A game that we looked like losing for most of the afternoon ended up with home fans cursing their side for only taking a share of the points. 

The battle of the sportswear owners ended even, but while Mike Ashley was absent and silent, Dave Whelan had plenty to say; none of it complimentary about his opposite number.

Both have scored own goals on this ground - Ashley metaphorically during this skid pan of a season to date and Whelan putting through his own goal here for Blackburn way back in 1957.

In truth though, neither side was happy with the result; Whelan's bluster and Bruce's hand-wringing disguising the display of a Wigan side shorn of their two main strikers but packed with actors.  

JFK meanwhile maintained his unbeaten record at SJP, but was unable to celebrate a third consecutive home win as his side proved incapable of defending a lead against ten men. 

Instead he was forced to confront both fans and the media over his preference to start with Ameobi and Martins and leave Owen on the bench. The manager rated him at 80% fit, but the player spoke in the match programme about having been fit for "a couple of weeks" after his "small injury".

It was also written in the press that Owen had left SJP after the game looking downcast - you and me both, pal - there's nowt worse than losing and then seeing your own players exchanging high -fives with their pals on the other side or wandering off into the night without a care in the world. Long faces are required. 

The real source of Owen's frustration may well be though that sitting on the bench for three quarters of our last two matches made Fabio Capello's decision not to take him to Berlin a formality. 

By the time England return to action in March the world could be a very different place, but Owen will be no closer to becoming his country's top scorer. 

Whether he, Kinnear or Ashley is still around here by then is a moot point, but most of the fans will stick by whoever is in the side, today's increased attendance coming from an upsurge in sales after the victory over Villa. 

In that respect the one-man protest directed at Kinnear was as needless as it was barmy (although we did wonder momentarily whether that burly bloke booling along the touchline was the returning Mark Viduka)

Now that Owen is fit, he has to start in the side - that's nothing to do with egos or favouritism, it's just plain common sense. Just like not picking Cacapa - at least until the Masters come around....

Owen might keep us up, Ameobi won't.   

We used to joke that Ameobi was Sir Bobby's son, but the two-way love in between fellow Dubliners Duff and Kinnear is getting beyond a joke - with the match sponsors getting in on the act by naming the winger as the top performer of the afternoon. That was before his late goal line hokey-cokey.

However he's in the most consistent fitness and form of his Newcastle career (which doesn't say much, admittedly) and with the loss of Barton it's time for the big players to justify their salaries and reputations in our colours - including Viduka, if we can get him fit and stop those Japanese whalers chasing him....

The same also applies to Gutierrez, who might have nice hair and a nice chant for the singing section to belt out, but needs a tiny bit more end product. Ginola and Robert justified their lack of tracking back when playing here due to some pyrotechnics at the other end of the field - Spiderman needs to do one or the other - or preferably both.

Grumbles, grumbles, grumbles - all caused by a fat-arsed bloke we punted out a few years ago after we grew tired of his antics on and off the field. Would we have still been as narked though had Oba's rocket won it? Once we'd sobered up...probably.

It's as simple as this: Steve Bruce's side are the epitome of ordinariness but can rightly point to a refereeing decision and injuries as valid reasons why they didn't become the latest "average" side to deservedly beat us.

This cat and mouse game at the bottom threatens to persist and we have the worst of both worlds - a team neither set up to consistently grind out results (if we had we'd have taken a point at Fulham and won today) or able to beat honest toilers by skill and talent alone. 

That's not Kinnear's fault, but as the man in charge of the side and apparently the public mouthpiece of Ashley & Co. taking crap from all sides is part of what he's being paid to do - at least until the bloke he works for has the brass knackers to show his face.

Even assuming transfers funds are made available, you'd question the motives and motivation of any player who wanted to move to this club in January - never mind bringing in reinforcements, keeping hold of what we've got could be the number one priority.

Take away our two goals from this game and everything else was unsatisfactory and deeply depressing. Next up? Chelsea away, after which we're led to expect some sort of London pow-pow of those allegedly in charge and maybe a puff of white smoke. I'll believe it when I see it. 

PS: The bad vibes surrounding Joey Barton show no signs of abating, with him picking up an injury to his right knee that is set to sideline him until 2009, just five games into his comeback.

Barton was quick to absolve Lee Cattermole of any blame, but the coming together of the two players seemed to have infected the former smoggie, who within hours was landed with a fixed penalty notice after disorder outside a Yarm nightclub.

Whether good old Titus was inside is unclear, but he was probably celebrating his own personal triumphant return to SJP. For once, you couldn't blame him.

Biffa