57mins  The home side took the lead in what for them is a classic style - long throw, nod on, another touch on, ball bundled over the line - Anelka the scorer 1-2

Full time: Bolton 2 Newcastle 1

Glenn Roeder commented:

"It is stating the obvious, but the two goals we conceded were, by our standards of late, shockers. They were two woeful goals.

"Srnicek hardly had anything else to do of any consequence, so after Kieron scored, to concede that goal in the first half and not get in 1-0 up after for the first half-hour playing so well, was a huge disappointment.

"No, I do not blame anybody. The blame game is no good.

"Nolan pushed Ramage in the back, but you cannot expect referees to see everything. Unfortunately, he has gone and scored an own goal.

"But you have to live with these things."

Pav commented:

"I didn't call for the ball because I was waiting for Rammy to do something.

In the end I thought I'd try to get it but it ended up going on. It was a mistake between us and we have to move on from it and learn from it.

"The goal put them back in the game. When we came out for the second half, though, we still thought we could get something.

"It didn't go to plan because we lost three points in a game I thought we could get something out of. Bolton are a difficult side to play against but we were disappointed with the first goal.

"I thought we'd recover but we didn't. It was a fantastic occasion for me but we are all disappointed with the result.

"We need to stay positive now because we created chances at Bolton and at times we controlled the game. In the second half we couldn't quite get back to the way we started. But we will look to improve at Everton, of course."

Sam Allardyce gave mediamen his best Johnny Cochrane impression, saying:

"Diouf terrorised the opposition and got some very, very heavy challenges indeed that were not protected enough for such a quality player.

"We got the free-kicks, but there were far too many given against him. They tried physically to abuse him today and they did not get away with it.

"He did not react and he helped us win a very important game.

"We have had a tremendous run of victories, but we had that little spell in the middle of it where we were playing some excellent stuff and ended up losing 1-0 instead of getting draws or victories.

"It was important today that the players reacted the right way when we went 1-0 down. A few games, we have done that and come storming back in the second half to take the victory.

"We are reaping the rewards of a goalscorer at long last and he (Anelka) popped up in the right area for a tap-in.

"We have not seen that type of goal from him yet. We have seen a lot of quality runs and skill and finishing. Today we saw a goalscorer's goal when he popped up at the far post and tapped it in.

"He got us going even more again in the second half to keep continuing pressing Newcastle and we could have had maybe a goal or two more, but we did not quite find the right final ball or the right shot.

"But it was a great victory having gone 1-0 down and having to claw our way back in the first half on what was a poor performance by us."

"That we can win a game however we need to win it looks the most important thing to me.

"We did not begin well in the first half, but in the second half, we turned it around by playing the sort of game we know we can play and particularly getting the front three into the game.

"At Manchester City, we won the game in the first half an hour by exploiting the spaces they were going to leave by playing at home and us playing with a 4-4-2.

"Changing the style and the way we play, we are very adaptable and I think that is why we have continued to get the sort of victories we are at the moment.

"We are keeping it tight at the back and Nicolas Anelka, El-Hadji Diouf or Kevin Davies are popping up with the goals."

Toon old boy Gary Speed commented:

"I have just seen the television replays (of the first goal) and I have to say it looks like a foul.

"This is a difficult place to come to and Newcastle will be disappointed that after taking such an early lead from Kieron Dyer, they got nothing from the game.

"That is why it was such a good result for us. We have not been playing that well, but we have winning, and that is good.

"We went through a spell when we were playing better and losing, so we would rather have it this way. We know how to get results and that was clearly shown against Newcastle.

"We beat good teams here and I thought the Newcastle players at the back did very well coping with what we have up front here.

"I did not know the right-back (Edgar) or the left-back (Huntington). At 37, I am twice as old as some of them - and I felt it."

For half an hour at the Reebok we dominated this game, deservedly grabbing a goal and threatening to extend that lead further as the home side struggled to compete.

Unfortunately we only had Kieron Dyer's opener to show for our bright start, handing the Trotters what proved to be a vital lifeline just after the half hour mark when Ramage headed past Srnicek.

The illegal action of worky ticket Nolan in shoving Ramage at a crucial juncture wasn't immediately apparent from behind the goal, but showed up on the TV replays. In one sense this can be seen as instant payback for the good fortune of Saturday, when TV replays showed our second and third goals to be suspiciously offside.

However after Pav called for a ball barely a minute before and halted Taylor in his tracks to clear,  Ramage may have expected a similar shout - and was waiting for his 'keeper to collect before the Bolton player made his crucial intervention. 

Pav's post-match comments merely underlined that this was a moment of uncertainty between two players who had barely played together before. 
   
(Nolan was later to be seen performing his own Haka in an attempt to unnerve Pav before a free kick, thus confirming what those who read his BBC online column had already realised - that he's a complete arse).

It was a cruel blow for a patched-up team missing Shay Given and Nobby Solano, forcing Glenn Roeder to hand reserve defender David Edgar a senior debut at right back, as well as continuing with Paul Huntington on the opposite flank.

That made it four central defenders playing together in defence - all of them products of our Academy system - guarding a goal occupied by a man old enough to be their dad.

However, while Srnicek didn't inspire confidence with a series of punches and attempted palms rather than catches, the thrown-together back four were never in danger of being swamped and held their collective nerve, despite some anxious moments.

Having run out of players before the fixture and luck by the 32nd minute, we showed that our reservoirs of energy and inspiration were also low, as we couldn't raise our game or mount a serious attempt to regain the lead before the interval.

It was a similar story in the second half with Dyer giving way to Emre ten minutes in (a pre -planned substitution allegedly, aimed at trying to keep something in the tank for both players).

Straight after that replacement though, the home side took the lead and we were moving inextricably moving towards our fifth successive reverse on this supermarket car park sorry, state-of-the-art sports stadium. 

Thereafter we seldom looked like getting anything from this game, Sibierski notably off the boil and only a Scott Parker shot giving Jaaskelainen anything to do - the 'keeper grateful to see an Emre raker going just over his crossbar.

Taylor found himself pressed into service as an auxiliary attacker in the final moments, but we just couldn't get the ball into the final third of the field as Bolton completed the double over us. 

The team left the field though to a decent round of applause from a travelling army of away fans - a number of whom had donned fancy dress for the occasion and a great many who had enjoyed substantial pre-game refreshments....

We began the second half of our season by remaining in 11th spot after this game. 

However, victory for Fulham at the Valley on Wednesday would see them climb above us (a draw would keep us ahead on goal difference).

This remains a difficult place to come to and a tricky side to play against and the odds were stacked against us before kick-off - not least because of our ongoing saga of Boxing Day away disappointments (see stats section above).

And after our bright opening, we were unable to maintain our fluid passing style as the midfield increasingly became a battling ground.

Nicky Butt in particular wasn't holding back and lived slightly dangerously in the second half when spoken to on a couple of occasions after already being booked.

Basically this is a typical bloody Allardyce team - verging on the unwatchable. Anyone who ever called for this egotistical gimp to be installed at St.James' Park should be utterly ashamed. 

The danger now is that we crumble in the two games that we face over the next six days through tiredness and inexperience.  

Some fresh faces would undoubtedly give us a boost, but with Given a big doubt for both our visit to Goodison and the home game with Man United, it remains to be seen whether Tim Krul is considered as a starter after getting in some further training sessions.

Middlesbrough's Boxing Day clean sheet at Goodison though proves that the Moyes Boys aren't firing on all cylinders - although Jonathan Woodgate's display was a major factor in the visitors getting a point.  

Regardless of the efforts of our strikers and midfielders though, the defence has to keep its nerve on Merseyside as we look for a first win in five trips to the blue side of Stanley Park. 

Whatever the Toffees throw at us, the next visitors to SJP promise to provide a sterner test.      

Biffa

Reports