Newcastle vs Manchester United reaction: Steve McClaren turns laughs to cheers as his 3-3 prediction comes true

“It’ll probably be three-three!”, the manager joked before Tuesday night's encounter

Steve McClaren congratulates Fabricio Coloccini on his performance in the 3-3 draw (Getty Images)

“It’ll probably be three-three!” Steve McClaren’s pre-match prediction brough guffaws when he said it on Monday afternoon, in the sanctuary of the Newcastle training ground, as his media duties came to a close.

He was smiling too, his tongue pressed high into his cheek. Newcastle had not scored a goal for 412 minutes when he said it. That is four games and four 1-0 defeats that had wrecked yet another FA Cup campaign and cast serious doubt on which league Newcastle will be playing in next season.

He took eight seconds in that same press conference to answer a question about whether he felt there was enough firepower in his squad when the season started.

He listed the forwards he was given, Papiss Cissé, Manu Rivière and Aleksandar Mitrovic. There is a lot of subtext to Newcastle. You have to read between the lines.

Of course, there should have been a greater urgency to find a proper centre- forward, to carry the legacy of the No 9 shirt that means so much to the supporters when finally the cheque book was being opened. There wasn’t. It has wrecked the first half of Newcastle’s season.

Those supporters unfurled a banner in the first half that read #sportsdirectshame.

It was dismantled in seconds by stewards. You are not allowed a dissenting voice inside Newcastle United. There are defenders at the club slower than those orange-jacketed officials who grabbed the banner.

A lifeless first half was a pale reminder of what their club has become, the slide from the glory of the mid 90s, when Newcastle v Manchester United used to be the biggest fixture in the domestic calendar.

It’s relevance now is only on whether there is a Champions League campaign for one of the Uniteds next season and a Championship one for the other. What you would give to have the thoughts of Sir Alex Ferguson and Kevin Keegan on those lofty ambitions. Both men dragged these two giants from their slumbers and made people dream.

The dilution from the club Keegan was chased out of could be felt in those opening 42 minutes.

Only when Georginio Wijnaldum pounced to fire home a misdirected lay-off from Marouane Fellaini, was there a stir of life.

By then the home team was 2-0 behind. It was the first goal Newcastle had scored since the middle of December. For 454 minutes Newcastle were not even capable of scoring a goal.

It is four years since Newcastle beat Manchester United. Twelve months later they sold one of their goalscorers from that night, Demba Ba, because of a clause in his contract. It is 2016 now and Newcastle have still not replaced Ba, who was outstanding for the club, scoring 29 Premier League goals in 54 games.

Four years and no replacements. That explains the malaise that has so crippled the support.

Since the summer of 2014, Newcastle have spent more than £100 million on a hotchpotch of players – the odd success like Wijnaldum and Daryl Janmaat amongst them – but not on a world-class goal- scorer. They are still looking for a striker, after signing Jonjo Shelvey yesterday and Henri Saivet the day before.

Baffling.

Mitrovic did score his fourth goal since his £13m move in the 67th minute, when he won and then converted a penalty.

St James’ Park woke up then, to give a hint of its glory, when in full voice and backing its team. It has no choice. Yet again they have a foot in the Championship.

It was left to a Geordie to bring McClaren’s unlikely prediction to life, to cancel out a fine third from Wayne Rooney, when, with a minute of normal time remaining, Paul Dummett crashed a left- foot shot into the top corner of David de Gea’s goal.

There was no laughing from McClaren as it flew in. The celebration was real. It is a huge point for the club.

It might keep Newcastle, one-time title rivals of Manchester United, in the same division.