"We did well up to a point and then we went flat, just thinking about keeping possession. Because of that, they came flooding at us, just through our negative play, thinking the game was over.

"We put a hard shift in. Our set-play routines were terrific - great service, great quality of balls into the box, they couldn't handle us in the air.

"We scored two and could have had two more really on set-play routines. The third goal was important, a spectacular acrobat's goal, and it looked like an unassailable lead at that stage.

"Their goal put a little bit of tension in the match, but we saw it out. We did all right.

"When they're getting in behind the full-backs, both Laurent and Nobby are a threat. That was the message to the pair of them against Fulham and they looked better as a result.

"The third goal was beautifully carved out between the two of them and was the goal of the game. It was an incredible finish from Laurent.

"We need good flank play and we need good delivery. Our set-pieces from all angles were excellent and great delivery was the theme of the night.

"We scored two from set-pieces and could have scored two more, but the third goal came from open play and it was a piece of spectacular acrobatic skill.

"I felt that, had Fulham collapsed at 3-0t, we could have had a big win on our hands. I suppose a three-goal lead put us in an unassailable position and we started to play as if we knew that. 

"We started to pass the ball sideways and backwards and play possession football when there was a case for dinking the ball over the top for Kieron Dyer.

"Fulham started to intercept the passes, sense their opportunity and they reaped their reward with Davis' goal. I like Chris Coleman's team very much - Steed Malbranque is a good player and we all know what Lee Clark can do on the ball.

"But I think it helped that Louis Saha wasn't playing against us. He was a big miss for my old club.

"I have no hesitation in saying (Woodgate) he will be OK for Liverpool on Saturday. I saw Sven before the game and he told me he was here to watch Woody and Kieron Dyer. I think he will have been impressed.

"I told him Jonathan is composed, calm and extremely reliable. I thought all those qualities shone through against Fulham."

"It would be easy for us to use Saha as an excuse, but he wasn't playing at the back where we lost the game. Our defence was poor which was nothing to do with Saha.

"In the last few games we just haven't been able to defend crosses and set pieces and again the defence was very poor.

"Lots of people say the system I play is very defensive but if you look at our goals scored record it's Champions League form, but our goals conceded is relegation form." 

It's an evergreen standby for an inspiration-lacking report writer to refer to an event or landmark in the vicinity of the game they're describing and then attempt to clumsily bolt on a few lame metaphors to pad out their musings.

Consequently the beginning of our new year run of form at Southampton saw football scribes come over all nautical when mentioning the luxurious Queen Mary 2 liner at anchor in the city, as we went full steam ahead, crashing through the waves of Saints defenders. Or something like that.

So, avoiding the metro strike, tonight's North vs South encounter had another counter attraction in toon, namely the corpulent chanter Meatloaf down the hill at the arena. Now that's hardly comparable to the 1997 Barcelona versus Oasis summit meeting, but no doubt the clash of the rearranged gig and game caused heartache for one or two. Or headaches in the case of dandruff wavers.

But for those rock opera devotees who opted for the performance on Barrack Road, Coleman's depleted legion provided an adequate substitute for the man known as Marvin Lee Aday to his family. And vegetarians. Probably.

As expected, the departure of Saha to Old Trafford was not so much rushed as more akin to A Bat out of Hell (Will you need me, will you love me forever? Non). And in Saha's absence his soon-to-be-former team mates ended up emulating Meatloaf for much of the match, building up a sweat for no apparent reason....

We merely contented ourselves with another win and one more card-free night, while conceding our first goal of 2004. Well, two outta three ain't bad.....

Enough of such overblown fripperies and it's a comparative pleasure to be able to have a little moan about Newcastle switching into coasting mode after forging ahead against apparently compatible opposition, at least according to the league table.

We started in a similar fettle to the opening moments of the Leeds game and our early burst once more brought almost instant reward with a rare goal from O'Brien, taken with a Sheareresque pivot and finish.

And unlike the recent visit of the Yorkshire strugglers, on this occasion we stuck to the task long enough to grab a crucial second goal, by which time the Cottagers seemed resigned to their fate.

In between we saw some good initial chasing and harrying from Dyer, a couple of adventurous shooting moments from Robert and some crossing of varying standard that could all have combined to bury Chris Coleman's depressed side before the break.

Speed's close-range header though set the seal on a first half that unfolded in predictable fashion, the visitors lacking belief or an attacking focus in the absence of you-know-who, a fact the meagre travelling contingent had obviously also anticipated, almost without exception opting to suffer second-hand from armchairs or barstools.

Equally expected was that referee Barry managed to annoy both teams by indulging in his usual game of missing the blatantly obvious tug, lunge or foul while being capable of picking up and penalising the merest triviality from the opposite end of the field. In our particular case this afforded Fulham licence to deal with Shearer in any way they saw fit, while Barry apparently followed the TV sports announcer's time-honoured instruction to "look away now".

Rather more unforeseen however was the fact that our opener came from a defender and that Shearer never really had a clear sight of goal. That was in contrast to Bernard (diving header just wide) and Robert (two first-half angled exocets and a second half goal of baffling geometry and brilliant execution.)

Enough to beat Fulham then with something to spare, but with the visitors on the ropes at 0-3 and over a third of the game left, it looked as if this could end up in an eye-catching scoreline - albeit one that didn't require the use of words in the scoreline on the teleprinter....

In the event, Lee Clark and co. staged something of a late recovery as we prevaricated and failed to persist in the pressing game that had earlier propelled us into the comfort zone.

How different things would have been had Chris Coleman still been able to call on Saha is obviously a matter for conjecture, but as the downcast former colleague of Gary Speed correctly said, Little Louis was never known for his defensive work.

Some more recruits and a player with more of a forward presence than Boa Morte could have made this more of a competitive match and seen Woodgate's fitness tested rather more than it ultimately was.

For the watching England Manager though, the defender's display will have been a heartening antidote to the trials and tribulations of Rio.

Rather less eye-catching though were the overall contributions of Dyer and Jenas, the former who looked in irresistible form early on but faded badly and the latter who seems perhaps jaded and in need of some rotational relief.

With the score at 3-0 and home fans and players apparently starting to doze off, Sir Bobby looked to brighten things up with a bit of three-off-the-bench action.

However before he could do so, Fulham managed to get one back and it took another ten minutes of deliberation before the changes were made and the younger generation got a brief outing.

Even then though, Robson was unwilling to rest Speed in case of self-inflicted disasters and instead chose to bring off Robert and a dischuffed Alan Shearer. It need hardly be written that the Peruvian was also removed while Jenas remained - perhaps it's in his contract?

The final action of the night though was to fall to a former toon player, as Lee Clark took centre stage after the final whistle to applaud the departing home fans. While the gesture was undoubtedly sincere, it was seem a little forced and caused at least one person within earshot to ask if he was in fact retiring.

Perhaps he wanted to get one more Geordie ovation before going back to the mackems? No, to return to the Meatloaf theme, he'd do anything for love but he won't do that.....

2004 continues on a positive note then and we can now travel to Anfield on the back of not only that confidence-boosting hard-fought draw at Old Trafford but also with this win and the welcome spread of goals through the side.

In a league where most teams appear capable of beating each other (except for Arsenal) we profited in this game from Fulham's recent loss as well as from our own endeavours. It won't always be this easy though.