Alan Shearer said:

''My players gave me fantastic effort as I knew they would and we're going to need every ounce of that between now and the end of the season.

"There'll be no pointing fingers at anyone, we're in this together and we'll be united in the dressing room. Results-wise, other teams' have gone against us as well, so we know we are in a fight and we will give it a fight.

"I enjoyed it, I'm putting a brave face on as I'm very disappointed, but I enjoyed the build up and would have enjoyed it a hell of a lot more if we had a point or three.

"We know had that goal counted we could have given our fans a rousing last five or ten minutes - and don't forget that we will not be playing a team of the quality of Chelsea every week.

"I thought it was in from where I was standing. I've seen it on TV and it looks in. It's a mistake by the linesman.

"We made a mistake and we all know that at this level you get punished for mistakes - and we have been. I'm optimistic - I still am. I'm still confident - and my players are, which is more important - that we can avoid the drop.

"I'm sure there are going to be twists and turns between now and the end of the season. Results-wise it has gone against us today, but we know we are in a fight - and we will give it a fight. We have got to stop conceding silly goals. We all make mistakes - and that's not an excuse.

"We've had a chat in the dressing-room and we know what's got to be done. Knowing and doing are two different things, but we will try - I promise you that.

"I will try to do everything to deflect the thing away from myself - and I think the result might do that today. But that's not a positive. If we could rewind it back, I would like to start again.

"But I'm pleased it's over with. Now we must step up in quality and we will work very hard. I'm sure we can step up in quality. We've got a very tough game next Saturday now at Stoke that we've got to work to.

"We asked Michael (Owen) to do a role that takes a little bit away from his game because of Chelsea’s quality in possession, we might have struggled in midfield without Michael dropping back.

"We sacrificed Michael in little spells and he wasn’t able to get into the areas we’d like him to get into. If we’re going to get out of this we need to get scoring chances for Michael. We’ll be working on that."

When asked if he'd contemplate a playing return:

“Have you seen the speed at which John Terry runs? Have you seen my knees? But, yes, I kick every ball and say a few things too. I apologise about my language. I said a few words to the linesman.

When asked about standing almost on the pitch:

“At times I didn’t even know I was there. Everything just takes over, you’re looking at the game, different positions and how you can alter things.’

“When Bobby (Robson) came in to Newcastle, he made everyone sit down and eat together. It gets the players together as a team. So we are doing that every day.’’

On Lovenkrands:

"He got a very, very nasty knock on his back and he was actually struggling to breathe. They had to put the breathing apparatus on when he got into the dressing room. Thankfully, he went off to hospital and they have now stabilised him and hopefully he will be okay."

Sir Bobby Robson commented:

"Newcastle United have needed a strong leader for months, if not years. The departure of Dennis Wise last week proves to me that, in Alan Shearer, they now have that man.

"But Saturday's performance showed just how strong Shearer will have to be in the coming weeks. This is a team on their knees, fighting for Premier League survival and a million miles from being able to take on sides like Chelsea.

"Thankfully for Newcastle, they have Shearer. He is really the club's only hope now because not only does he have the heart of a lion, he has a much shrewder football brain than many people might realise.

"People talk about his passion and will to win. That is all true but, most importantly of all, he has a deep knowledge of the game and the ability to impart that knowledge to the dressing room."

Post-game quotes from Peter Lovenkrands - who took an accidental elbow in the ribs from an opponent. This triggered a reaction in his body that's now thought to have been due to the earlier presence of an infection:

"After the clash it was worse and harder to catch my breath. When I was on the stretcher, I couldn't breathe. I got desperate to get air in and felt pain in my body.

"I couldn't feel my fingers or my arms and I began to get desperate in an attempt to breathe.

"My wife came up to me when I woke up again. We were obviously both very sad and incredibly afraid of what was about to happen to me.

"It was hugely embarrassing for her to see me that way."

Marooned in eighteenth place we may be, but this club continues to hog a disproportionate amount of media attention - albeit mostly for events off the field, rather than achievements on it.

The start of the week brought little mention of the third in our trio of "unwinnable" home games, with coverage devoted to Fabio's refusal to pick little Michael rather than anything at SJP - hardly shocking given the ponderous press conferences from reluctant interim, interim manager Hughton.

In public the club had denied reports that a troubleshooter would be parachuted in, banned the scribe who questioned JFK's recovery and stonewalled growing speculation that Dennis Wise had indeed "f***ed off back to London". 

Behind the scenes though, calls were being made, deals being struck - and at the end of the process, a possible get out of jail card acquired for both club and owner.

When word got out late on Tuesday that Alan Shearer had been tempted to make his first venture into solo management, the whole circus was back on the road and heading for Tyneside to be greeted by the usual throng of shirt-wearing, platitude-spouting, happy funny fellas.

Initial thoughts that the whole thing was a colossal April Fool were dispelled by the sheer tide of comment and opinion that poured forth, from anyone who ever played for us and still draws breath, to John McCririck via such footballing legends as Liam Watson (the Southport boss, apparently).

Never mind Barack Obama: the unfolding story on Barrack Road was far more significant than the G20 shindig and manifested itself instantly in calls to the ticket office to make Saturday's game a sellout. A few shirts were also punted out with 'Shearer 9' on the back - the first time in months that the name/number stamp was actually switched on (would you want any of the current mob's name on your back?)

The arrival was inevitably derided elsewhere but among those who matter, there was renewed optimism, a sense of unity and above all, trust in the guy now picking the team and making public pronouncements. If relegation seemed inevitable before, then it was now possible - that's progress.  

Even news of Iain Dowie's installation came without the snide comments and general ridicule that would have followed had he been appointed at SJP without the man from Gosforth (his departure from QPR actually came less than a month after Kinnear's installation in toon and he'd been keeping busy by sitting in the Sky studio with Jeff Stelling & Co).

The Feelgood factor was seemingly all-embracing, even extendeding to owner Mike Ashley, who signed autographs for home supporters pre-match: not bad for someone who feared to set foot in this place until recently.

So, the sun shone, the stands were full, anticipation - and noise - was the order of the day. And that neatly takes us up to 3pm, when normal service was resumed round these parts and the man dubbed the messiah watched what was, well....a mess.

Alan Shearer's arrival had come to a suitable backdrop of Local Hero, as he appeared just before kickoff, but there were no grand introductions or crowd-pleasing waves. And having in his own words spent 30 games being "analytical and critical" of his former side as a pundit, the man himself then had a pitchside view of the plight we find ourselves in for the first time.

And although the game remained tantalisingly scoreless at halftime, Shearer had then also suffered his first bout of our continuing injury curse when Peter Lovenkrands was stretchered away.

By the hour mark though we'd succumbed to yet another self-inflicted blow, as another Argentine aberration from Coloccini cost us dear. Up until that point he'd been reasonably OK in tandem with Beye, but seems to have a Bramblesque trait of dropping a major clanger at some point in a game.

A second soon followed to kill the atmosphere totally, although it had been diminishing gradually since before half time - and to prove that nothing had really changed, that was the signal for some punters to head for the exits.

The latter stages saw a whiff of controversy for Al's former BBC colleagues to discuss when Michael Owen's effort appeared to be cleared from behind the goal line. That aside though, our attempts at finding the net were as unimpressive as they have been recently and set pieces were again a joke.

So, no points but much to ponder for the new boy. If anything though, Shearer's pre-match mantra of not looking backwards now applies even more than it did before his first game. 

Regardless of manager, the lack of Taylor and Bassong and consequent forced defensive reshuffle would have weakened us against any side - let alone one who had lost only three away games. 

While he can hopefully count on one or both to come back into the mix for Stoke, the problem of providing some suitable service to Owen is more fundamental though; the departed Milner & N'Zogbia having not being replaced by equivalent players with assist potential (or the ability to score goals). 

The prospect of an aerial assault at the Britannia will doubtless influence Shearer's team selection, when brawn as well as brains will be required, if we're not to be quite literally pushed aside. The recent fitful contributions of Gutierrez, Martins and Duff will be of no use, but equally unpalatable is a rerun of the stonewalling seen at Hull from a tortoise-like midfield.   

We shuddered when the fixture list came out and handed us those consecutive visits of Man United, Arsenal and Chelsea - and as those fixtures came around that feeling of dread only multiplied.

But it's over and although we lost all three, the feared Liverpool-type hammering didn't happen. The squad have to keep focus as we now enter a phase of the season when more realistic challenges present themselves (the visit to Anfield apart). Facing teams composed of players on a par with our own will hopefully see us spread our wings a little and start to put things right on the field.  

Now is when you have to believe that Shearer can make a difference and bring life and hope to a team who have got themselves into this mess by gifting points to "ordinary teams" like Bolton, Hull, Stoke, Fulham, Middlesbrough etc. Alan, your time starts now.

Biffa