Newcastle 2-2 Stoke: Michael Owen double not enough to secure win

Interest rates are certainly plunging on Tyneside. Two wins in 10 games under Joe Kinnear and just 12 points from 30 has left a region fed up and fearful of the future.

Kinnear wants a £12million stimulus in January, but does not want to sell players. Well, let's do some number-crunching and work out the chances of that happening.

Since billionaire Ashley took over, United's net spend is only around £11m - through three transfer windows.

No one saw the problem of a weak squad, did they? Well, no one apart from Kevin Keegan, Sam Allardyce before him, and every paying punter at St James' Park.

On Saturday, Newcastle had five first-teamers (Nicky Butt, Joey Barton, Alan Smith and Damien Duff, plus Danny Guthrie during the game) injured, and their unbalanced and threadbare squad failed miserably to cope with Stoke's second-half comeback.

By the end of the match, Kinnear had shuffled his remaining bodies and come up with a formation that had four players out of position - defender Habib Beye on the right wing, defender Claudio Cacapa in midfield, winger Jonas Gutierrez as the central playmaker, and Steven Taylor at right-back.

Here is what No Show Joe had to say about the latest injury-time disaster, when Abdoulaye Faye's equaliser robbed Toon of a victory that had looked certain when they raced into a 2-0 lead. Kinnear said: " "

That's right. Nothing. Straight out of the Ashley school of communication.

For the second consecutive game, and the third time in 10 games in charge, JFK failed to give any analysis or answer questions about a performance that had 47,000 fanatics trudging home gutted and wondering what their manager made of it all.

Top-level management is about keeping a cool head and seeing through the fog of adversity. A carefully chosen word here and a candid explanation there can win friends and influence fans.

A good sound-bite can offer much-needed perspective and change the mood for the better, even in the circumstances that prevail at St James' Park this season.

But once again Kinnear, facing frustration, allowed the red mist to descend.

Sent off for disputing the lastgasp free-kick that led to Faye's goal, Kinnear will soon be on first-name terms with the FA's disciplinary panel.

He is off there to contest a misconduct charge for describing ref Martin Atkinson as Mickey Mouse last month, having already been warned about his ranting at reporters. Now he is on a hat-trick and facing yet another touchline ban.

This should have been a cruise to victory after Michael Owen took his tally for the season to eight goals in nine starts with a double in the first half.

But Stoke gave themselves a lifeline when Mamady Sidibe scored, and then United old boy Faye levelled after a free-kick harshly awarded against Sebastien Bassong.

Stoke boss Tony Pulis was predictably delighted with the second-half turnaround and said: "It was just a few choice words at half-time. I didn't go really mad at them but it probably shook a few of them up.

"It was the first time this season that I've really got stuck into one or two. It drew a great response. Sometimes you get that and sometimes you don't.

"The second half, that's us. That's how we play at our place. Togetherness and commitment."

Newcastle: Given 6, Beye 6, Coloccini 6, Bassong 6, Jose Enrique 6, N'Zogbia 7, Geremi 6 (Cacapa 82), Guthrie 6 (Taylor 46, 6), Gutierrez 6, Owen 7, Martins 7 (Viduka 74, 6).

Goals: Owen 8, 24.

Stoke: Sorensen 6, Griffin 6, Sonko 6, Abdoulaye Faye 7, Higginbotham 6, Delap 6 (Fuller 57, 7), Amdy Faye 6 (Tonge 78), Diao 6 (Whelan 21, 7), Pugh 6, Cresswell 6, Sidibe 7.

Goals: Sidibe 60, Abdoulaye Faye 90.

Referee: Mike Riley ATTENDANCE: 47,42

MAN OF THE MATCH: Abdoulaye Faye (STOKE) - Last-gasp winner was his third scoring chance

VILLAIN OF THE MATCH: Fabrizio Coloccini (NEWCASTLE) - Poor marking and sloppy defending after the break

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