Alan Shearer said:

"We are bitterly disappointed at the disallowed goal. I have seen it and I can't see anything that's wrong with it. Probably what has happened is the goal on Monday night from Steven Taylor has been highlighted that much this week that one or two people have thought, 'We might try to clamp down on that this weekend'.

"You are allowed to put someone in front of the goalkeeper - I am not aware that you are meant to get out of the way of him. I thought their player was blocking him more than Kevin Nolan was, so I am disappointed with that.

"I thought he (Howard Webb) got the big decision wrong today. When he looks at it, he might think that as well. After the sending off we gave it a right good go. My emotions were up and down and I was not enjoying it for the last half hour. We threw everything at them.

"It's out of our hands - we have got to better Hull next weekend. Whatever they do, we have got to better them. But it ain't over. I'm sure there are going to be twists and turns next Sunday afternoon. But that's football, isn't it? 

From the highs on Monday evening and this week, we have been brought back down to earth again. But we were playing against a very good Fulham side who are well organised."

After the euphoria of Monday's victory, normal service resumed at SJP with a vengeance on Saturday as Newcastle returned to their default setting of crisis. Clad in their new kits, United ended their home fixture programme by treating a 50K+ crowd to a neat encapsulation of what has been a horrid season.

A mixture of poor luck, poor decisions, poor football and poor application was in abundance as Fulham continued their good run and headed towards Europe. But while Obafemi Martins was unfortunate to hit a post with a first half effort and Mark Viduka denied what seemed a legitimate goal after the break for some non-existent pushing, everything else was self-inflicted.

Sluggish defending allowed Diomansy Kamara to shoot Fulham ahead four minutes before the break (claims of offside being hopeful rather than definite), while Sebastien Bassong's 60th minute red card was deserved.

And throughout the afternoon, a lack of imagination and urgency from the home side transferred itself to the increasingly mute stands as another non-performance unfolded before eyes only too accustomed to failure.

The familiar problems of the season were evident again: a reluctance to shoot, an inability to get shots on target, laughable set pieces and woeful crossing and passing - Mark Schwarzer collecting centre after centre with ease.

After some harsh words at half time, United came out of the dressing room looking to step up the pace and for a time took the initiative - Viduka seeing one goalbound effort blocked before before his disallowed goal.

But a tragic lack of creativity in the midfield was once again to prove our downfall, as Nicky Butt and Kevin Nolan struggled to keep pace with the game in the centre. Danny Guthrie was incapable of making any headway down the right, while Jonas Gutierrez was again a non-event.

The one chance that came the way of Martins after the break was self-manufactured, as he wriggled in from the left wing and somehow got a shot past Schwarzer before being hacked away by a defender.

The dying seconds of the game almost brought the late lifeline of a leveller, only for Schwarzer to dive full length and turn Nicky Butt's volley round the post. And even then, the visitors almost had the last word when Clint Dempsey swung his boot and swept the ball over Harper's goal when ideally placed to score.

Having kicked off in sunshine, the final desperate moments of this defeat were played out in near darkness as rain fell and storm clouds gathered over SJP - apt conditions under the circumstances.

One more effort may still secure our Premier League status next Sunday, but it's difficult to make a case for this team coming up with the goods. Fortune has certainly deserted us, but the sum total of our own efforts this season has brought us to this point - there's nothing unlucky about that.

Trooping off the field to find that both the smoggies and Hull had drawn 1-1 meant that we returned to the bottom three by a point from the Tigers. Defeat next Sunday at Villa Park will result in our relegation.

And subject to results elsewhere, Alan Shearer & Co. face the depressing prospect of going down regardless of whether they were to take one or three points from their visit to Martin O'Neill's side.

We will need to better their final day result to finish above the Tigers while the fate of the mackems still depends on Monday's game at Portsmouth. An away win there will guarantee top flight football on wearside next time round.

Hull face a Manchester United side at the KC Stadium who are in Champions League Final action just three days later, while defeat for the mackems at Fratton Park would leave them with an anxious afternoon at home to Chelsea - themselves less than a week away from an FA Cup Final.

Sunday afternoon saw the first confirmed relegation casualty, as West Bromwich Albion's 0-2 home defeat 
by Liverpool sealed their fate. And then there were two.  

PS: speaking of the new strip, we noted Mike Ashley's minder mate clad in his new XXXL number, complete with shirt printing of "9" "Cockney Tosser". That's classy.

Biffa