Newcastle faithful begin to toon out

SOCCER/Newcastle - 1 Bolton Wanderers - 2: This always had the potential to be a tricky week for Newcastle and not just because Bolton's awkward squad were kicking it off. Thursday brings Fenerbahce to St James' Park in the Uefa Cup and on Sunday there is a trip to Middlesbrough.

But it is Friday which contains the most resonance for many Geordies: the 10th anniversary of Newcastle's 5-0 hammering of Manchester United, the then champions' heaviest defeat for 12 years.

That left Kevin Keegan's team top of the Premiership, but they did not stay there long and much of what has come since has been downhill. From the black-and-white disaffected comes the argument that where once Newcastle threatened Manchester United, now they borrow from them, Giuseppe Rossi being a second-half substitute yesterday.

Newcastle's manager, Glenn Roeder, cannot be held responsible; it is all about how far Newcastle have fallen over the decade. And after Bolton's first win here for 47 years, Newcastle were stationary in 15th place last night.

As notable as any statistic was that yesterday's fifth defeat of the season came in front of a crowd of 48,145. All bar a few clubs in Europe would be happy with that attendance but it was Newcastle's lowest since the stadium was extended six years ago. Only once before had they failed to get above 50,000 in the Premiership, against Leicester City five years ago. It is a development which will worry the hierarchy.

Bolton's puny gathering barely added to the numbers but their manager, Sam Allardyce, did not seem bothered by that. "We're on a roll, we have high aspirations and that was the essence of what we're about," he said. This was his team's third consecutive win, they are unbeaten in five and lie third in the league with a trip to Blackburn on Sunday.

Despite conceding their first goal since August, Shola Ameobi scoring a 19th-minute penalty that Allardyce labelled "dubious", Bolton fought back in the second half with El-Hadji Diouf knocking in two goals in two minutes. Newcastle's defending on both goals was erratic, and of some concern to the faithful will be that after the second it was Bolton who were closer to a third rather than Newcastle to an equaliser.

"Unacceptable defending, a mad two minutes," Roeder called it. "I'm concerned, the players are concerned, they are equally disappointed as me. Disastrous defending will, unfortunately, hide a lot of quality play. But that's three games here where we've been in the lead and not won. You shouldn't need a second goal to kill a team off but we certainly do at the moment."

Roeder was distraught yesterday that after Newcastle had received the benefit of the linesman's decision - the referee, Alan Wiley, obeying his official when Obafemi Martins' cross struck the upper arm of Abdoulaye Faye, despite Bolton protests - a great 39th-minute chance for Peter Ramage was blasted over the crossbar.

"If young Ramage takes a golden opportunity to put us 2-0 up we'd be going into half-time a lot more confident of seeing the victory out," Roeder said.

Immediately after the interval Martins rattled a volley at Jussi Jaaskelainen but Bolton then revealed their first forward momentum. And at that Newcastle crumbled.

Stephen Carr and Titus Bramble were culpable on the first goal. When Faye swept a 30-yard pass out to the left, Carr misjudged it but Nicolas Anelka did not. The surly one chested it down, strode into the box and found Diouf. The Senegalese had nipped too easily behind Bramble and scored from six yards.

Some 95 seconds later, Diouf had another. A simple free-kick was chipped in by Ivan Campo, Kevin Davies won his contest with Bramble and his flick went to where Diouf had sneaked off to - the far post. There, with Steve Harper coming at him, Diouf bent his head low to nod in the winner.

Diouf enraged the locals with his celebrations. With this being the first of seven games in 21 days, the St James' Park faithful may have to get used to irritation.

Guardian Service