Both sides fired blanks in Sunday's High Noon shootout at The Hawthorns - an outcome that surely seals relegation for Sam Allardyce's Albion, while Steve Bruce's Magpies inched up one place to seventeenth. 

In truth though this was a Championship game in all but name; a succession of talentless trundlers aimlessly hoofing the ball around with little obvious intent. Much more of this and they'll have to rename the channel that showed it to Amazon sub-prime.....

Clad in their yellow change kit, Newcastle dominated the stages in the Black Country sunshine, creating several half-chances. An early break from Ryan Fraser saw him agonisingly lay the ball behind Joe Willock inside the Albion box, before Joelinton's follow-up was hit at a defender. 

Emil Krafth's innocuous shot then took a slight deflection but was easily held by Sam Johnstone, before Joelinton had clear sight of goal but made a failed attempt to play in Fraser rather than shoot.

What proved to be United's best effort of the game stemmed from a corner routine on the half hour, Jonjo Shelvey's shot pinging off the knee of a home player but reached by Johnstone as he repositioned.

The home side began to exert more influence on the game from that point, on-loan striker Mbaye Diagne testing Martin Dubravka a header as the visitors began to look increasingly vulnerable.

Any mild optimism that United would regroup after the interval proved to be misplaced however, and it wasn't long before ex-Baggie loanee Dwight Gayle appeared in place of the invisible Jeff Hendrick.

He almost made an instant impact, driving forward in possession before releasing Willock to test Johnstone on the hour. Aside from one weak Joelinton effort straight at the 'keeper soon after though, the visitors made no further attacking contribution and it was Albion who artlessly attempted to find a winner.

Thankfully though their set pieces and crosses were mostly harmless; United doing their best to invite pressure due to the ludicrously late replacement of Fraser by Andy Carroll.

He inevitably came on to concede a free kick with his first touch and give Albion an opportunity they wouldn't have had to launch the ball into our box.

That the hosts completely wasted it is of little solace but it does beg the question of whether the substitution had any purpose other than keeping Carroll's pay-as-you-play contract ticking over....

No bookings for either side betrays the fact that this was a bloodless encounter, with heftier challenges supposedly seen in training at Darsley Park last week.

The accepted wisdom seems to be that this was a good point for Newcastle - but that interpretation ignores the fact that this was one of our likeliest remaining opportunities to win a game.

That we never really looked like doing so speaks volumes for the performance and the spirit - or lack of it. Anyone seeking evidence of a siege mentality after a stormy week will have been disappointed.

Equally, the narrative that we battled to a draw here is a false one - at times, our display was akin to that at Sheffield United in sloppiness, lack of care in possession and the suspicion that they were always content with a draw. Contrast that with Fulham at Liverpool today.

Bruce claimed afterwards that "attitude and spirit" got our point, basically conceding that there was a glaring lack or talent or proficiency from a team with a sprinkling of supposed international footballers.

Only the shortcomings of Albion allowed us to scrape a point despite our poor second half showing: it's hard to imagine that there will be many further opportunities in our remaining games to repeat that scenario though.

Shorn of our first choice front trio we looked forlorn for the most part; unwilling or unable to step up and waiting for Wilson, Almiron and Saint-Maximin to return and tick the movement, shooting and dribbling boxes.

In that regard, the post-match comments of Bruce betray that he thinks the same - damning those who played today with faint praise, which will hardly boost their spirit levels ahead of future games when they'll be called upon.

On that basis, it's no shock that they failed to go the extra mile for their gaffer - and continued to give the sort of fitful display that pre-dates the high-profile absentees sustaining their injuries. Our performances were just as lame then as they were here. 

Both sides wore black armbands to commemorate the late Glenn Roeder - but they could equally have been in memoriam of association football itself.

A year to the day since crowds were last admitted to Newcastle games, the prospect of returning for this witless dross has seldom been less appealing.

The cold comfort of a point rapidly gave way to anguish and concern, as Fulham became the latest side to burgle Fortress Anfield, and move within a point of Newcastle as a consequence.

In that context, our draw soon felt like a loss and Bruce's words about keeping the run going were even more hollow: we've won two of the last sixteen league games.

The form of Scott Parker's side - and the continued inability of Brighton to win matches - make our visit to the Amex in a fortnight's time another pivotal game. No doubt we'll try to avoid losing.

Coupled with their defeat by Leicester, Fulham's victory at Liverpool may now require a retuning of how this could all unfold on the final day; Newcastle's visit to Fulham sharing equal billing with Brighton's trip to Arsenal.

Far from causing concern on Barrack Road though, our situation will no doubt be dealt with in time-honoured fashion; by doing absolutely sod all.

After all, why worry about relegation when you've already got the perfect man to gain promotion in post. The only thing wrong with that "far-sighted" thinking may be that Bruce's contract isn't long enough....

PS: NUFC.com July 2019 on the appointment of Bruce - for 13 months read 25?:

So all the talk of progressive football has been sacrificed on the altar of expedience and we're now saddled with a Carver/McClaren reboot.

We don't really care about his club hopping, the plight he left Sheffield Wednesday in; Bruce's mackem connection or his perception as an Old Trafford apologist is of little consequence. And even the claim that a man who allegedly bleeds black and white once preferred Norwich City to us doesn't matter.

Regardless of your viewpoint of Rafa though, this cannot be seen as anything other than a retrograde step - a man who previously boasted of his dislike of tactics. This is the very opposite of ambition; an appointment that nicely mirrors our grubby, unloved, derided shell of a football club.

One of the game’s greatest mercenary managers is now in residence at his "spiritual home", for now. Acutely aware of the frosty reception awaiting, Bruce has accepted the job with open arms knowing that the worst case scenario is a multi-million payout.

Whether the club have shown some foresight in appointing Bruce remains to be seen; perhaps they've merely acquired a manager with promotion to the top flight on his CV, 13 months before he's needed.