[sportsfan2006]

By Tim Robertson
Inspin.com/WagerWeb.com Contributing Writer

On Tuesday, everything was looking up for Newcastle.

They were over the worst of a savage injury list which robbed them of virtually the entire first team for several months.

They were riding high after coming from behind to beat Tottenham away over the weekend, thanks in part to a stunning goal from Obafemi Martins.

And they were looking forward to an FA Cup third-round replay at home to Birmingham -- a game they were overwhelming favourites for.

Fast forward to Wednesday evening, and it all came crashing down as Newcastle were torn to shreds in a 5-1 defeat to their Championship opponents.

Birmingham were ahead in the opening five minutes, and Newcastle never offered a hint that they were going to turn it around.

Magpies boss Glenn Roeder, so glowing in his praise of his squad in the days leading up to the game, was as stunned as anyone after the game.

"I apologize to the fans," he said. "I think apologies are due after such a lack of performance from everybody. I certainly had no indication there was going to be a performance like that -- this was the same 11 players who beat Tottenham on Sunday.

"We never got going all night and in the end we have been badly punished. It was just a rank bad performance and a humiliating defeat at home."

The rapid change in fortunes summarizes Newcastleʼs inconsistent season so far.

Whenever things have seemed at their worst -- such as their grim run of results in October -- something has come along like the impressive 1-0 UEFA Cup win at Palermo to lift the gloom.

Whenever things are going well -- see the rapid rise up the table in December -- the balloon has been just as quickly burst, as happened in the 3-0 loss to Everton.

Roeder, an unlikely man to fill the Newcastle hot seat -- few chairmen are as trigger happy as Freddy Shepherd -- has done well to keep on an even keel through the chaos, and he wonʼt panic after this defeat -- which may even help his small squad in the long run by reducing the fixture congestion.

But he knows there is much work still to be done.

Inept defending cost Newcastle dear on Wednesday, as has so often been the case in the league. It is the area where the injury problems still run the deepest, and where the squad is too short on quality even when fully fit.
Roeder said after the Spurs game that he would not swap goalkeeper Shay Given for any other custodian in the Premiership, but that sentiment is of no use to anyone if the Irish international is not afforded some basic protection.

Given would probably swap his defence for anyone but equally inept West Ham right now.

Good news then that it is the hapless Hammers who are due at St. Jamesʼ Park on Saturday.

Even coming off the humiliating loss, Newcastle should be backed to beat Alan Curbishleyʼs side.

The manager will demand a response from his team and should get it against his former team.

West Ham remain one of three teams -- the bottom three, in fact -- yet to win away, which is the quickest explanation as to why WagerWeb.com offers them as outsiders at +333.

It will be all doom and gloom in Newcastle on Thursday morning on the back of a stunning defeat, but Saturday is a whole new day. What a difference one of those can make.



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