Manchester United 6-0 Newcastle United. The battle of the Uniteds ended in a Manchester onslaught which completely hit the Mapgies as they crashed and burned at Old Trafford. We got the panel’s reaction…

Rich

“Good God, that was embarrassing. 4-1 proved to be a generous prediction for our hapless clowns as we tumbled to a 6-0 mega-thrashing at the hands of Manchester United on Saturday evening. I think that’s the worst beating I’ve seen us given in my admittedly brief 15 years or so following NUFC “for real”, although my memory is never the best. Whatever the weather, that was just awful.

Nigel Pearson (is it just me, or is the bloke one of the most naturally unlikeable men we’ve ever had at this club?) continued his marvellous 0% winning record as caretaker manager (bit harsh after he’s only overseen two games, admittedly) and played a team and formation that could be best, and most politely described as “Allardyce-esque” – bar the complete lack of any sort of target in the final third.

Men against boys this was, both in terms of ability and stature of the players on show, as our “hope for the best” 4-5-1 counter-attacking formation looked occasionally dangerous, but ultimately failed to deliver. Some will point to Michael Owen’s wrongly disallowed goal in the first half, but would even they believe this would have been anything other than a resounding defeat if it had stood?

Read into this game what you will, but I’ll give you my own take on proceedings: our current squad is devoid of leadership and confidence, an utterly futile combination. Where are the grizzled veterans in the mould of Shearer, Lee and Speed? Where is the flair and pace of Ginola and Gillespie? Where is the guile and brilliance of Peter Beardsley? Just how far have we fallen in ten short years? If ever there was time for the genuine “return of the Entertainers”, then this must surely be it. Hail Keegan, or Shearer, or both, or Hughes, or Jol or anyone… we just want our pride back.

Man of the match: Steven Taylor (looked arsed)”

Jonny

“Wow. That had me speechless. It was unexpected yet typical at the same time. Never have I seen a Newcastle United side perform so terribly before. I mean we’ve played bad at the home of the champions but never like that. We simply just surrendered to them and handed it to them on a plate.

No confidence, no play, no passion, no cares. We simply looked like a team of 11 strangers who had come to make up the numbers; and who could blame them. The club is crumbling in front of our eyes and things are getting worse by the day. If things don’t improve soon, the dreaded R word could start appearing.

“We’re too good to get relegated” - based on our performance on Saturday, we really aren’t too good to get relegated. They played us off the park and when we replaced Owen with Rozehnal, I knew it would get worse. I predicted goal after goal after goal when I sat on the sofa watching it; “You might as well add a fourth”, “Howay, make it 5″ etc.

We need to instil spirit back into the club. We need to raise spirits and get people believing again. I say this with some madness and with my tin hat on, but what we need is Kevin Keegan.

Even if only for the short-term, never has a man summed up what it means to be Newcastle United than that man. He would get the guns going again and raise the players back to giving their all for the club; that’s what we need more than anything right now.

The ball is in your court now Mr Ashley.

MOTM: Steven Taylor - The only player who seemed to be on the pitch in the 2nd half.”