Our headline summed it up: "That was the wake that was...."

Disasters off the pitch were mirrored by events on it, as a team thumped 5-0 by Wigan in their last Premier League game, left Tyneside with all three points.

Pre-match demos on an unprecedented scale had seen fans gather in their thousands outside Milburn Reception, while others took their protests onto the street.

T-shirts and banners were the order of the day, with Ashley and Wise the focus of the vocal discontent. Inside the stadium though it was a different matter, with Hull's grey kit as sombre as the mood amongst home fans. 

Buoyant Tigers followers meanwhile ended up celebrating their first-ever top-flight away victory and rubbed it in with chants directed at miserable home fans, including "you should've stayed outside" and "are you Grimsby in disguise?"

Hull boss Phil Brown also entered into the spirit of things, obeying requests from his fans to give them a wave - which inevitably led to requests for Keegan to comply...

And for their mackem-supporting manager it was a double revenge mission, not only putting one over on the club whose followers allegedly gave him a kicking in his youth, but striking a blow for his big pal Sam Allardyce. 

But it could have been a very different result as Guthrie, Owen and Xisco all missed excellent first half chances to give us the lead - on a day when a goal was desperately needed to lift the solemn mood. 

That was before we conceded a third penalty in as many games, Butt following Taylor and N'Zogbia's recent handball transgressions with a challenge on the byline.

Given had saved from Nolan at the same (Gallowgate) end in the last home game, but although the 'keeper went the right way and got hand to it, Marlon King's effort went in via the upright. 

Half time news that Titus Bramble had put through his own net to give the mackems the lead merely added to the gloom, but rather than improving after the break we conceded and lost any shape or cohesion.

By far the most visible protest in ground was a "Cockney Mafia OUT" banner, carried by four fans from the East Stand via the Leazes End to the Milburn Stand and back again.

That expedition was unimpeded by stewards and to the accompaniment of loud applause and a partial standing ovation - with this, the merchandise/food boycott and sporadic anti-Ashley, anti-Wise and pro-Keegan chants the main response from the "silent majority" who stayed away from the Milburn Reception demo etc.  

Unfortunately its appearance coincided with Hull's crucial second goal - King racing away in acres of space and checking back from N'Zogbia and Edgar to fire home.

That prompted mass grumbling from Milburn Stand occupants directed towards Managing Director Derek Llambias, sitting in splendid isolation on the row usually occupied by the rest of his cohorts.

With the game draining away to nothing and home fans drifting towards the exits, there was a late outbreak of football when N'Zogbia struck a post and Xisco tucked away the rebound on his debut.

That finally stirred fans into some positive support, but no equaliser ever looked like coming and City hung on through five minutes of added time that included an idiotic and senseless tackle by Guthrie, rightly red-carded -the last thing a squad already way past the bare bones stage needed. 

The problems that precipitated the departure of Kevin Keegan from the club were there for all to see, with a midfield crushingly short of creativity when deprived of the injured Gutierrez and not-replaced Milner.

And although N'Zogbia was belatedly pushed into midfield, his reluctant occupancy of the left back spot in the absence of the injured Enrique spoke volumes - that's the position Keegan asked in vain for the club to strengthen.

For the two debutants, it was a strange introduction to the Premier League, with Xisco failing to impress but being in the right place to tuck away his goal. 

Slightly more impressive was Gonzalez, who came off the bench for his first appearance in Europe just hours after belatedly arriving in Newcastle - we're not sure whether he was stuck in the Channel Tunnel, on an XL flight or affected by the flooding on the Metro airport section.

Aside from the current ownership and administration of the club, the bile of the crowd was reserved for Ameobi's withdrawal, with the usual lax non-display greeted by fierce booing.

Scarcely any better though was Edgar, who struggled to cover for the absent Beye at right back and whose limitations were shown every time the ball arrived at his feet - initial overlapping attempts giving way to just humping it upfield to nobody in particular.

Sneaking on almost unnoticed for the visitors in the closing stages meanwhile was defender Kamil Zayatte, who had briefly on trial at Newcastle last month. 

We may only be in September but the evidence of this encounter is that we lost a relegation six-pointer, unless something is done very quickly to halt the slide.

In just two and a half weeks the club has gone from hope to utter despair and it's difficult to see any way forward for Ashley that doesn't involve him selling up and leaving. 

Prior to Saturday, we believed that he could salvage something from this by discarding the despised Wise - but now we're not convinced even that would placate people.

And the unconvincing denials of Paul Ince after Blackburn Rovers were thumped 4-0 at home by Arsenal hardly did anything to improve the collective mood.

When will this nightmare end...? The next instalment promises to be at an Ashley-free away end at Upton Park, before the visit of Spurs in the League Cup and Blackburn in the league 

By the time those two games at SJP come round the fog on this stretch of the Tyne must surely have cleared - otherwise more debilitating demonstrations will surely follow to further destabilise the owner.

Unfortunately that poisonous atmosphere can only have a negative effect on the team, as was shown today. Add to that the various injuries and suspensions that accentuate the shortcomings of our squad and the picture looks even bleaker.

PS: Sunday evening then saw Mike Ashley release his statement, online here

Biffa