Half time: Newcastle 0 Norwich 0

Full time: Newcastle 0 Norwich 0

Steve Bruce said:

"They delivered everything I asked of them. We controlled their physicality, we created chances from every topic - counters, set pieces, open play. More like from the first second to the last we controlled the game.

"The only thing that was missing was we couldn't bring the ball into the rectangle. That is crucial to win a football game. But I can only compliment the spirit, the attitude and the performance we delivered. We are sad with the outcome.

"In football there is no right or wrong way to play. You can't compare the two clubs in terms of the quality they are able to bring in in the window. Players like (Valentino) Lazaro or (Nabil) Bentaleb I know from Germany and they are top class players.

"We are a self-funded club who have spent barely a £1m so you can't really compare us. We try our best. We work with our tools.

"For a young side sometimes you miss this quality to be so brutal in using your chances but I ask them to keep going, to show steel and we had so many chances because of how we played. We were just not clinical enough.

"I always respect the players. They put themselves in tough positions. We were dangerous. They did everything we asked for. We want them to be more brutal with their finishing, but these things happen sometimes. I'm happy with the performance, not the result.

"Newcastle have so much quality up front. I was happy with how we controlled the game, but not the outcome. A nearly perfect performance deserves three points."

Tim Krul:

"(It was) A special day for me personally, just frustrated that we didn't walk away with the three points. I think we've done enough to earn them, more than enough really.

"It's so hard because we did everything right, we played well, pressed them high, everything that the manager wanted us to do, we did.

"Then it's just that final goal. Dubravka made a good save from the (Byram) header in the first half, Kenny had a big header in the second half but that final bit just wasn't falling for us - it felt like he was up in the air for three seconds.

"It's hard to come here and break them down but I felt we did enough to walk away with three points. It was a weird game because we felt like we were dominating but they've got quality up front, Saint-Maximin on the wing, if he comes inside he's dangerous, for sure. But we dealt with him well, some good blocks from Grant and Zimbo, so I'm happy to be back here with a clean sheet, but the boys are in the changing room asking 'how we didn't win this?'."

"It felt more like a proper welcome and send-off really, because the way I left was horrible and it should not have been like that. With the fans, their reception and at the end, they felt the same.

"It's massive, 12 years, I came here as a 17-year-old boy. My wife is from here, my little girl was born here so it's special. Had some highs and lows here. It's quite special to be loved by two clubs - and two clubs that I really love as well. Not to be too soppy about it, but it is special." 

For the second successive Saturday it finished scoreless at St. James' Park, with Steve Bruce's side again struggling to find any sort of cutting edge against the Premier League basement dwellers.

All three January transfer arrivals featured as Newcastle side made it seven league and cup games without defeat since New Years Day, but remained desperately short of ideas and invention.

Nabil Bentaleb retained a central midfield role in the starting lineup, with Valentino Lazaro and Danny Rose both introduced from the bench during the second half on the right and left flank respectively.

However it was a question of new faces, old problems for the host, who barely offered any threat to a visiting defence including ex-Magpies Tim Krul and Grant Hanley. 

Given every opportunity to make the play as they were against third tier Oxford a week earlier, United fluffed their lines badly and continually struggled with basic possession and movement.

And a better side than Norwich would surely have taken advantage of spaces we left in midfield and a defensive line that struggled to combat the singular threat of visiting striker Teemu Pukki.  

Winless in their previous nine visits to Tyneside, City created the first chance of the game after five minutes, Martin Dubravka doing well to palm a strong header from Sam Bryam over the crossbar.

The home 'keeper was then called into action again on 17 minutes - denying Pukki at the expense of a corner - before United fashioned their only genuine goalscoring chance of the afternoon.

DeAndre Yedlin hugged the right touchline as he sped forward in the 20th minute before his cross to the back post saw Joelinton head the ball towards the opposite side of the goal, only for Krul to claw it out - and Miguel Almiron nod the loose ball narrowly wide.

Still the majority of goalmouth incidents came at the wrong end for home fans, a crucial intervention from Federico Fernandez preventing Pukki from having a clear run on goal just before the half hour.

A change of ends brought no uplift to the struggling hosts and 60 minutes had elapsed before their next half-chance arrived; Hanley almost diverting a Saint-Maximin cross into the Gallowgate net.

Pukki then almost reached the away fans in L7 with the match ball from City's next attack, the Finn on target soon after but denied by Dubravka, Ondrej Duda firing the rebound into the side netting.

Unlike the last-gasp Chelsea home win or the extra time madness of Goodison Park though, there was to be no late breakthrough; United failing to build up any momentum and hardly ever within shooting range. Our lack of penalty kicks is hardly a shock given the lack of time spent in the box.

The full time whistle brought some booing, which soon gave way to an ovation for old boy Krul on his first return to SJP. The over-riding feeling though was one of relief that this muddled non-event of a match was over - and there's now one less of these borefests to endure before May. 

It's another point nearer safety, but even those sitting in the free season ticket seats may feel short-changed by the paucity of what was served up to them today. 

Unwilling or unable to sign a forward last month, our scoring hopes rest on the return to fitness of three injury-prone strikers without a goal between them this season. 

If we really were unable to improve on what we've got as Bruce has claimed, then serious questions need to be asked of our scouting staff and recruitment policy.

As it was, less than 24 hours after the transfer window closed, the Head Coach harped on about having to over-play Joelinton and Miggy. Forgive us if our sympathy is in short supply. 

We rose up to tenth position at full time. That's entertainment, apparently.

Biffa