game.

Six games since we wiped the slate clean then, and we're only a missed Shola sitter against Charlton away from Glenn's full house.

The relief and early optimism may have coincided with the appearance of a Portsmouth side at Gallowgate who would have been given a game by a side from the Eldon Square Tuesday afternoon league, but things have moved on apace since then.

Had Souness faced Redknapp still in charge that day we would probably have got the three points, which would have merely delayed the inevitable.

But to suggest then that we'd record convincing back-to-back wins against Everton and Bolton would have been stretching credibility to the limit.

On consecutive Saturdays though, we've made the products of Moyes and Allardyce look as thoroughly average as we believed they were when they were beating us earlier in the season - and last year for that matter. 

Either Roeder is a very lucky manager and teams have off-days against him (certainly O'Leary's cock-eyed view after we won at Villa) or there's something happening here - and it wasn't just "Big Sam's" odds on getting the job drifting out to roughly that of Souness....

Individual performances are improving and collectively we're more reliable and simply better to watch - the belief has been restored (although it's yet to reach the Spaniard). 

The pattern of play is light years away from what we'd endured post-Robson and there's a discernible enthusiasm from all quarters. Whoever comes in long-term inherits that buzz, which cannot be measured but is as vital as a transfer kitty - as are the positive newspaper stories that now abound.

And in the final analysis, we seem to want to win more. Whether that's for the manager, new contracts, personal pride or merely filthy lucre is almost irrelevant...

As we head for Old Trafford, it's in a condition utterly removed from the last time we traipsed across the M62 - devoid of hope and travelling in full expectation of another woeful ninety minutes in the North West.

Since that grim night at City the whole complexion of the team has changed, even if the team selection remains influenced by availability as much as tactics. Positivism is the order of the day now though, not whining and wailing for the umpteenth time about perceived injustices. 

More importantly, our recent successful points gathering exercise means that the outcome of the game against Ferguson & Co. isn't of critical importance. Defeat for his side won't see our boss labelled "beleaguered Roeder" in the Monday papers. 

Let's face it - we cannot be much worse than the feckless afternoon in Cardiff ten months ago, or the battle of Wounded Knee at SJP last August. If nothing else though, we'll have eleven players on the field who are mentally and physically fit - at least at the first whistle.

Biffa

Reports