In equal parts predictable and frustrating, this Monday night torture left Toon fans in the ground and watching on TV bemused, becalmed and more than a tad peed off as our decent start to the season melted away.

A non-performance that was an unwanted return to the flawed administrations of messrs Souness and Roeder gave Allardyce plenty to chew over, as the team selected misfired in a game that they had been widely tipped to win.   

The ingredients were there - opponents who had failed to win a top-flight game since their return and were coming off the back of a six goal howking. An old boy (Andy Griffin) in the ranks and a self-confessed Magpie nut (Durham-born Steve Howard).

For our part there was the nation's favourite striker fresh from his cantering round Wembley and  giving TV viewers a glimpse of his wonderful life the previous day, as football writers fell over themselves to pen "back and better than ever" missives.

And for the manager, there was a first taste of life at this club when things don't go to plan - cue the expected "honeymoon over" lines. 

In the event "Fred West" didn't maim anyone and the boyhood fan missed two golden chances to get off the mark in the top flight and have something to tell his bairns about in years to come.

But debutant Miller provided the difference between this being a scoreless draw with a goal that, while not quite in the same class as his fellow Scot McFadden's recent high-profile effort, was still a stonker.

While our stylistic shortcomings will be picked up by many, what will have depressed Sam as much as his injury tribulations was the fact that his side didn't want this as much as the Derby lads - all the fancy diets and conditioning programmes in the world won't give players an appetite.   

Those who labelled us as a Bolton clone this evening were off the mark, failing to appreciate how disorganised we were - physically intimidated and inert from set pieces.

Once the initial anger subsided though, a sense of proportion hopefully returned ahead of the visit of West Ham and trips to Arsenal and Manchester City - a big week in anyone's calendar, with an important Cup avenue and two of our supposed rivals in the revivalist stakes. Not the time to go off-message.

Pride Park cometh before a fall then? From the South Stand that viewpoint seemed to have some validity, certainly when considering the non-displays of Owen and Ameobi.

The booing that accompanied the departure of the latter from the field was more an expression of frustration with Ameobi  - Owen certainly wasn't at the races, but Shola was bloody dreadful - more the performance of a man giving up rather than straining to win a regular starting place.

Big man, little man may be his desired front pairing, but Sam has seen now first-hand that Ameobi doesn't punch his weight. Frankly, we could have done better up front by going four junctions down the M1 and taking Carl Cort from Leicester back for one night.

Things went from bad to worse when the second half brought no discernible improvement and even less to worry Bywater in the Rams goal, with Martins no better than what he replaced.

Bewildering substitutions seemed to confuse those brought on and left on in equal measure, with alleged contract rebel Taylor uncomfortable when trying to push forward from right back and the deeply concerning sight of Rozehnal trying to make the plays.

So, a bad night at the office/races/dogs/whatever, but no more than that - and hopefully a timely hoof in the derriere.

However, a quick refresher of our reports this season to date brings forth some familiar issues that remain to be addressed.

The square peg/round hole scenario still applies to both N'Zogbia and Smith, the former unable to provide an alternative to Milner's flank work and the latter exhibiting his frustration at being moored in a no-man's land of a position by launching into opponents to earn yellow cards.

The enforced Geremi/Butt pairing still echoes the Parker/Butt mismatch of last season - with a handy reminder of the lack of current options in that area coming in the shape of Pattison sitting on the bench, while defenders were brought on to try and turn round a deficit.

Beye and Faye's first taste of life in Toon was nothing to savour, but at least they've now started the process of integration with their new colleagues - something that Enrique needs to do.

Still the earliest of early days then, with so much remaining to be done in terms of moulding the raw material brought in at regular intervals up to seventeen days before this game. It's fair to say that the cement is still wet.

Sunday promises to be very interesting - not so much for the easy lines of returning ex-Magpies but more for the behaviour of the home fans if things don't instantly come good.

The sweeping changes at this club were never going to instantly bring about the success that we all crave - in the same way that the new eras at Villa, Man City etc. have seen and will continue to see good and bad days.