Gloomy Robson gets solid backing

Newcastle United 0 Birmingham City 1: Bobby Robson emerged from a brief meeting with his chairman Freddy Shepherd at the stadium yesterday, the Newcastle manager's job and commitment to the cause intact.

It had been a bad week for Robson and United, and there is now a fortnight's gap until the next match, but Robson remains the manager and the board's backing is solid.

Clarification had been necessary. The rumour on Tyneside on Friday was Robson would walk if Birmingham City won at St James' the next day. A third home defeat in a week duly arrived and Robson, his rolling contract allowing a relatively free and easy departure, was a disenchanted soul indeed. At about half past four on Saturday, with Robson still to leave his seat on the bench and television cameras showing a man apparently slipping into depression, the rumour seemed to have a degree of credibility.

Newcastle were losing at home again. The players were struggling for rhythm and confidence. The stadium was again silent. "Where's your famous atmosphere?" Manchester United fans had asked the previous Saturday. One week on and all you could hear were Birmingham's thousands. It was Toon gloom and Toon doom.

But an hour later, with Robson on his feet in the press room, his fingers jabbing into the advertising hoarding behind him, the rumour was demolished by the facts. Whatever they think of Robson in the boardroom - and the chairman Shepherd pointed out in the Sunday Mirror that Robson has spent more than Messrs Keegan, Dalglish and Gullit - the man himself is intent on fighting.

"I can't sit there laughing, can I?" Robson barked of his touchline demeanour. "Is that what you want - ha, ha - like that? 'Oh penalty, ha, ha, oh, it's saved, ha, ha, no it's gone in, ha, ha.' What do you expect me to be like? Do you expect me to be happy?"

Robson was on a roll. "I'm not depressed. I'm just concentrating on the pitch. We're behind and I'm thinking about what's happening, where it's happening and what I can do about it. I can't just sit there and flash my teeth."

Then he jumped up and painted a picture of his team-talk. "The management have total confidence in you," is the message Robson gave his players. He also stressed "winning the ball and wanting the ball".

These are fundamental instructions, no different from what Jermaine Jenas, Shola Ameobi and Titus Bramble heard at school. Aged 20, 21 and 22, respectively, those days are not so long ago.

The bigger question for Newcastle is: how fundamental are their problems?

"We're not getting in behind and stretching teams, we're not creating chances, the simple fact is that we aren't playing well," said Alan Shearer. "We're not doing an awful lot right as a team. It's been a rotten week, we haven't played well and we have to be man enough to say it."

Shearer then slipped into full Roger Mellie mode. "We have to show bollocks." Given that Newcastle's next two away fixtures are at Goodison Park and Highbury, Shearer and co will have the opportunity to do so. At least Craig Bellamy should be back for the Everton game. In between Bolton visit St James', but Newcastle are already 11 points behind Arsenal.

Last season they began similarly and finished third and the personnel are the same. Only Lee Bowyer has been added this summer and he is currently a contentious figure due to his displacement of Nolberto Solano. When Solano was removed for Bowyer on Saturday there was a boo-in. As yet that is as close as it gets to anti-Robson sentiment among supporters.

There were 23 minutes left when that happened and Newcastle were trailing to David Dunn's strike on the hour, a follow-up to a poor penalty, the weakness of which surprised Shay Given into spilling it.

Given was to make another save from Dunn after a Bowyer mistake, then another from Stan Lazaridis after Andy Griffin had dawdled in possession. Having sapped Newcastle's admittedly limited creative output, Birmingham were threatening on the break.

As a tactic it does not fall into the category of rocket science but Steve Bruce had done enough homework to frustrate Newcastle. Other sides have worked that out, too. In management-speak, it is time for Newcastle United to start thinking outside the box.