It was a strange match, to say the least, and certainly not the welcoming party Damien Duff had hoped for. Winning at Carrow Road is one thing, but taking on Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven was a different "kettle of tuna". OK, it's only a pre-season friendly, but when PSV took a three-goal lead there were a few disgruntled Toon fans wondering what the hell the new campaign is going to bring.
But Newcastle did force a spirited fightback that resulted in goals from Shola Ameobi and Albert Luque, but the equaliser didn't come.
New signing Damien Duff showed flashes of brilliance on his Newcastle debut, but by the time the £5million former Chelsea winger was replaced by Luque in the 60th minute, the home side were staring at a heavy defeat.
They had fallen behind to Jefferson Farfan's close-range finish in the 16th minute, which came seconds after Shay Given made a fine save from Mika Väyrynen.
Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink extended PSV's lead after 41 minutes as he converted Michael Lamey's cross, and then Arouna Kone created the chance which Jason Culina capitalised on five minutes after half-time.
Emre had a shot cleared off the line before Ameobi headed a cross from James Milner beyond goalkeeper Oscar Moens in the 68th minute.
Ameobi then won the penalty from which Luque scored, going down under a challenge from Eric Addo. Spaniard Luque sent Moens the wrong way from 12 yards.
Newcastle then had chances to draw level, with Stephen Carr and Scott Parker both threatening from outside the penalty area before Milner spurned a late opportunity. We need a class striker (or two) ... but I feel you know that already!