Echoes of thrashing increase pressure on Ferguson

As the bus nosed its way out of St James' Park very slowly, inside silence reigned. Alex Ferguson had just endured the heaviest managerial defeat of his career, a 5-0 thrashing by a Newcastle United side which seemed at the peak of its powers under Kevin Keegan.

"When you lose like that, there's not much to be said," Ferguson recalled. "Everyone was in a very reflective mood. It was a very, very quiet bus... and rightly so."

Then, in late October 1996, Old Trafford was geared for the celebrations to mark Ferguson's 10th anniversary as Manchester United's manager. Instead, that defeat triggered three more; a 6-3 drubbing at Southampton, a 2-1 reverse to Chelsea and, the unpalatable raw meat in the sandwich, United's first ever European defeat at Old Trafford. It seemed to signal that what students of dictators call "the moment of tilt" had come to claim Ferguson's regime. An icon did topple two months later, but on Tyneside, and United recovered to take the championship.

Now as they prepare for another high-velocity fixture at St James', where United have suffered two heavy defeats since, Ferguson cannot afford one upset, let alone four. Should Tuesday's reverse in the Bernabeu be followed by losses at St James' and Highbury, United would find themselves three points behind Arsenal, having played a game more, with an inferior goal difference and needing to close the gap inside four games.

Ferguson has, however, always been good at deflecting criticism. After the game which Newcastle commemorated in a video called "Howay 5-0", which has just been reissued, Ferguson claimed United had dominated the second half and criticsed the referee. "It amazed me Steve Dunn should be given this high-pressure match. Who decides to appoint an inexperienced referee for that kind of fixture?" As it happens, Dunn, seven years older and no doubt wiser, will be in charge at St James' this afternoon.

In the aftermath of Tuesday's defeat by Real Madrid, one which demonstrated who are the real masters of European football, Ferguson, with some justification, again went on the attack. "We controlled some periods of the match. In fact their first two goals were on the counter-attack. The players should not be ashamed of themselves. All the Real Madrid players said afterwards they had not had a harder European game."

Newcastle await Manchester United with respect and realism. Olivier Bernard, who will patrol the left side of their defence this afternoon, described Paul Scholes above Thierry Henry as the best player in the Premiership.

After Sunday's 2-1 defeat by Everton, a result laced with controversy, Sir Bobby Robson publicly conceded that Newcastle's title challenge was over. It is twitching but not yet dead. Newcastle have lost only one Premiership match at St James' all season, and that to Leeds on a September night in which they aimed more than 20 shots on Paul Robinson's goal. Victory today and a draw at Highbury on Wednesday would leave Newcastle four points behind both Arsenal and United with five very straightforward fixtures to come.