Is it really that bad?

As giant killings go, Newcastle's defeat at the hands of Stevenage yesterday is up there with the best of them.

It has of course been eclipsed by greater achievements in the past, and it will be eclipsed again in the future, but it didn't feel like that as the final whistle blew at Broadhall Way yesterday evening.

Embarrasing? Yes. Hurtful? Yes. Those two statements can't be denied. But as the dust settles on another year without even a moderate cup run to show for our efforts, it does beg the question of whether yesterday was as bad as it is being made out.

Make no mistake, I am as disappointed as the next fan, but it wasn't our lowest ebb and we will fight another day. There may be headlines for the next few days, and the Stevenage boss may be able to sound off with regular frequency at the minute, but it won't last.

There have been times in the past where the club has been at a lower ebb than what it felt like yesterday. The defeat to Hereferd back in 1972 was just as bad as this, if not worse. Much of that depends on who you speak to of course, as I wasn't even around then.

However, I was around during the 1990's, particularly the early 90's, which is probably the one time that I feared about the future of our club the most. I remember the threat of the club not being in existance anymore, which was a very real prospect had we suffered a relegation to the third tier of English football. Luckily, the old board structure was replaced with John Hall who appointed Kevin Keegan in a 'roll of the dice' manoeuvre. The rest, as they say, is history.

Another time when I feared about the future of club was only a couple of years ago when we found ourselves dumped out of the Premier League. Tha was a horrible feeling. It was embarrassing and hurtful having to deal with fans at other clubs said, but it didn't last long and we rose again.

You see, that is the point that I am trying to get across right now. We have had some dark days in our history, some of them darker than others, but the one consistency between all of them, bar none, is that Newcastle United has always bounced back.

We will bounce back again from this horrible defeat, we will fight another day. This isn't the end of our season and we can now concentrate fully on securing our place in the Premier League for next season. The FA Cup will come again this time next year and we can have another go at it.

We may have lost the match yesterday, but......

Newcastle United will never be defeated!