Limp Newcastle go down with a whimper

Alan Shearer’s attempt to rescue Newcastle from relegation ended in failure on Sunday as Damien Duff’s own goal sentenced them to a 1-0 defeat and Championship football next season.

Shearer’s side capitulated without the kind of fight he was known for during his illustrious playing career and their 16-year stay in the top flight ended with a whimper.

Villa have been abject over the last few months themselves, with only five other Premier League club’s with a worse home record and they had won just once in their last 15 games.

But Newcastle were simply not good enough to exploit the fragility of Martin O?Neill’s side and looked very inch a Championship team.

Seven years ago Newcastle were in Europe with Bobby Robson and Shearer was scoring five goals in an 8-0 victory over Sheffield Wednesday, now the potential for a Leeds United-style slide down the leagues is all too evident.

Shearer will meet with owner Mike Ashley this week and announce whether he will be getting his map book out to find a route to Scunthorpe United next season.

He is believed to have already made his mind up to remain in the job, following his eight game caretaker spell.

The suggestion is that the former England international has been bitten by the managerial bug, despite the turmoil that has been raging around St James’ Park since the departure of Kevin Keegan earlier this season.

He knows the workload will be immense if he is to transform the shambles he inherited when he chose to swap the pundit’s sofa for the role of hauling Newcastle out of English football’s second tier.

Off the field they have been truly dreadful and on it they have been little better – never more so at Villa Park.

With Ashley unable to find new owners and fresh investment and an ageing squad with little sell on value the potential do emulate the shocking demise of League One Leeds is all too evident.

No fewer than 15 members of Shearer’s squad are earning in excess of 50,000 pounds-a-week and none have relegation linked wage cuts written into their contracts.

Duff will be one of those as he was handed a five-year contract when he moved from Chelsea for five million pounds back in 2006 and it was his own goal that deflated Newcastle’s fans seven minutes before half-time.

His decision to thrust a leg at Gareth Barry?s wayward shot from 25-yards created a vicious deflection that totally wrong-footed Steve Harper and Shearer could only watch, face contorted in disbelief as the ball crept over the line.

Newcastle finally lost their top-flight status at Villa Park, but their demise can be traced back over seasons of gradual decline.

They only have themselves to blame and they will reflect on numerous missed chances here.

Michael Owen was left sitting on the bench for 66 minutes and had to watch Steven Taylor have one shot cleared off the line by Carlos Cuellar.

Obafemi Martins volleyed over the bar and Duff himself almost surprised Brad Friedel with a shot through a thicket of legs, before the American reacted late to push the ball away.

Only John Carew’s dreadful finishing prevented a more comprehensive defeat and the fact that Friedel did not have a single shot to save in the second half, despite Shearer going for broke underlines the spinless nature of Newcastle’s fight to stay alive.

The sight of David Edgar being sent off in stoppage time for a second bookable offence merely added insult to terrible injury.