Clueless Kinnear Blows It AGAIN!

The result against Manchester City on October 20 was down to Joe Kinnear sticking every man behind the ball in a last 20 minute spell that was like The Alamo.

No release ... a tactic of kicking the ball forward, knowing full well it would come back into Shay's penalty area within seconds.

Then we had the last-gasp goal by former Toon 'joke' Titus Bramble, against a Wigan side that should have been 'eat and drink' to Newcastle.

And on Saturday we saw another former Toon player kick us in the balls ... Abdoulaye Faye denied his old club two precious points as Stoke left Tyneside with something to show for their efforts ... when they were dead and buried at half-time.

The outcome on Saturday was all the more difficult to take because, having seen Owen fire usm into a 2-0 lead within 24 minutes of kick-off, Stoke should really have been put to bed long before half-time.

The Stoke defenders, Andy Griffin the main culprit, were 'filling their panrs' everytime Newcastle went at them.

But the loss of midfielder Danny Guthrie at half-time exposed the lack of depth in Joe Kinnear's squad and Joe went for five-across the back and 45 minutes of 'containment'. And didn't we just KNOW it was going to end in tears!

A desperate second-half display allowed the visitors to fight their way back into a game which should have been beyond them.

Mamady Sidibe pulled one back on the hour and Faye levelled in injury time as a late onslaught finally paid dividends in front of a largely devastated crowd of 47,422.

Eleven months ago Sam Allardyce took his Newcastle side to then Coca-Cola Championship Stoke for an FA Cup third-round tie and returned delighted with a 0-0 draw.

However, owner Mike Ashley decided on the evidence of that 90 minutes that enough was enough and the former Bolton boss was on his way.

Ten days later Kevin Keegan sat in the stands at St James' Park and watched his old club win the replay 4-1.

For 45 minutes on Saturday United went at the Potters in similar fashion and it looked as though it was going to be the easiest win of the season ... but Joe changed the tactics.

He said on Saturday morning this was a game the Magpies needed to win and it was there for the taking.

Let's not forget Kinnear's amazing ramble when he said Rory Delap's long throws were taken from HIS invention ... when he had Vinnie Jones throwing the ball long when the pair were at Wimbledon.

Obviously Kinnear had never seen Ian Hutchinson do the job for Chelsea TWENTY YEARS before the Wombles were Wombling on Wimbledon Common.

Our own Supermac was doing the job for us in the 1970's, and how can we forget Macdonald's "goal" that took us to the League Cup semi-final back in 1976.

His long-throw fooled the Notts County goalkeeper, who got his finger tips to the throw, and made the ball "live" to be a goal.

Kinnear did not attend the post-match press conference after the Stoke game, after being sent from the bench by referee Mike Riley over his protests about the free-kick which led to Faye's goal.

So the former Womble can expect ANOTHER letter from the FA.

It was left to coach Chris Hughton to bemoan a second-half collapse after an enterprising first 45 minutes.

Michael Owen: "You think you are comfortable at 2-0, but all it takes is one goal and then they have got half an hour or however long left to try to snatch one.

"We thought we had done it. It was getting into injury-time and we thought we had held on, and if we had held on, we would have been quite relieved to have not played well, but got three points.

"But as it is, we are really disappointed and we are going to have to pick up some good results away from home now to make up for it."

The Magpies head for Portsmouth next Sunday having passed up a glorious opportunity to haul themselves clear of the relegation zone.