You have to say that Newcastle United players let more than themselves down at Villa Park.
There was always a chance that it is was going to be Villa’s day with newly installed tycoon Randy Lerner sat in the stands for the first time.
And then there was Villa hero and lynchpin Gareth Barry also on a high after penning a new deal at the start of a new era under Martin O’ Neill.
But the fact is Villa are still a poor side and United should have more than a 2-0 defeat to be mulling over during the international break.
And as Cleveland Browns chief Lerner will find out - Villa Park won't always be this full or as noisy without the Toon Army in place.
Where were Newcastle United yesterday though?
Turning up at Villa less than an hour before the kick-off certainly didn’t help United after getting stuck in traffic.
And from the minute the first whistle sounded things just got worse.
They were 1-0 down inside two minutes, Emre could have been sent off after clashing with Gavin McCann, Nobby Solano and James Milner endured miserable returns to Villa and just when United thought they were on top, they were hit with a sucker punch from Juan Pablo Angel.
Yet there can be no excuses, United’s players let their huge travelling army down and their manager.
Even debutant Oba Martins failed to provide some much needed spark in attack and ended the day stretchered off.
It could have been worse but in the end it turned out to be a dead leg and Martins did not look in too much pain as he boarded the team bus afterwards.
In the end it was sloppy defending and failure to convert chances in the final third that cost United, on a day when they had enjoyed plenty of possession.
The defeat isn’t the end of the world though.
Martins, like new signings at any club, will need to time to settle and patience is certainly the word.
And there are foundations in place at Newcastle to have a good season.
Albert Luque on the other hand is different story, his second half substitute appearance brought little or nothing to the team when they needed some inspiration.
Did the £9.5million man break into a sweat?
His performance must have had the huge travelling support tearing their hair out with his feeble backheel early in the second half summing up his contribution.
Others did have an off day but the majority of the side are the team that hadn’t tasted a defeat in the previous 12 games, and I for one would be more than happy if we only lost once in every dozen competitive games.
To be fair to Villa they took their chances and then defended like their lives depended on it.
But as much as the performance will have hurt Roeder and the travelling Geordie support, Newcastle already owe the boss and the fans a good show in their next game against Fulham after the international break.
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