That this meeting of two sides both bossed by former defenders ended goalless doubtless afforded Roeder and Southgate satisfaction at some sort of mission accomplished. 

And in the absence of anything more tangible to discuss post-match, a brief bout of "my club's bigger than your club" rhetoric surfaced - just about the nearest thing to passion on show today.  

This was the third consecutive draw on Tyneside between these two sides and while last season's 2-2 was entertaining in a pantomime-like manner (with Souness as the villain), today was only a marginal improvement on the scoreless stalemate here in April 2005.

On that occasion at least we had the excuse of having just dragged our carcasses to Lisbon, Cardiff, Norwich and Manchester in an ultimately fruitless pursuit of success on three fronts.

No such pretext today though, United having had a free week to prepare for this.   

The visitors meanwhile could be partially exonerated, after continuing their interminable progress towards the FA Cup Final in midweek with yet another extra time penalty shootout. 

If they continue at their present lick, they'll meet the Olympic Marathon runners on the North Circular en route to Wembley.....

Such was the absence of malice or aggreession in the opening half that it would have come as no great shock had both sides sent word from their dressing rooms that they couldn't really be bothered to drag themselves back out for another 45 minutes.

This really was the antithesis of a passionate local derby - a drab, mid-table encounter of the type we used to endure our non-superstar Second Division days. 

In a week when Premiership ticket pricing is again a hot topic, a recording of this game should be labelled "Exhibit A" in the case for reductions at the forthcoming enquiry.

For our part, this was merely a continuation of the below-par showing that was the second half of last Sunday's matinee showing at the JJB.

And including the sterile home win over Waregem, that makes it a hat trick of fixtures in which we've encountered unadventurous, medicore sides.  

Having been given the freedom of the pitch on each occasion though, Roeder's side have struggled to establish a good tempo or rhythmic pattern to their play and totally squandered the chance offered to seize the initiative. 

There's a technical term for this: tappy-lappy. 

Too often we fail to find any space on the field (due to a lack of movement or vision to spot that movement) and instead revert to ever-decreasing circles, brainless passes and ultimately the aimless lump upfield to players who aren't playing....

Having Butt and Parker together seemingly encourages that process, while Milner and Dyer have simultaneously encountered a dropping off in form. 

With N'Zogbia feeling his way back to fitness and form, Emre still absent and Duff missing with the "virus" that sidelined Dyer last weekend, there were thin pickings in the creativity stakes.

And bereft of imagination we're also lacking in variation, with our forays down the flanks bearing little fruit in terms of decent service or crosses. Precisely what Martins is meant to do with the service provided to him and a lack of support up front is a moot point.    

Sibierski was allowed a whole twelve minutes to try and turn this one around, and failed - not being a miracle worker.

The most interesting thing about the Frenchman on Saturday proved to be a newspaper interview in which he revealed some "odd couple" style japes with Obafemi when the pair get together.

But while their comedy routine may entertain the punters in local eateries, their on-field relationship was rather less entertaining.

Arca was mocked for his mackem service, Woodgate by contrast was largely ignored by the home crowd as he got on with his work quietly and without fuss - only Given looking marginally less flustered than the former Magpie on his first return to SJP. 

Glossing over the display of Taylor at left back that was inexplicably praised and giving some credit to Nobby for some blocks on Downing that owed everything to experience, we arrive at the central pair.

Well they must have done something right, because two of the Premiership's in-form forwards failed to add to their tally. However while Bramble had a decidedly mixed afternoon, Onyewu showed some disturbingly Boumsong-like tendencies, especially with the ball at this feet.

The American does have two advantages over Boum though - he didn't cost a fortune and he can at least head the ball. 

In fairness it's hardly ideal playing a different defence every game and the former Standard Leige player is trying to adapt to an alien league when he's forced to sit out almost every other game.   

The sponsor's Man of the Match went to Parker for his missed shot and late saved header, but it might as well have been given to the man who marked out the lines for all the value the trinket is.

A clean sheet on Thursday would be a decent launching point to success in Europe, but AZ will doubtless make a more positive contribution to proceedings than the smoggies - which doesn't bode particularly well, given our recent downturn.

The suspicion is that we have to raise our game against a confident in-form outfit if we're to progress beyond this point.  High time then for a few people to justify their reputations and 
salaries and step up out of the comfort zone. 

We're looking for inspiration, heroes and some big (and little) lads to get stuck in like their lives depend on it. 

Two routes into Europe next season currently remain open to us, but many more games like this and the only thing we'll have to look forward too after Easter is a trip down the A19 next season to a proper derby match - not this tepid facsimile.

Biffa