Pope had a day to forget... but the Toon came together to remember Sir Bobby & Atsu

FIRST things first, if you cannot put things into perspective on an occasion such as the one at St James' Park on Saturday evening, then you never will be able to.

- ANDY DUNN

The poignancy ahead of the match was palpable, a magnificent flag unfurled bearing the image of Sir Bobby Robson, who would have celebrated his 90th birthday on the day of this fixture.

Lady Elsie and her sons Andrew, Paul and Mark were special guests of the club and the Robson family laid flowers at the great man's statue outside St James' Park.

Sir Bobby would have loved Christian Atsu had he worked with him, would have loved his enthusiasm, would have loved his smile, would have loved how the Ghanaian cared about others they both cared about those less fortunate than themselves.

And like so many, he would have been devastated by the tragedy that has struck Turkey and Syria and has claimed, among its 45,000 victims, the life of Atsu at just 31 years of age.

Atsu spent five years on Tyneside and there were supporters outside the stadium wearing his jersey to the match.

It was an emotional build-up to a fixture that always stirs the emotions.

And Sir Bobby and Atsu would have been proud of how the home support stuck magnificently to their task despite a result that ranks as something of a scar on a very good season.

Whatever could go wrong for Newcastle in the opening quarter of the match did.