Regardless what Joey Barton said at the weekend, the Toon fans never expect "the Earth", but they DO expect their team to go down fighting.
Losing to Liverpool is no disgrace, but losing with a gutless performance that stemmed from the manager saying "you don't attack Liverpool ... it is suicide!" ... now THAT is what upset the supporters.
We are Newcastle United playing at St James' Park ... and you don't send a team out with instructions to "brace yourself and expect the worst"!
Alan Smith: "The fans were unreal at Blackburn - people go on about the Newcastle support but you don't grip it until you're playing for them.
"If we go out and give 100% like that, they'll back us to the hilt.
"We wanted to make sure we played with passion and pride, and everyone saw the reaction from the fans at the end. We gave everything we had and I hope that they'll get behind us again against Arsenal (during Wednesday's daunting fixture).
Smith Wants To See Ewood 'Fight' On Wednesday!
"People can accept defeats, it's about the manner of them. Everyone could see the improvement at Blackburn and that's a big thing for us.
"It was a different Newcastle United to the one that played against Liverpool - that's the one people want to see.
"It was a different Newcastle United to the one that played against Liverpool - that's the one people want to see.
"No one likes losing. But playing like that - showing the commitment that we did and having everyone scrapping together - is what is needed. The fans sang us off at the end. That's unreal.
"We deserved to be booed last weekend.
"Football fans understand when a side has given 100%. Fans understand when the team deserves to be clapped off and when the team deserves a rollicking.
"It isn't nice to be beaten like that at home. But we're the ones who can put that right and to do that we'll keep working hard and playing good football like we did at Blackburn.
"We've all got to stick together when results aren't going right and we've shown that we can do that. If we can go out at St James's with everyone behind us and put in a performance like that, we'll not go far wrong."