4. Newcastle 0-3 Aston Villa, 2005
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mp6_5H13i_Q Can one think of a worse way to prepare for a UEFA Cup quarter-final and an FA Cup semi-final than begin the month by kicking lumps out of each other on the way to a humiliating 3-0 loss? Its no surprise that the club didnt progress in either competition, and subsequently went six league games without a win, such was the lack of morale following the events against Aston Villa. The match has become infamous for Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer both being shown red cards for fighting each other on the pitch, but the scuffle between the team-mates should really have only been a sub-plot to the dreadful performance that was being turned in. Columbian striker Juan Pablo Angel capitalised on poor defending to drive Villa ahead after just five minutes, before Gareth Barry dispatched two penalties in the last twenty minutes - one of which was as of a result of a Steven Taylor handball that ended in his dismissal, despite his best efforts to pretend like he had just been shot with a sniper.
''We have been very, very bad. We were awful against Villa. We are not playing good football. This is the worst we have done in the league since I came here. It is depressing. - Laurent Robert, April 2005.
It should have been a day of celebration with the talismanic Alan Shearer having announced his decision to postpone his retirement, but it would end in violence, deflation and shame.