Furious Newcastle star Shola Ameobi, 27, called cops detailing the items stolen, including his cheque book.

Newcastle’s Shola Ameobi and Damien Duff are out of Saturday’s derby at Middlesbrough. Ameobi is on crutches after he was hurt in a collision in training on Thursday.

Joe Kinnear has reassured Shola Ameobi that he will not be shunned in favour of Mark Viduka.

Newcastle striker Shola Ameobi has put his recent return to form down to Joe Kinnear’s arrival at St James’ Park.

Newcastle striker Shola Ameobi has thanked Joe Kinnear for helping put his career ‘back on track’.

Joe Kinnear picked up the bottle of water on the table in front of him and gave it a wistful look. “Shame it’s not champagne,” lamented Newcastle United’s interim manager after choreographing the team’s first win since August.If such euphoria was understandable Kinnear would, nonetheless, be unwise to start demanding a more permanent deal yet. Despite this welcome collection of three much-needed points, an evening which began with Joey Barton converting a penalty and concluded with him earning a man of the match award emphasised that significant remedial work is still required on Tyneside.Indeed after cantering into a 2-0 lead, Newcastle found themselves stuck on the ropes after an inspired tactical switch and clever use of substitutes on Tony Mowbray’s part.If only the West Bromwich manager had started with Ishmael Miller bearing down on defenders and with James Morrison deployed as a winger rather than Barton’s part-time minder, the outcome might have been very different. “We could have been five up at half-time but then we got a little bit nervy,” admitted Kinnear. “But it wasn’t about how we played, it was all about three points.”For his part Mowbray could only reflect on what might have been. “We had Newcastle’s backs against the wall in the second half but we weren’t clinical enough,” he mused.Unfortunately his side’s first-half defending proved equally slapdash. Although Jonas Olsson began by contributing an important hooked clearance and a last-ditch block, the centre-half’s partner, Ryan Donk, undid that good work by clumsily tripping Shola Ameobi in the area. Mike Dean duly pointed to the spot and, having snatched the ball before anybody else could volunteer, Barton stepped forward to take the kick.Struck crisply and with his right foot, it sent Scott Carson the wrong way and the scorer into ecstasy. Perhaps remembering that Kinnear had cautioned him against kissing the badge on his shirt until he completed a hat-trick, Barton made do with pointing at his heart and repeatedly thumping his chest. “Obafemi Martins was supposed to be the penalty taker but Joey just grabbed the ball,” said Kinnear whose side moved out of the bottom three. “Joey’s on fire in the dressing room now.”Even if such theatricals were not to everyone’s taste, the midfielder’s first start in a six-month period featuring a stint in prison followed by a Football Association ban had coincided with some of the most stimulating football Newcastle have played in ages.All sharp passing and movement, Barton provided the creativity Newcastle have long lacked in central midfield. If defensively his pairing with Danny Guthrie was a little lightweight, it barely mattered against a West Bromwich side featuring two former wingers, Jonathan Greening and Morrison, in that department.While Mowbray’s side moved the ball around attractively enough, their initial five-man midfield persistently malfunctioned when it came to delivering final balls. A rare exception was Morrison’s rising shot following Robert Koren’s wonderful through-pass which Shay Given did well to tip to safety. Yet at that stage Carson, who repelled a goal-bound Martins shot in similar fashion and looked relieved to see Barton’s 25-yarder flash just wide, was the keeper under far greater threat.Kinnear freely admits that the unorthodox Martins is “not a team player” and “does not link play”, but the Nigerian does have a habit of undoing defences. So it proved when, shortly before half-time, Martins connected with Habib Beye’s right-wing cross and, unattended, headed Newcastle’s second from eight yards, the ball taking a slight deflection off Gianni Zuiverloon en route past Carson.Morrison’s limitations as a central enforcer were being cruelly exposed and Damien Duff ran riot down Newcastle’s left, but the power balance shifted as soon as Mowbray moved Morrison to the left and introduced Miller. Indeed, after a flurry of half chances the Toon Army became anxious and such fears were swiftly justified.Greening dispossessed Duff and fed Koren, who supplied Miller with the best pass of the night. Capitalising on a moment’s hesitation from Fabricio Coloccini, the accelerating Miller surged forward and rounded Given before dispatching the ball into the bottom corner.By then Barton was a spent force and his side were wobbling alarmingly. Not even Newcastle, though, could quite contrive to mess this one up.Premier LeagueNewcastle UnitedWest Bromguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Interim manager Joe Kinnear has challenged rejuvenated striker Shola Ameobi to keep up his good form to stay in the Newcastle side.

Football is always a game of risk but this Wear-Tyne derby was suffused with some exceptional gambles. None seemed bigger or backfired more than the decision to enforce minimal segregation between rival supporters - except, perhaps, the failure to offer Joey Barton greater protection when the Newcastle United substitute, and black sheep, warmed up.So 29 arrests were made on a day which ended with a number of home fans spilling on to the pitch before scuffling with a small group of Toon Army rivals. Outside the stadium a police horse suffered minor burns when a moron threw a firework. Earlier a man was arrested for escaping the stands and taunting Shay Given after the goalkeeper’s concession of the winner, a stunning free-kick from Kieran Richardson. Meanwhile Barton was showered by missiles and spittle as he limbered up.The controversial midfielder attracted censure as well as sympathy for brazenly kissing the Newcastle badge on his tracksuit after a policeman advised him to restrict his stretching exercises to the technical area. Significantly, the infinitely more mature Given admitted he felt tempted to retaliate. “A few idiots came on to the pitch near me after Richardson’s goal,” he explained. “It was unsavoury and I got abuse. It was hard to keep my temper. It got close to something happening. You feel low enough after conceding the goal, so the last thing you want is some idiot roaring abuse in your face.”The Football Association has launched an inquiry and is threatening lifetime bans. Nonetheless, ugly as certain moments were, things could hardly be said to have descended into 1970s-style anarchy. Chief Superintendent Neil Mackay of Northumbria Police, whose force has launched its own inquiry, reflected: “The vast majority of fans were well behaved, 29 arrests out a capacity crowd is low.”Similarly Sunderland’s chairman, Niall Quinn, emphasised the bigger picture after Newcastle’s first defeat on Wearside for 28 years. “Saturday was a fantastic day,” he said. “A minority should not spoil it.”It is understood his club will not face FA sanctions. Indeed Sunderland - who, having sold the game out, could not leave banks of empty seats between rival fans - suggested the local constabulary might have been culpable. “There were 500 police on duty, segregation is a matter for them,” said a spokesman.The FA was more anxious to deter future offenders than apportion blame. “We will make sure that anyone involved in the unsavoury scenes feels the full weight of the law,” said its spokesman, Adrian Bevington. “That could mean a lifetime banning order.”As for the day’s gamblers, the home manager Roy Keane did best. With the score 1-1 after 57 minutes he withdrew Dwight Yorke, his impressive midfielder, introduced Kenwyne Jones and switched from 4-5-1 to 4-4-2. Newly rehabilitated following a serious knee injury, the half-fit striker unnerved Newcastle’s defence and helped El Hadji Diouf win the dead-ball chance from which Richardson struck the unstoppable winner over the wall and into the top corner.Sunderland had led on 20 minutes when Djibril Cissé lashed Steed Malbranque’s cross-shot beyond Given but slack marking from the otherwise excellent Anton Ferdinand soon permitted Shola Ameobi to head Joe Kinnear’s side level following Geremi’s free-kick. Ferdinand was far from the only notable in a game where Malbranque, Richardson, Cissé, Diouf and Pascal Chimbonda all shone, and the latter three celebrated on the pitch long after the final whistle.”They’ve plugged into what we’re all about,” said Keane of the trio. “Every signing is a risk but I’ve not found them hard at all. I’ve signed other people who I’d have bet my life would have done well but, within a week, I’m thinking ‘You’re not for me’.”Kinnear insists his side are not doomed. “There’s no chance we can go down,” the club’s interim manager said. “We have too much quality.” Famous last words.Man of the match Kieran Richardson (Sunderland)Season’s flashpointsAston Villa v Portsmouth October 18A Villa fan behind the dug-out hurls a 50p coin at Harry Redknapp, missing the Portsmouth manager but winging the referee’s assistant, Phil Sharp. Sharp is treated for a small cut. Redknapp calls the offender a ‘moron’. Villa increase policingArsenal v Everton October 18Everton fans in the lower tier of the usually sedate Emirates Stadium become enraged, saying they are being bombarded by coins and spit from Arsenal fans above. Anger bubbles over into scuffles with stewardsMillwall v Leeds October 18Torn-up seats and gashed heads again scar the most explosive fixture in English football. Their match the previous October had produced three trashed double-decker buses and a cavalry charge by mounted Yorkshire policePremier LeagueSunderlandNewcastle Unitedguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Geordies Steven Taylor and Shola Ameobi have taunted Sunderland fans by claiming they won’t be the first Newcastle team to lose at the Stadium of Light in their lifetime.

Geordies Steven Taylor and Shola Ameobi have taunted Sunderland fans by claiming they have no intention of of being in the first Newcastle team to lose at the Stadium of Light in their lifetime.