Curse of Dowie, part 94

After drawing 0-0 at home with Pompey tonight, Newcastle remain in the relegation places in the Premiership and are rapidly running out of road - and I am not referring to the A road used for Iain Dowie's notorious training run before Charlton played at St. James's Park.

Television viewers were able to get a glimpse of Newcastle's problems when a grim faced Dowie, resplendent in barcodes, could be seen striding away from the pitch after the match. The magic of Shearer is no compensation for the curse of Dowie which has been seen in operation in South, South-East and West London, Coventry and now Geordieland. It's not rocket science!

Elsewhere, Norwich went down at home 0-2 to Reading which means that Sunday's match at The Valley could see the chirping canaries silenced. However, if Barnsley draw at Plymouth and Norwich win at The Valley, they would still be relegated.