Toon Set To Put The Record Straight Against Blackburn!
Last updated : 26 September 2008 By Footy Mad - Editor
Not only have Newcastle lost the last three fixtures against Rovers at home, but we have failed to score in any of them.
O'Brien scored the third in a 3-0 win four years ago, and only Shay Given and Shola Ameobi remain from that team.
Given, Carr, O'Brien, Hughes, Elliott, Dyer (Milner 88), Jenas, Bowyer, Robert (N'Zogbia 90), Shearer, Bellamy (Ameobi 77).
NEWCASTLE v BLACKBURN - THE PREMIERSHIP YEARS!
2007/2008 Sat 01 Mar Newcastle Utd. 0 - 1 Blackburn R. Premier League
Sat 01 Dec Blackburn R. 3 - 1 Newcastle Utd. Premier League
2006/2007 Sat 05 May Newcastle Utd. 0 - 2 Blackburn R. Premiership
Sat 09 Dec Blackburn R. 1 - 3 Newcastle Utd. Premiership
2005/2006 Sat 21 Jan Newcastle Utd. 0 - 1 Blackburn R. Premiership
Sun 18 Sep Blackburn R. 0 - 3 Newcastle Utd. Premiership
2004/2005 Sun 26 Dec Blackburn R. 2 - 2 Newcastle Utd. Premiership
Sat 11 Sep Newcastle Utd. 3 - 0 Blackburn R. Premiership
2003/2004 Wed 11 Feb Blackburn R. 1 - 1 Newcastle Utd. Premiership
Sun 28 Dec Newcastle Utd. 0 - 1 Blackburn R. Premiership
2002/2003 Sat 22 Mar Newcastle Utd. 5 - 1 Blackburn R. Premiership
Sat 19 Oct Blackburn R. 5 - 2 Newcastle Utd. Premiership
2001/2002 Tue 23 Apr Blackburn R. 2 - 2 Newcastle Utd. Premiership
Sat 15 Dec Newcastle Utd. 2 - 1 Blackburn R. Premiership
1999/2000 Mon 31 Jan Blackburn R. 1 - 2 Newcastle Utd. F.A. Cup
1998/1999 Sun 16 May Newcastle Utd. 1 - 1 Blackburn R. Premiership
Wed 24 Feb Blackburn R. 0 - 1 Newcastle Utd. F.A. Cup
Sun 14 Feb Newcastle Utd. 0 - 0 Blackburn R. F.A. Cup
Sat 12 Dec Blackburn R. 0 - 0 Newcastle Utd. Premiership
Wed 11 Nov Newcastle Utd. 1 - 1 Blackburn R. League Cup
after extra time, 90 minutes 1-1, Blackburn Rovers won 4-2 on penalties
1997/1998 Sun 10 May Blackburn R. 1 - 0 Newcastle Utd. Premiership
Sat 25 Oct Newcastle Utd. 1 - 1 Blackburn R. Premiership
1996/1997 Thu 26 Dec Blackburn R. 1 - 0 Newcastle Utd. Premiership
Sat 14 Sep Newcastle Utd. 2 - 1 Blackburn R. Premiership
1995/1996 Mon 08 Apr Blackburn R. 2 - 1 Newcastle Utd. Premiership
Wed 08 Nov Newcastle Utd. 1 - 0 Blackburn R. Premiership
1994/1995 Mon 08 May Blackburn R. 1 - 0 Newcastle Utd. Premiership
Wed 18 Jan Blackburn R. 1 - 2 Newcastle Utd. F.A. Cup
Sun 08 Jan Newcastle Utd. 1 - 1 Blackburn R. F.A. Cup
Sun 09 Oct Newcastle Utd. 1 - 1 Blackburn R. Premiership
1993/1994 Sat 19 Feb Blackburn R. 1 - 0 Newcastle Utd. Premiership
Sun 29 Aug Newcastle Utd. 1 - 1 Blackburn R. Premiership
BLACKBURN'S LAST THREE VISITS TO ST JAMES' PARK ...2007/8 NEWCASTLE UTD 0 BLACKBURN 1 Harper, Beye, Taylor, Faye, Jose Enrique, Milner,Barton, Butt (Martins 67), Duff (N'Zogbia 78), Owen, Smith.
Subs Not Used: Forster, Cacapa, Carroll.
Blackburn substitute Matt Derbyshire plunged Newcastle deep into relegation trouble with a last-minute winner at St James' Park.
The striker fired past goalkeeper Steve Harper with just seconds of remaining as the Magpies were made to pay for missed opportunities.
On another day, England striker Michael Owen might have claimed a hat-trick, but having missed the target after rounding Rovers keeper Brad Friedel 10 minutes before the break, he was twice denied by the American in the second half.
Manager Kevin Keegan has now gone seven matches without a victory and his side have won none of their last 11 Premier League fixtures.
There were both boos and applause on the final whistle as the home fans among a crowd of 50,796 acknowledged the efforts of the players, but bemoaned their inability to make the pressure tell with the fight for survival now firmly on.
Confidence has been the watchword on Tyneside all week in the wake of last Saturday's 5-1 humiliation by champions Manchester United at St James' Park.
Both Keegan and skipper Owen had spoken of the lack of that vital commodity within the dressing room, but both were convinced one good performance would bring it flooding back.
For half an hour or so, the Magpies looked to have shaken off the traumatic effects of what happened seven days ago, and with a little more fortune could have found themselves enjoying a rare lead at the break.
In the event, some nervous finishing and a sizeable portion of brave defending sent the two sides in at the break level, although Owen for one will have left the pitch wondering just how that was the case.
The England striker endured a quiet start to the game as Damien Duff saw a third-minute shot deflected inches wide by Rovers skipper Andre Ooijer and Alan Smith powered a header just over in the ninth minute.
But he burst into life in the 21st minute, cutting inside from the right wing to find Duff, who took longer than he might have to set himself and allowed Morten Gamst Pedersen to get in a block.
However, Owen's big moment arrived 10 minutes before half-time when he ran on to Joey Barton's pass to go around Friedel, only to shoot wide of the far post as the cover got back.
Rovers, for whom Ooijer had earlier shot wide on the turn, took that as their cue to step up the hunt for the opening goal, and they might have got it twice within seconds as the half drew to a close.
First Zurab Khizanishvili glanced a David Bentley corner across the face of goal, but it was Ooijer who perhaps should have made the breakthrough in injury time.
It was Newcastle's good fortune that Roque Santa Cruz's neat knock-down fell to the defender in acres of space inside the box, but there was no element of luck about Harper's charge from his line to block.
The home side were careless in possession as the second half got under way, although it was Steven Reid who was caught on the ball by Nicky Butt in the 50th minute to allow Duff to force Khizanishvili into a hurried clearance.
However, hearts were in mouths at the other end of the pitch seconds later when Steven Taylor's error handed Santa Cruz a golden opportunity, although the Paraguayan could only blast his shot high over the top.
Smith might have broken the deadlock in the 53rd minute but dragged his shot wide of the far post, and it took a fine reaction save from Friedel to keep out Owen's bullet-header three minutes later.
The American distinguished himself once again with 61 minutes gone when he managed to get a foot to Owen's shot after the striker had run on to another Barton pass.
Keegan made his move when he replaced Butt with striker Obafemi Martins, handing him a first appearance for his club since January 2, but it was Milner who forced another save from Friedel 13 minutes from time.
Rovers almost snatched victory three minutes from the end when Harper had to block Santa Cruz's effort, but the reprieve was only temporary for the home side.
As Newcastle committed men to the search for a winner, Bentley played Derbyshire into acres of space and the substitute finished with ease to pile on the misery for Keegan.
2006/7 NEWCASTLE UTD 0 BLACKBURN 2
Harper, Solano, Onyewu, Bramble (Ramage 70), Carr,Dyer (Ameobi 70), Parker, Butt, Milner, Owen, Martins.
Subs Not Used: Srnicek, N'Zogbia, Carroll.
Blackburn kept their UEFA Cup dreams alive as they made light of Michael Owen's presence to condemn Newcastle to a woeful home defeat.
Benni McCarthy's 22nd goal of the season and Jason Roberts' 73rd-minute strike were more than enough to claim the points as the Magpies imploded in their final home game of the campaign with Owen passing up both the chances which came his way.
Too often boos have rung out around St James' Park this season, and the cacophony which greeted the final whistle heaped further pressure on beleaguered manager Glenn Roeder, whose hopes of dispelling the speculation surround Sam Allardyce and his future were dashed in comprehensive style.
The Magpies, who have won just one of their last 10 Barclays Premiership games and scored only three goals, can no longer reach the Intertoto Cup and now face a bloody inquest with chairman Freddy Shepherd far from amused in his seat in the directors' box.
By contrast, Rovers head into the final week of the season dreaming of Europe after a deserved victory on Tyneside.
Owen's return - he last played at St James' on December 10, 2005 - had given the black and white faithful hope of a positive finish to a poor season, but it was the same old story for Roeder's sorry troops.
Where Tugay's creativity and the movement of McCarthy and strike partner Roberts caused the home side problems at regular intervals, the Magpies were disjointed in the middle of the park and, despite the presence of their £17million man, toothless in attack.
With Titus Bramble criminally wasteful in possession at the back and he and Oguchi Onyewu, a replacement for the injured Steven Taylor, looking painfully inadequate in their battle with Rovers' front two, it was a frustrating opening 45 minutes for the Toon Army.
It might have been very different had Kieron Dyer's fifth-minute header from a Stephen Carr cross not been turned around the post by Brad Friedel, or had any of the flurry of chances which came their way in the closing stages of the half been converted.
Ryan Nelsen got in a vital challenge to prevent Owen from firing home from Scott Parker's flick-on after 40 minutes, but the Newcastle captain should have done better seconds later when the striker returned the favour only for him to scuff his effort straight at Brad Friedel.
The American then turned away James Milner's curling free-kick, but he should have been beaten on the stroke of half-time when, after he could only punch Nolberto Solano's driven cross to Owen, the England international drilled his shot high over.
But in the meantime, the visitors had taken the lead in controversial circumstances when McCarthy got the benefit of a marginal offside decision - he looked yards offside at full speed - to thump Stephen Warnock's 14th-minute cross past Steve Harper.
Shay Given's deputy kept his side in it with a fine save from Morten Gamst Pedersen 11 minutes before the break after Bentley had skipped past Carr and Milner to cross from the right, and Rovers had a goal correctly ruled out for offside seconds later with Roeder's men in disarray at the back.
Newcastle returned in determined mood and Parker found himself in the thick of the action during the opening minutes of the half, first just failing to reach Owen's flick-on and then seeing Milner's driven cross cannon off him and drop wide of the target.
As they pushed for the equaliser, the home side left gaps at the back and they were fortunate to escape on 53 minutes when McCarthy and Bentley combined to play Roberts in, only for an offside flag to wrongly halt his progress.
Having seen too little of the ball previously, Owen turned provider, outstripping Nelsen on the left before lifting his cross high over the arriving support.
Rovers should have taken advantage after 59 minutes when the unmarked Pedersen dragged his left-footed shot across the face of goal, but with Milner making an impact once again, the Magpies were establishing a momentum.
They might have levelled after 69 minutes when Owen, who had seconds earlier had claims for a penalty for a trip by Samba waved away, rounded Friedel, but saw his shot from a tight angle headed off the line by the Congo international.
Roeder introduced Shola Ameobi and Peter Ramage for Dyer and Bramble on 70 minutes, but the game was over when Roberts was handed the simplest of tasks by Bentley to head past Harper.
The life went out of Newcastle and although Martins fired across the face of goal five minutes from time, the game - like their season - was long gone.
2005/6 NEWCASTLE UTD 0 BLACKBURN 1
Given, Ramage, Bramble, Boumsong, Babayaro, Solano, Bowyer, Clark, Luque (O'Brien 62), Shearer, Chopra.
Subs Not Used: Harper, Elliott, N'Zogbia, Brittain.
Newcastle boss Graeme Souness was plunged further into crisis when a controversial Morten Gamst Pedersen goal handed former club Blackburn all three points at St James' Park.
The Norwegian appeared to punch the ball into the net with his left hand as he attempted to turn Shefki Kuqi's 74th-minute header home, but referee Howard Webb saw nothing wrong and awarded the goal.
Until that point, the home side had looked the more likely winners and went close through Albert Luque, Alan Shearer, Lee Bowyer and Celestine Babayaro, but their luck deserted them once again as they slipped to their fourth defeat in five Barclays Premiership games to leave chairman Freddy Shepherd stone-faced and Souness fighting for his job.
Rovers boss Mark Hughes will have been delighted with his side's battling display, but left the North-East with mixed feelings after striker Paul Dickov fractured his collarbone.
Souness may not have admitted it, but the absence of Craig Bellamy - the striker was suspended - was a welcome bonus on an afternoon when there was pressure enough without a man with something to prove determined to add to the pressure on his shoulders.
The breakdown in the relationship between the two men proved a defining moment in the manager's tenure, and one which the club's fans are still divided over.
They are divided too on whether or not the Scot should still be in the job after an injury-wrecked season to date, and with Shepherd having fired a warning shot across his bows during the week by reminding him that European qualification is still a requirement, the Toon Army turned out knowing victory over Blackburn was the only acceptable result.
Souness had endured a dreadful run of luck, but that does not fully explain some of the sub-standard displays his team have produced in recent weeks, and the fact that they played attacking and at times attractive football before the break went down well with the black and white faithful in a crowd of 51,323.
Of course, there was a certain amount of slapstick defending - it would have been comical if it were not so serious - but in the shape of keeper Shay Given, the men at the back once again found a saviour.
The game was 17 minutes old when Titus Bramble failed to cut out Pedersen's driven cross and with Jean-Alain Boumsong and Babayaro conspicuous by their absence, Dickov fired towards goal.
Given, who will have done his chances of winning a new contract little harm, somehow managed to throw himself a cross his line to claw the ball away, but notice had been served.
However, the Irishman's heroics came after opposite number Brad Friedel had already distinguished himself with a superb save to deny £9.5million signing Luque his first goal for the club with a fine seventh-minute stop.
Newcastle were as fluent as they have been in recent weeks in attack with Nolberto Solano and Luque providing width - although the Spaniard's defensive duties went largely ignored - and 22-year-old striker Michael Chopra proving an industrious foil for 35-year-old skipper Shearer, who went close with a 34th-minute effort which cleared the advancing Friedel, but dropped wide.
Bowyer drilled another effort wide under pressure after being set up by Shearer, and although Rovers threatened repeatedly through wide men Pedersen and Steven Reid with Robbie Savage providing the ammunition, there was a general feeling of optimism as the sides left the pitch at half-time.
Luque's blushes were spared by an offside flag after he headed a 47th-minute Bramble cross wide from close range, and Bowyer was similarly inaccurate after being picked out by Solano six minutes later.
By that point, Hughes had been forced to replace Dickov with Sergio Peter after the Scot had fractured his collarbone when falling awkwardly, and the momentum was increasingly with the home side.
Bowyer could not hit the target once again on 56 minutes after being set up by Solano and Shearer, but the chances were coming with greater regularity.
Shearer powered a 61st-minute header straight into Friedel's hands and then forced the keeper to save at his feet after Alan O'Brien, on for the clearly unhappy Luque, had done well down the left.
But when the opening goal arrived, it came at the other end, and in controversial circumstances.
Shefki Kuqi climbed high to head Lucas Neill's cross back across goal, and Pedersen appeared to punch it into the net with his hand, but referee Webb awarded the goal.
Babayaro's long-range piledriver four minutes later flew just wide with Friedel beaten, but as time ran down, Newcastle's desperation grew.
Newcastle piled forward in the search for an equaliser as the clock ran down and Bowyer had late claims for a penalty turned down, but the players left the pitch to calls for the manager's head on another black afternoon on Tyneside.