Newcastle United took the lead at Villa Park on Saturday afternoon, then fell four goals behind in scenes which have been typical of this season. Michael Owen grabbed his second goal in as many games to give United the lead after six minutes, but it all went downhill from there and in a disasterous second half, the Magpies fell apart. We got reaction from the Panel on yet more disappointment….

Rich

““One-nil up, four-one down, Stephen Carr’s a f’ing clown…” wouldn’t have been out of place had it been sung towards the death of our lunchtime game with Aston Villa on Saturday as John Carew dispatched his penalty making hat-trick with aplomb down at the Holte End to send us away fans back to their buses with plenty of misery for company. It had all looked so promising to begin with.

The first-half was certainly not a spectacle, but at least our players showed some willingness and ability as we created a couple of decent chances for our forward player (unfortunately, I’m not sure if Alan Smith is worthy of the title yet with 0 goals to his name, so I’m sticking to the singular) and he promptly dispatched one of them with a lovely deft header at the near post. Michael Owen, thankfully, seems to be finding his feet again and it’s imperative that he stays fit and in this mood if we are to pull away from the desperate hands below that are clawing out to drag us into the mire.

While Owen looked sharp and busy, the same could not be said of Alan Smith – although I am at pains to point out that expecting him to beat Martin Laursen in what must have been nigh on fifty direct aerial conflicts was asking a hell of a lot from our supposed “target man”. Where the hell was Viduka? For that matter, where the hell was Emre? …Or Enrique? People might put these queries of the Messiah down to foresight, but I asked the same questions before kick-off and persistently during the game… as my travelling buddy will no doubt confirm!

I did not and do not understand playing Stephen Carr at left-back, even though he didn’t get particularly found out until Martin O’Neill waved his magic wand at half-time and set Ashley Young on him – the little winger ran him ragged. The real turning point though was the introduction of Marlon Harewood to batter our shamefully weak centre halves. Steven Taylor and Claudio Cacapa must have proven themselves to be no good together by now, surely! Especially when you have a fit Abdoulaye Faye on the bench…

I stated before the game that I was worried about our ability to deal with the size and power of John Carew and I forwarded the notion that Faye, being our largest and most imposing defender, would be the man to do it. Instead Taylor and Cacapa got battered and bruised – particularly in the second period – and the big Norwegian ended up with 3 goals… not great from Keegan, I’m afraid. Barton and Butt were worringly – but expectedly – inept in the centre of the park, although the latter did win some momentous tackles at times. The fact remains that they are not good enough against teams like Villa away, though, and the sooner Special K realises this the better.

So then, another drubbing on the road has seen ‘Boro creep past us in the table, while Sunderland find themselves a mere 2 points behind. Manchester United at home comes next and again, I’d be delighted with a point. For Villa, though, a surge at the top six looks to be sustainable on the evidence of this second half.

Man of the Match: Michael Owen”

Jonny

“Well. What can you say after that really?

You do all that work in the first half and in typical Newcastle United fashion, you throw it away later on and completely collapse, usually on live television.

Oh how shocked Sky Sports must have been when Michael Owen headed home in the opening minutes to give the Magpies a shock lead; that wasn’t in the script. We then proceded to play some good football, pass it around a bit and frustrate the Villa team and support, and it work for most of the 1st half.

Then it happened.

Good, attacking changes from MON; nothing from Keegan. Instant reaction from the team which came out all guns blazing; nothing from Newcastle. A hattrick of goals for John Carew who look phenominal in the second stages; Viduka was sat on the bench for 90 minutes.

You tell yourself the players aren’t good enough, but at the end of the day they proved in the first half that they can do it, they just don’t know how to finish it. Fact is, Keegan should have changed it around earlier but didn’t. Why was Viduka not brought on at all? Why did Emre only come on at 1-3?

We need a victory and we were in the perfect position to get it at Villa, against the odds. They changed it around and we didn’t. Villa won the game because Villa deserved to win the game, and as usual Newcastle were left scratching their heads.

MOTM: Michael Owen’s best game in a long LONG time.”