Blackburn Due For A Hammering!
NEWCASTLE: Harper, Solano, Onyewu, Bramble (Ramage 70), Carr, Dyer (Ameobi 70), Parker, Butt, Milner, Owen, Martins.
Subs Not Used: Srnicek, N'Zogbia, Carroll.
BLACKBURN: Friedel, Emerton, Samba, Nelsen, Warnock, Bentley, Kerimoglu (Gallagher 89), Mokoena, Pedersen, McCarthy (Derbyshire 67), Roberts (Nonda 85).
Subs Not Used: Brown, Henchoz.
Att: 51,226
Blackburn kept their UEFA Cup dreams alive as they made light of Michael Owen's presence to condemn Newcastle to a woeful home defeat.Benni McCarthy's 22nd goal of the season and Jason Roberts' 73rd-minute strike were more than enough to claim the points as the Magpies imploded in their final home game of the campaign with Owen passing up both the chances which came his way.
Too often boos have rung out around St James' Park this season, and the cacophony which greeted the final whistle heaped further pressure on beleaguered manager Glenn Roeder, whose hopes of dispelling the speculation surround Sam Allardyce and his future were dashed in comprehensive style.
The Magpies, who have won just one of their last 10 Barclays Premiership games and scored only three goals, can no longer reach the Intertoto Cup and now face a bloody inquest with chairman Freddy Shepherd far from amused in his seat in the directors' box.
By contrast, Rovers head into the final week of the season dreaming of Europe after a deserved victory on Tyneside.
Owen's return - he last played at St James' on December 10, 2005 - had given the black and white faithful hope of a positive finish to a poor season, but it was the same old story for Roeder's sorry troops.
Where Tugay's creativity and the movement of McCarthy and strike partner Roberts caused the home side problems at regular intervals, the Magpies were disjointed in the middle of the park and, despite the presence of their £17million man, toothless in attack.
With Titus Bramble criminally wasteful in possession at the back and he and Oguchi Onyewu, a replacement for the injured Steven Taylor, looking painfully inadequate in their battle with Rovers' front two, it was a frustrating opening 45 minutes for the Toon Army.
It might have been very different had Kieron Dyer's fifth-minute header from a Stephen Carr cross not been turned around the post by Brad Friedel, or had any of the flurry of chances which came their way in the closing stages of the half been converted.
Ryan Nelsen got in a vital challenge to prevent Owen from firing home from Scott Parker's flick-on after 40 minutes, but the Newcastle captain should have done better seconds later when the striker returned the favour only for him to scuff his effort straight at Brad Friedel.
The American then turned away James Milner's curling free-kick, but he should have been beaten on the stroke of half-time when, after he could only punch Nolberto Solano's driven cross to Owen, the England international drilled his shot high over.
But in the meantime, the visitors had taken the lead in controversial circumstances when McCarthy got the benefit of a marginal offside decision - he looked yards offside at full speed - to thump Stephen Warnock's 14th-minute cross past Steve Harper.
Shay Given's deputy kept his side in it with a fine save from Morten Gamst Pedersen 11 minutes before the break after Bentley had skipped past Carr and Milner to cross from the right, and Rovers had a goal correctly ruled out for offside seconds later with Roeder's men in disarray at the back.
Newcastle returned in determined mood and Parker found himself in the thick of the action during the opening minutes of the half, first just failing to reach Owen's flick-on and then seeing Milner's driven cross cannon off him and drop wide of the target.
As they pushed for the equaliser, the home side left gaps at the back and they were fortunate to escape on 53 minutes when McCarthy and Bentley combined to play Roberts in, only for an offside flag to wrongly halt his progress.
Having seen too little of the ball previously, Owen turned provider, outstripping Nelsen on the left before lifting his cross high over the arriving support.
Rovers should have taken advantage after 59 minutes when the unmarked Pedersen dragged his left-footed shot across the face of goal, but with Milner making an impact once again, the Magpies were establishing a momentum.
They might have levelled after 69 minutes when Owen, who had seconds earlier had claims for a penalty for a trip by Samba waved away, rounded Friedel, but saw his shot from a tight angle headed off the line by the Congo international.
Roeder introduced Shola Ameobi and Peter Ramage for Dyer and Bramble on 70 minutes, but the game was over when Roberts was handed the simplest of tasks by Bentley to head past Harper.
The life went out of Newcastle and although Martins fired across the face of goal five minutes from time, the game - like their season - was long gone.
2005/6 NEWCASTLE UTD 0 BLACKBURN R 1
NEWCASTLE: Given, Ramage, Bramble, Boumsong, Babayaro, Solano, Bowyer, Clark, Luque (O'Brien 62), Shearer, Chopra.
Subs Not Used: Harper, Elliott, N'Zogbia, Brittain.
BLACKBURN: Friedel, Neill, Nelsen, Khizanishvili, Gray, Reid, Tugay (Emerton 85), Savage, Pedersen (Mokoena 90), Kuqi, Dickov (Peter 53).
Subs Not Used: Enckelman, Johnson.
Att: 51,323
Newcastle boss Graeme Souness was plunged further into crisis when a controversial Morten Gamst Pedersen goal handed former club Blackburn all three points at St James' Park.The Norwegian appeared to punch the ball into the net with his left hand as he attempted to turn Shefki Kuqi's 74th-minute header home, but referee Howard Webb saw nothing wrong and awarded the goal.
Until that point, the home side had looked the more likely winners and went close through Albert Luque, Alan Shearer, Lee Bowyer and Celestine Babayaro, but their luck deserted them once again as they slipped to their fourth defeat in five Barclays Premiership games to leave chairman Freddy Shepherd stone-faced and Souness fighting for his job.
2004/5 NEWCASTLE UTD 3 BLACKBURN R 0
NEWCASTLE: Given, Carr, O'Brien, Hughes, Elliott, Dyer (Milner 88), Jenas, Bowyer, Robert (N'Zogbia 90), Shearer, Bellamy (Ameobi 77).
Subs Not Used: Kluivert, Harper.
BLACKBURN: Friedel, Neill, Short, Matteo, Gray, Emerton (Bothroyd 78), Flitcroft, Ferguson, Pedersen (Douglas 45), Dickov, Stead.
Subs Not Used: Tugay, Enckelman, Johansson.
Att: 52,015
Alan Shearer ensured that Graeme Souness will take over the Newcastle hot-seat with three points to ease him into place.It took the Magpies just 16 minutes to effectively clinch their first win of the season and only their second in 12 Premiership encounters as managerless Blackburn, the club left behind by Souness, failed to prolong the agony at St James' Park.
The departing Sir Bobby Robson visited the club's training ground yesterday to urge his former charges on to a much-needed victory, and they responded in just the way they had done for him so many times previously.
Rovers skipper Garry Flitcroft set them on their way with an eighth-minute own goal, but it was Shearer's 16th-minute header, his second goal of the season, which put them in the driving seat before defender Andy O'Brien added a third eight minutes from time.
Victory was the only aim when coach John Carver sent his side out on to the pitch, but the fact they returned with all the points and a clean sheet - their first of the season - will have come as a huge bonus.
It has been an eventful couple of weeks on Tyneside with one manager departing and another arriving, it has to be said, without universal approval.
"Football is a matter of opinion and everybody is entitled to their opinion," wrote chairman Freddy Shepherd in his programme notes. "The bottom line is that the board is making what we believe is the right move at this particular time for this football club."