Newcastle fans take Barton barrage on board

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If you really want to prove your support and belief in me as the manager, it is vital not to give away an early goal. And certainly not to the best team in the country.

Before Newcastle had even had time to settle and digest their support from the stands, they were a goal down. Four minutes in, Charles N'Zogbia's hopeless clearance from his unfamiliar position at left back found Emmanuel Eboue.

Emmanuel Adebayor controlled and buried the cross in two clinical touches.

Allardyce, in his usual first-half seat beside chairman Chris Mort, and with owner Mike Ashley to his right, could almost be heard over the equally exasperated 50,000 crowd.

And watching it again on the monitors installed in the directors' box can hardly have improved his mood, or his language in the dressing-room 42 minutes later.

But if anyone at St James' Park expected this group of players to crumble as they have on so many occasions this season, it was not to be. Not last night, with Allardyce's reputation at stake. Not to mention their own.

At last his new signings came to life. Alan Smith, still without a Premier League goal in two years, led the spirited fightback from the front, with Joey Barton and Nicky Butt powerful in central midfield behind him.

The early reaction towards Barton set the tone for the night. The general feeling among the Toon Army foot soldiers is that Barton's heartfelt sentiments and criticism of the fans were entirely justified and, judging by the reaction from away supporters at Blackburn, and the majority last night, they seem to have done the trick.

On a night when messages from the stands were almost as important as performances on the pitch, Barton was not jeered and, as is the tradition in these parts, all thumping challenges gained wholehearted support and one crunching tackle from the Scouser had the whole ground on its feet.

Any questions about the players' commitment and desire, raised after the heavy home defeats to Portsmouth and Liverpool, were quickly forgotten.

It was the night the influential fans' website nufc.com had called for unity and they got it. When Liverpool supporters had sung 'Big Sam for England', Newcastle fans applauded and then joined in.

When the rendition of 'You're Getting Sacked In the Morning' came from Arsenal supporters last night, at first the chorus was ignored - although it caused some amusement among Allardyce, Mort and Ashley.

If the Newcastle manager is under severe pressure from the club's new owner, he has a funny way of showing it. 'Big Sam's Black and White Army' echoed from all corners in response.

If the Ashley wants to see how a galvanised public, and desperate players, can rejuvenate a football club, he only had to sit back and admire Newcastle's supporters last night. And a young Geordie like Steven Taylor, unable to command a regular place as the new signings have arrived, but desperate to play despite a back injury and his inability to secure a deserved new deal.

Once a striker, always a striker, Taylor buried Newcastle's equaliser with all the aplomb of a local lad who graced the ground and scored a goal or two along the way.

And like Alan Shearer, Taylor understands what it means to play and score for his club. And boy did he show it.

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