On a day of surprising results elsewhere in the Premier League, the outcome at St. James' Park on Saturday proved to be sadly predictable, as United extended their barren seasonal run to ten games without victory.

Stonewalling the league leaders for over an hour had raised faint hopes that a shock result could be in the offing for Graeme Jones on the occasion of his first home game in charge.

However Thomas Tuchel's supposedly depleted side had other ideas, breaking the deadlock in the 65th minute when Reece James picked his spot and fired into the Leazes End net.

And once the same player had doubled Chelsea's lead just 12 minutes later, it was merely a question of how many we would end up losing by.

If nothing else, a Blues side who scored seven without reply last weekend were content with three goals here; Karl Darlow upending Kai Havertz to concede an 81st minute penalty that Jorginho stroked home.

Sticking with the same line-up that took a fortunate point at Crystal Palace last week, what proved to be United's most dangerous attack of the whole afternoon came with barely a minute played - Ryan Fraser dashing into the box but dragging his shot wide of the far post and out for a throw-in.

With Allan Saint-Maximin perpetually pursued by a posse of players and Callum Wilson continually penalised by over-zealous referee Paul Tierney, United's players and fans dug in for an elongated rearguard action.

A 22nd minute effort from Hakim Ziyech was rightly ruled out for offside and the same player shot over 12 minutes later, but despite Chelsea's almost complete dominance of possession they failed to properly test Darlow (now on borrowed time in after Martin Dubravka returned to the bench).

Into the second half and Ziyech saw his shot strike the woodwork before the visitors went ahead amid some confusion on the touchline by the dugouts.

Newcastle were set to introduce Miguel Almiron and Joe Willock, with the pair stripped and both ready to come on. However the visitors managed to make their two changes before play resumed - and the opening goal followed.

Going behind inevitably sapped the spirits of the home support; more empty visible as each successive goal was scored and the grim reality of our plight becoming evident.

Full time brought some booing from those who remained until the bitter end, but the majority left in silence - lacking a pantomime villain now that the despised owner and manager have both departed.

This is a club currently in limbo in the dugout and boardroom - and that also applies in the stands. It's difficult to know quite what to hope for and those claiming to have knowledge seem even more like chancers, on the basis that the owners don't seem to know themselves.

Regardless of the salaries, our worsening situation must make their task of deciding upon a managerial structure and effectively filling the posts trickier - persuading prestigious coaches to take on a bottom three side, especially in the light of now competing with other "projects" elsewhere in England.

And that, aside from the perceived reluctance of other top-flights sides to do permanent or temporary business with us in January there's also the little matter of convincing the actual players to sign up for a salvage operation.

Back to onfield matters, attempting to stonewall Chelsea was a predictable ploy and had the double replacement Jones sought to make gone through at 0-0, it's theoretically possible that things could have turned out better.

In the real world though, this was less about us and more about them; faced with a passive home side unable to retain possession and belatedly unpicking them after upping their game just a little. Some ball boys saw more of the ball than our lot as we failed to even win a corner; thoughts that this was from the Benitez playbook undermined by our ragged, aimless approach.

A poor day for advocates of the interim coach then: he may have spoken of 25 men being ready for battle, but retaining the side that somehow snatched a point at Palace did little to suggest fresh thinking; which is hardly surprising given that this was his 28th game at the club.

If this really is our best line-up, then how de-motivated must the likes of Lewis, Hendrick, Schar, Fernandez, Joelinton and Gayle be not to win a place?

One booking and another warned for time-wasting in the first half isn't a good look, but indicative of where we are in an attempt to reach dry land, being the only top-flight side without a clean sheet this season.

It does seem manifestly unfair for anyone to blame Jones for not sprinkling magic beans on the touchline though; in reality he's trying to construct a competitive side out of the football equivalent of landfill - the real legacy of the previous administration.

Sadly elements of that remain in situ - Lee Charnley still lurking as he’s got the alarm codes and experience of running a football club. It's 2007 all over again, only with Amanda Staveley playing the part of Chris Mort.

Having hastily completed their purchase, the Saudis may now be pondering exactly what it was they actually bought and whether relegation was one of the scenarios they foresaw - and or going backwards to come forward is incompatible with their vision. In that context, agonising about what people are wearing seems less of a priority.

The relegation roadshow moves on to Brighton, where it's likely that Jones will remain in charge to face a side who resoundingly kicked our arses home and away last season. When even the interim coach is urging the appointment of a fresh face, this isn't a time for dithering.
 
Biffa