Newcastle's FA Cup campaign is still alive but it's difficult to know how, after an awful display against Championship opposition at St. James' Park on Saturday evening.

Once Rovers had gone ahead the hosts looked odds-on to exit the competition until substitute Ayoze Perez was tripped in the box and Matt Ritchie grabbed a late leveller from the penalty spot.

A fantastic turnout of over 36,000 fans waited in vain for an outbreak of football from a Magpies lineup showing eight changes from that which had started here against Manchester United in the Premier League on Wednesday.

Freddie Woodman, Jamie Sterry and Sean Longstaff all stepped up, while Florian Lejeune made his first appearance of the season following surgery on a knee injury suffered in the summer.

However it was those players given the chance to play their way into the manager's thoughts for Premier League service in the coming days and weeks were universally found lacking. The combined talents of Jacob Murphy, Kenedy and Joselu made no impression against a mid-table second tier side and all three have actually worsened, not improved, since moving to Tyneside. 

The shortcomings of our squad were all too easily exposed by mundane opponents including Geordie duo Adam Armstrong and Danny Graham and a disjointed and uninspiring performance verging on the criminally inept at times only belatedly improved when Jonjo Shelvey replaced the limp Isaac Hayden - who can count himself lucky if a Championship club take him, never mind a top-flight one.

That raised the quality of our passing from pitiful to mediocre, but the one inch-perfect ball that he played was completely wasted by Joselu. The Spaniard had some rough treatment early on that went unpunished and seemed to affect him but build-up play from his colleagues was non-existent. 

Bradley Dack put Rovers ahead early in the second half and they were only denied a second goal by Manquillo's goal-line clearance soon later, United's early promise having long since vanished.

Having struggled all season on home territory in the league, Rafa's side proved no more capable of taking the initiative and dictating play against Championship opponents and remain shot-shy.

Their best opportunity to level arrived in the 66th minute: three efforts on goal in quick succession - more than they'd managed in the rest of the game. Shelvey's header was saved, Lejeune's follow up shot was blocked in the six yard box amid shouts o handball before a combination of defender and goalkeeper then managed to deflect Joselu's attempted effort over the crossbar.

That seemed to be that until Ritchie's penalty conversion six minutes from the end for a foul on Perez, a decision that Rovers manager Tony Mowbray called "soft" but which is almost unheard of round these parts - our first home penalty award in almost 12 months.

Referee Kevin Friend checked using VAR before confirming the award and acting captain Ritchie sent the 'keeper the wrong way at the Gallowgate End - just reward for showing some of the intensity and commitment that was sadly lacking from many of his colleagues. 

That goal ensured that the ninth FA Cup tie between these sides will be settled by a replay and although United won all of the previous three against Rovers, it's an extra game that nobody of a black and white persuasion wanted: players, fans or manager.

Following downbeat media briefings in Ireland and Portugal before the season began, Rafa's recent "miracle" comment seems to have ruffled feathers once again within the club and perhaps also among his squad - always a dangerous game.  

Were a manager other than one with such an extensive CV be overseeing this mess, expressions like lost the dressing room could well be more audible than the current mutinous whispers. As it is, to see a man who won this competition just over a decade ago reduced to sending out a team to do no more than fulfill the fixture is as disgraceful as it is unacceptable. We shouldn't enter next year.

Those selected today should have been capable of much more, but in the main just tossed it off - perhaps unhappy or apprehensive at being labelled second-raters by Benitez? 

Whatever it is, the claim of confidence sapping from the crowd's reaction to going behind in games referred to by Ritchie is spurious - although it's nice to see someone bothered enough to actually say something sincerely, rather than issuing insincere apologies after the latest collapse. 

No, the indulgence of supporters here means that players do not get a rough ride. Ask Rafa, they didn't ironically applaud players leaving the field in Napoli, they stormed the training ground and tried break their legs....  

Try watching this lot week in, week out. Try watching a club renowned for its number nines now incapable of even signing one permanently. Try having a shot on target or even an attack worthy of that description and see what happens.  

The machinations and ramifications of the alleged takeover again overshadow everything else at this club - and seemingly provide a convenient excuse for some unacceptable individual performances on the field and in the boardroom. 

A similar situation befell us last season during the Amanda Staveley pantomime; namely a nine game 
winless run before Christmas when we couldn't pass water at St. James' Park.

A year on, we're currently on a run of one victory in ten outings and on the wrong side of new year, without the option of resorting to loans that we enjoyed in the absence of investment 12 months ago. Oh aye and the bugger's muddle making the manager signing a new deal before receiving funds but not trusting him to spend those funds runs on and on like a West End stage show.

Nice to see so many young fans today - what the future holds for them is anyone's guess though.

Biffa/Niall