Steve McClaren:

"We have said you can’t waste a game now and that’s what we’ve done. We felt we could come here and get a result but we had to come here and perform at our level and there were a lot of players below that level and that is why we lost. 

"Some of them know they have fallen short. That is not what we have come to expect and you can’t afford to do that with games ebbing away.

"In terms of things that can go wrong, they did go wrong, especially in terms of injuries.

"In the first half you could see that the Everton players and supporters were nervous, we didn't take advantage of that, we weren't aggressive enough.

"In the second half we had a go but it wasn't enough. Too many players were below par. We can't play like that in front of 52,000 fans on Saturday, we need a reaction, we have to do better than that."

Roberto Martinez said:

"I thought it was the first time this season we managed the game for 90 minutes.

"The big difference from our other home games was when the opposition had a good spell the ball ended up in the back of our net but (tonight) we probably anticipated that and defended with a real intensity.

"I thought it was a real professional performance. In the second half, when you expected Newcastle to have a bit of a reaction, we had two or three opportunities and scoring that second goal (earlier0 would have been very different but we didn't let that affect the scoreline.

"Probably last year and the season before he (Barkley) was a young man with enormous potential, today he showed he is not a young man any more in footballing terms.

"He is a player who is ready to lead the team; his decision-making has gone to a different level and I don't think he is a potential player any more.

"He (Lukaku) couldn't walk. He had a knee in his back and tried to run it off in the first half and couldn't. We are playing on Saturday and it will be difficult to see him make it but it is not a major problem.

"Stones had a bit of a niggle in his hamstring and he had a scan yesterday and it was all clear. I think it was a fatigue reaction. He is 21 and at this stage has played more games than at any time in his professional career. I expect him to be back in the next week or 10 days."
 

"We want to take this club forward and we will only progress through investment."

That phrase came from Steve McClaren in his pre-match press call and reflected a transfer window in which four players arrived at a combined cost of £30m and efforts were made to spend more. 

Opinion is divided over where that investment went though, but what is beyond argument is that dusting off the cheque book alone is no guarantee of success. 

Sadly his players seem to equate spending with security and played as if our top-flight future was now assured. A bewilderingly bad display from them handed the initiative to an out-of-form Everton side and we were duly punished in a re-run of last season's 0-3, ten-man loss under John Carver.

McClaren gave a debut to Andros Townsend and there was a place on the bench for loan arrival Seydou Doumbia after his work permit was granted.   

The Toffees had failed to win in five Premier League games since their last-gasp success on Tyneside in December and had kept just one clean sheet in 13 home outings this season.

Despite that though, Newcastle lined up with what amounted to a 4-6-0 formation, Ayoze Perez in a vaguely attacking role but lacking support - save for occasional forward canters from Daryl Janmaat.

Packing the midfield was presumably an attempt to smother Everton, but United's sluggish approach invited the home side forward, safe in the knowledge that their suspect defence was in no danger.  

Aaron Lennon gave Everton the lead after 23 minutes with a scuffed effort from the edge of the box and although their top scorer Romelu Lukaku was off the pace following a clash with Fabricio Coloccini, the Toffees maintained the initiative and stand-in goalkeeper Joel Robles was a spectator.
     
Chancel Mbemba's ever-present record in the Premier League this season ended just before the interval when he damaged an ankle, while Paul Dummett's return at left back lasted just 45 minutes.

That brought Jamaal Lascelles into central defence and shoehorned Rolando Aarons into a left back slot that was completely alien to him at Watford. 

And within ten minutes of the restart United had made their final replacement when Aleksandar Mitrovic was thrown on - having earlier provided a rare moment of relief when responding to cheers from the away fans by repeatedly hammering the ball into the net.

Sadly the Serb was rather less adept at finishing in match situations, volleying a great chance to level wide of the Gwladys Street goal and contriving to mis-control another half-chance that went begging.

Entering the final stages of the game, the home side hadn't added to their total despite striking the goal frame three times - Rob Elliot again earning his pay.

It was Everton's turn to back off now and give the visitors a glimmer of hope that a point could still be salvaged, but once again Moussa Sissoko and Gini Wijnaldum were incapable of conjuring up any threat and Robles was troubled only by a Perez effort.

Almost inevitably, the first tackle Aarons made was a clumsy one and his upending of Lennon inevitably saw a spot kick awarding by Craig Pawson on 88 minutes.

Already without Mbemba and Dummett, United lost a third defender when the brainless Lascelles was sent off after needlesslu conceding another spot kick

The former Nottingham Forest player had been booked in the aftermath of Everton's first penalty award but was then shown a straight red card for bringing down Ross Barkley after making a hash of his clearance.

Barkley beat Elliot again, this time a chipped effort of the "Panenka" variety adding insult to injury, with the referee blowing for time before the game restarted.

McClaren cut a forlorn figure during the game and was clearly angry afterwards, but his side showed a total lack of urgency and intensity. 

That suggests that they still don't realise the extent of their current plight, despite losing their fourth successive away game in the Premier League, during which they've scored just once.

Our away record remains pathetic under McClaren; his selection, tactics and motivation when in an unfamiliar dressing room is open to considerable question.  

Tonight was a prime example of devising a game plan and then watching the players ignore it in favour of their own more half-paced strutting. How can picking Wijnaldum and Sissoko away from SJP be justified?

People may rightly talk about the failure to sign adequate defensive cover and we're instantly in danger of being caught short within hours of the window closing as you just "knew" they would.

But in terms of the missed opportunity to bring in Berahino, Austin or whoever, our inability to keep clean sheets and create scoring chances makes that irrelevant. Aside from one chance spurned by Mitrovic, would a £21m striker in our ranks here have made any difference, given the way we play?  

A look at our remaining away games this season does nothing to inspire confidence that the Premier League's lowest scorers will increase their tally - or add to the two clean sheets they've scraped on the road to date.

Here's what remains, together with the outcome when we last visited. It makes for grim reading:  

Chelsea (0-2), Stoke City (0-1), Leicester City (0-3), Norwich City (0-0)*, Southampton (0-4), Liverpool (0-2), Aston Villa (0-0) *13/14 season, no game in 14/15

Saturday's visit of West Bromwich Albion is an obvious must-win game and the most significant at SJP since the season-closer against West Ham in May.

If we are to survive, the points required must be won at home. And if we can't get that right then next season's midweek trips across the M62 will be to Preston and Blackburn, not Liverpool.

Biffa