Back To Back Defeats

Newcastle 3 - Manchester United 0
Scorers
Newcastle: Ba (33), Cabaye (47), Jones (og 90)


Team: Lindegaard, Rio, Jones, Valencia, Evra, Giggs, Carrick, Park (Hernandez 68), Nani, Rooney (Anderson 75), Babertov (Welbeck 57)

I'm speechless at how we performed today. To put it bluntly, we were never at the races today...not even close.

You would think after the shambolic result on Saturday, the lads would have come out firing on all cylinders, instead they did show plenty of angst but directed at all the wrong areas. Instead of focusing on getting the result, they were more intent on trying to rile the Magpies.

All credit to the Newcastle players, they kept their focus and were ridiculously unlucky not to be awarded a penalty when Rio clumsily took Ba out when the scores were level. It was partly karma playing it's part as in the first leg at Old Trafford when a penalty was wrongfully awarded then. Most of the decisions were falling our way, but as mentioned, we were never in the game. Newcastle, on the other hand, were at their brilliant best, concentrating on what mattered most, the result.

And their hardwork, and positive attitude resulted in a superb Ba goal in the 33th minute. As much as I've hated Newcastle in the past, this season's recarnation of the team is an exciting one, and one that's easy to get behind. This is not Keegan's Newcastle, nor the hateful one that had that moron Barton in it either. This version boosts very likable characters like Ba, Tiote and Cabaye, not to mention a couple of ex-Uniyed players in Simpson and Obertan. Of course we must not forget the two Argentines, Coloccini and Gutierrez, both of whom took a step back in their careers to play for the Magpies when they were relegated a couple of seasons back. Definitely a very likable group, playing a brand of football that is eye-catching.

Cabaye sent the tyneside faithful into raptures at the start of the second half with a beautifully executed freekick and the game was beyond us. We did try to make a game of it, but Simpson's off the line clearance midway into the second spelt the only and last time we ever threatened Krul.

To round off our misery, Jone's sent the ball the wrong way of Lindegaard in the dying minutes which probably summed up our night in the cold and clammy SportsDirect.com stadium.

To think all the celebrations when Sunderland beat Shitty on Sunday went to waste.

I dread to think how the hell we're even going to trouble Shitty this coming Sunday in the FA Cup. They must be licking their chops at the prospect of meeting us at our most vulnerable. It may well be a good thing to exit the cup early and concentrate on the league given our injuries, if we can overcome them.