Newcastle 0 Chelsea 2: Hiddink's masters highlight Shear task of reviving the Toon

St James' Park was bathed in spring sunshine, Sir Bobby Robson and Paul Gascoigne were back in town and throughout the city centre black-and-white striped shirts were sported in defiant hope. It was like a gathering of the clans and in these circumstances this stadium is as inspiring as any, towering above players, fans and the city of Newcastle itself.

And yet Newcastle United FC must begin acquainting themselves with the prospect of relegation to the Championship. Alan Shearer, it transpires, cannot produce instant makeovers of poor players or craft immediate victories from a failing team.

Games at fellow strugglers Stoke and Tottenham and against Portsmouth back here in the next three weeks will likely decide the issue, but for now Newcastle remain three points adrift of safety with just seven games to play.

'It was always a hard task and it still is,' said Shearer. 'There are seven games now instead of eight but I'm optimistic. I'm confident and, more importantly, my players are confident that we can avoid the drop.

'One game is a hell of a long time in football and we have seven left. Results have gone against us today but we already knew we were in a fight.'

It was almost inevitable that the anticipation which preceded the match would exceed the event itself, but no one quite expected as tame a surrender as this, even though Shearer had done his best to temper the understandable excitement.

Though he was last of all the coaching staff and players to emerge from the tunnel to a predictable roar from the stands, there was to be no indulging the cult of the local hero, despite the musical prompt.

He was submerged by photographers but made no effort to fight his way out to acknowledge the crowd, nor was he tempted to encroach on to the pitch for a cursory wave.

Even when he did first emerge from the dugout after 11 minutes to roar instructions to his team, he still declined to respond to the chorus requesting a wave. The louder they roared his name, the more intensely his steely eyes focused on the match in hand. 'I was determined to keep it as low key as possible,' he acknowledged. 'I'll try to do anything to deflect it away from me.'

Early on, he laughed and joked with the linesman and fourth officonfidencecial, yet soon he wore the creased frown of frustration. Free-kicks had been wasted by Ryan Taylor, chances spurned by Obafemi Martins, possession ceded and defence abandoned.

There was no shortage of endeavour, yet there is more than a lack of at Newcastle; there is a scarcity of quality.

Granted, Newcastle were unfortunate to lose Peter Lovenkrands on 44 minutes to a back injury that saw him rushed to hospital with breathing difficulties. Happily, he had stabilisedby the final whistle but his departure was a heavy blow.

Lost amid all this was a revival of sorts, but not the one the faithful had come to witness.

Chelsea recovered some of the ground they had lost when losing to Tottenham two weeks ago and now stand again on the threshold of the title race. 'Now we regret even more the points we lost at Spurs, but until it is over we will keep fighting and putting pressure on both of the teams at the top,' said Guus Hiddink.

The visitors' break came on 55 minutes and Fabricio Coloccini's defending could not have been worse. It was his poor clearance that allowed Chelsea to launch their attack. Then, as he stooped to clear again, he dithered and touched the ball towards Steve Harper, allowing Nicolas Anelka to pounce.

Harper bravely deflected that shot but it looped upwards and on to the bar before falling kindly on to the head of Frank Lampard, who nodded home from a few yards out. Shearer turned to his bench, arms outstretched, incredulous.

Yet there was more. On 64 minutes, Newcastle's central defenders failed to deal with a goal-kick from Petr Cech. Anelka won the header and Lampard touched the ball to the onrushing Florent Malouda, who finished calmly from eight yards out.

Only briefly were the home fans animated thereafter, when Owen weaved his way through the penalty are and unleashed a shot which deflected off John Obi Mikel. It seemed to travel well over the line before Ashley Cole hooked clear, but referee Rob Styles waved play on.

It was an injustice, yet by the end even that seemed to be a footnote and commendably Shearer acknowledged as much. 'The linesman made a mistake but that's not an excuse. He's not the reason why we lost.'

So, there was to be no heroic homecoming. As Newcastle fans know better than most, it takes more than a charismatic personality to reverse a decade of mismanagement.

NEWCASTLE (4-4-2): Harper; Taylor, Beye, Coloccini, Enrique; Gutierrez, Nolan (Guthrie 69min), Butt, Lovenkrands (Duff 44); Martins (Carroll 81), Owen. Subs (not used): Smith, Geremi, Edgar, Forster.

CHELSEA (4-3-3): Cech; Ivanovic, Alex, Terry, A Cole; Essien (Ballack 57), Mikel, Lampard; Kalou, Anelka (Di Santo 67), Malouda. Subs (not used): Carvalho, Deco, Belletti, Hilario, Mancienne.
Booked: Lampard, Mikel.

Referee: R Styles (Hampshire).

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1166342/Newcastle-0-Chelsea-2-Hiddinks-men-highlight-Shear-task-reviving-Toon.html

*something random because Shearer is a new manager* posted by bam. at 7:31 PM
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