Goals unchanged:
Mort gives Magpie moaners short shrift
Pertinent comments from Newcastle chairman Chris Mort following negative reaction from some quarters to our weekend defeat:
"We are like any supporter, we lurch from one result to the next and we are affected by each game and how well we do.
"But, from our perspective, we have to take a more long-term to medium-term view. We are not going to leap to any rash decisions.
"We are not going to entertain stories like the one we had on Sunday saying that we were going to get rid of Sam because we have lost two games on the trot. We're not going to get into that mindset.
"Chopping and changing managers here hasn't worked and the success stories at other clubs are usually connected with longevity. Absolutely.
"I cannot believe that four managers have lost their jobs by the start of November. There seems to be a real short-term thinking in the football business that we want to resist.
"We absolutely want to hear what the fans have to say, but we still take a medium and long-term view and we will not be swayed from that by two defeats on the trot.
"We're from a business background so we appreciate we have to take a long-term view. It doesn't make accepting defeats any easier, especially when it's a 4-1 home defeat, but we have to look beyond immediate results and think to ourselves, 'Are we heading in the right direction?'
"We won't get knocked off what we feel we need to do by short-term considerations.
"I think I can say I've got a close relationship with Sam. We've got a very good working relationship.
"The fact that Sam wasn't our appointment and that Mike has lots of money doesn't create any kind of problem for me. Sam is doing a great job and he's developed a strong team around him.
"It's more about us managing public expectation and press expectation, rather than us running the business differently.
"If clubs had been looking around for a new manager to recruit in the summer, I'm sure we'd all have said that Sam was one of the best you could get."