Shearer defiant as Newcastle reach crossroads

AFTER a season having their emotions heartlessly toyed with, did any Newcastle supporter seriously expect anything other than the agony being prolonged until the last possible moment?

Rather aptly for a winding road of a season packed with twists and turns, Villa Park, a venue next to Spaghetti Junction, will play host to Sunday’s final chapter.

‘Crossroads’, the Birmingham-based TV drama, may have bitten the dust a few years back, but the second city will witness the culmination of a footballing drama that beats any soap opera for far-fetched plot-lines and outlandish characters.

“I said all along it would go to the last day,” said Alan Shearer after watching his side redefine the term ‘after the Lord Mayor’s show’ as Monday’s passion-soaked victory over Middlesbrough was replaced by a largely insipid display against a Fulham side motoring along nicely towards Europe.

Hull’s point at Bolton meant Newcastle’s escape from the bottom three was more like day-release.

“It’s not over yet,” Shearer insisted. “The stakes are massive and it will be a long afternoon on Sunday.”

Some 150 miles north, the interim manager will be able to gauge the strength of a 17-year grudge held by Alex Ferguson, scorned twice when attempting to sign Shearer in the 1990s, by the nature of the Manchester United team he sends out at the KC stadium.

The Champions League final 72 hours later means the Scot might have to temper any thoughts of kicking Shearer when he’s almost down by giving the nod to a largely shadow squad.

“Alex always sends out a side to do his club proud,” Shearer reassured himself in the aftermath of defeat in his seventh game, from which Newcastle have taken five points. Taken over the course of a season, that equates to 27.

Luckily for Shearer, United reserves can be expected to beat Hull, meaning that, thanks to their superior goal difference, a point at Villa Park should prove sufficient to survive. It sounds easy, apart from the fact that in their last five road trips, they have gathered two points.

Villa showed in virtually condemning Middlesbrough to relegation at the weekend that they harbour little sentiment towards anyone at the bottom, meaning Newcastle will have to eke out something at Villa Park to cash in on any favour handed out by Manchester United on the banks of the River Humber.

To do that, they will have to play immeasurably better than they did against Fulham, who racked up their highest Premier League points total – 53 – courtesy of Diomansy Kamara’s fourth goal of the season just before the interval, the forward left with a simple finish after Newcastle’s cack-handed efforts at playing offside were easily out-manoeuvred by Danny Murphy and Erik Nevland.

Shearer made much of Howard Webb disallowing Mark Viduka’s second-half header because of Kevin Nolan’s inconsequential tussle with goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer at Danny Guthrie’s corner, but the midfielder got away with a far more blatant block in the lead-up to Newcastle’s first goal against Middlesbrough. The new manager is quickly learning that things tend to even themselves out in this game. What goes around comes around, and Shearer knew better than to take issue with Sebastien Bassong’s deserved red card for tripping Kamara’s run on goal to rule the defender out on Sunday.

A similar fate is almost certain to befall Michael Owen, omitted on Saturday due to his dodgy groin and unlikely to don a Newcastle shirt in anger again before his imminent departure in the summer, a suitably low-key end to a four-year marriage of convenience that was doomed from the start.

Owen’s replacement, the clearly unfit Oba Martins, struck a post, while Viduka had another effort cleared off the line by Dickson Etuhu.

Schwarzer – largely unemployed for the first 78 minutes – was called on to save brilliantly from Martins and Nicky Butt in a breathless denouement, but Fulham were good value for their third away victory of the season, one which leaves them a point shy of qualifying for Europe 12 months after escaping relegation with a final day victory at Portsmouth.

How Newcastle would love to be able to complete such a remarkable turn-around in fortunes.

REFEREE: Howard Webb (Yorkshire) 7: Justified in cancelling out Viduka’s effort and spot-on for the sending off. A good day’s work by the Yorkshireman, whatever Alan Shearer may think.

MATCH RATING: *** Enough action to make it watchable without ever being a classic, hardly surprising considering Newcastle’s current predicament.