"It was a difficult game; emotionally, tactically, technically. It was never going to be one for the purist, the atmosphere was very intense and created a game that was unpredictable.

"I thought we did enough at 2-0, then they scored, and the last period of the game was very difficult from our perspective, Burnley played very well. There was some heroic defending from our players.

"It would have been very easy to drop our levels and play our part in Burnley winning the game and ultimately staying up, but we had standards to meet and were determined to represent the club well today. The players deserve credit for that."

Asked about finishing 14 points clear of the third relegation place:

"I’m not sure I could have said I’d have seen it coming, to be honest with you. December was a very difficult month for us. We came in and on the horizon was a very tough month, with Liverpool and Manchester City, and we had a squad that was suffering with injuries at the time, then we suffered the low of Cambridge (in the FA Cup). This was a position that seemed a long, long way away then.

"I have to compliment the players for how they have dug in, for how they have united together. There were plenty of examples throughout the team of players fighting for the shirt, giving their all, and I think the players deserve a huge amount of credit.”

On Joelinton's injury:

"It didn’t look good at the time; I could see from the way he went down, I was thinking, ‘This could be serious’. It’s a deep laceration, and I think when the doctor saw him initially, he could see part of his bone.

"It was quite deep, so we knew immediately we had to withdraw him. He was in good spirits in the dressing room though. He had a boot on, but said he was okay, so that’s great news."

oh go on then, one more time

U23 coach turned Interim boss Mike Jackson:

"That won't go away for a long, long time, in fact it won't go away, it will always be there, it's something I'll have to live with, but it will never go away.

"It's really raw at the moment, gutted for the fans and the players. It's hard to find words sometimes, but I just said to the group, they've given everything for the games we've been here, and sometimes that's all you can ask of anybody.

"First half today we obviously gave the penalty away, which takes a bit of the sting out of us, third game in a week as well, and down on bodies, so it's not ideal. But they gave everything they can, second half we got the goal back and had some really good chances to get back in it, on another day...

"The lads are going to be (distraught), but there's not a lot you can say, it will take a long, long time to get over, but I'm sure some of these players will go from strength to strength and keep going.

"I thanked them for what they've done as a group, how they came together, with what's happened with their mates getting injured and things going against you, and I think they've been brilliant, they kept fighting.

"The fans came in their numbers again and were brilliant and stayed right to the end with us, and we're just gutted we couldn't stay in the league."

"Everything was put in to try and achieve staying up, and I haven't done that, so it's gutting. We had some really good chances, and on another day if you take them, who knows?

"The injuries have nipped us obviously, but the group still went to Spurs, Villa and produced performances. I knew the game was going to be like that today, once you give that first goal away, they make it very difficult, the back four doesn't move a lot, doesn't come out of its shape, and away from home as well, it was difficult.

"We had some good moments as well in the first half, I thought it was tight, not a lot in it, the penalty changed the mood. It was two teams scrapping it out, but we then had to chase, and that can add to the situation.

"We chased it second half but didn't take our chances."

Two teams going in opposite directions met at Turf Moor on Sunday; defeat for the hosts ending a six season stay in the top flight while victory for the visitors capped a sensational seasonal revival.

Burnley went into the game knowing that Premier League survival depended on matching or bettering the outcome of Leeds United's trip to Brentford.

Their hopes of achieving that took a nose dive in the 20th minute however, when Kieran Trippier's corner kick was fisted away from Sean Longstaff at the back post by home defender Nathan Collins.

A VAR review sent referee Craig Pawson across to the pitchside screen and the outcome of that was never in doubt - Pawson amending his original decision, Callum Wilson sending Nick Pope the wrong way from 12 yards.

That handed Eddie Howe's current side a deserved advantage against one of his former ones; Burnley giving little indication of their plight and simply unable to lay a glove on The Magpies.

Newcastle made two changes from the side that saw off Arsenal (Lascelles for Schar and Trippier for Krafth) but were forced into an early alteration when Joelinton was stretchered off with a gashed leg.

Coming close to doubling their lead just before the break when Allan Saint-Maximin was denied by Pope, United established a two goal cushion on the hour to seemingly condemn the Clarets.

Occupying a more central role after Jacob Murphy replaced Joelinton, Miggy Almiron pushed forward in possession before supplying Saint-Maximin on the left and he teed up Wilson to tuck it inside the far post.

Only then did Mike Jackson's side respond to the urgings of the home crowd and aim balls into the Newcastle box - Maxwel Cornet firing home at the second attempt in the 69th minute to raise the noise levels.

At that point Leeds still led at Brentford, but the Bees levelled to leave Burnley needing an equaliser to drag themselves back to fourth bottom.

Despite a succession of corner kicks and one timely intervention by Matt Targett in his own six yard box, the hosts were unable to find a second goal - former Claret Chris Wood introduced to add some additional height at set pieces and given an inevitable hostile reception by his former fans.

Attempting to catch Burnley on the break, Newcastle looked like teeing up a hat-trick goal for Wilson on three occasions - only for Almiron to selfishly blaze over, Bruno to fall over before pulling the ball back and Murphy finally to be foiled as he tried to dribble along the byline.

It finished 2-1 to the visitors though, a collective sigh from the home ranks in added time indicating that Leeds were ahead again down in West London, leaving Burnley needing to score twice.

Thankfully the full time whistle didn't prompt any sort of pitch invasion, meaning that the Newcastle officials and players were able to salute the travelling support as they returned to the dressing room.

Beginning the day 12th in the table, Brighton's home victory over West Ham denied Newcastle a top half finish but their astonishing final tally of 49 points was enough to snag 11th. Had Wilson not missed 16 games, that could well have been higher.

It's also worth noting that we avoided relegation by 14 points - a tally we only reached by winning at Leeds in January. That first away victory of the season was pivotal to our revival, coming after the 1-1 draw with Watford when it looked for all the world as if we were powerless to alter our fate. If Jonjo Shelvey does nothing else in a black and white shirt, then his strike at Elland Road restored hope in the stands and belief in the dressing room. Not quite David Kellyesque, but of great significance.  

All concerned deserve great credit for harnessing the boardroom changes to reset the club since last October. The power of positive playing - and supporting - has exorcised the demons of a nightmarish first half of the season and watching this lot is again a pleasure rather than a duty.

While Burnley drop into the Championship amid massive financial uncertainty in the wake of their takeover, the only way now looks to be up for the black and whites: "ticking over" is no longer acceptable round here.

Choruses of from the away end of "we'll meet again, don't know where don't know when" were meant for the home fans, but equally could be have been directed at a good chunk of the away side.

Whoever ends up making way for the anticipated influx though can leave content in the fact that they've played their part in a job well done, providing a solid base for future growth by quite simply stopping the rot.

So often we've reached this point on our knees, glad to see the back of another prison sentence of a season. We didn't want this one to finish though - and won't be alone counting the days until the next one comes around.

Howay the lads! 

Biffa

PS: Is it that time again? Following the aborted 2019/20 campaign and the purgatory that was 2020/21, this season has been a welcome return to the "old ways" of travelling round the country and encountering like-minded souls - whose disposition became increasingly sunny as results improved.

The usual gratitude and appreciation is expressed to those whose efforts ensured that we got through another season mostly intact.