EVEN allowing for Newcastle United’s taste for the theatrical, it has been a tumultuous week in the history of the club, but the feel-good factor has returned to St James’ Park. Never before have they entered March while still involved in two knockout competitions and they will face Olympiakos in the last 16 of the Uefa Cup. The transformation must be all Greek to supporters.

Seven days previously, Newcastle fans had sung a lusty rendition of “sack the board,” yet their season straddles a razor-blade. Graeme Souness has not been welcomed with abandon, yet the manager now has scope to manoeuvre. Dreams are alive. “Three years ago, Feyenoord won this cup and their team was not as good,” Gertjan Verbeek, the Heerenveen head coach, said. “If Newcastle believe it, they can do it.”

This was a night for nurturing fantasies. The weather was atrocious and Newcastle’s progress was serene, if understated. An own goal from Michel Breuer — forced by the influential Laurent Robert — and one from Alan Shearer, both scored in the first half, dampened Heerenveen’s spirits. A late consolation from the penalty spot by Arnold Bruggink was barely registered.

A lowly crowd of 26,156 indicated that a traumatic occasion was not envisaged, but Olympiakos, who beat Sochaux 2-0 over two legs, may represent a different proposition. It took heroics from Steven Gerrard, of Liverpool, to prevent Rivaldo and company from qualifying for the latter stages of the European Cup and Newcastle will return to Athens, where they beat Panionios last October, expecting a stiffer test.

Confidence is not a reliable commodity on Tyneside, but it did not take long for Robert, then Shearer, to send it soaring. The Frenchman endures a brittle relationship with Souness, who views talent without application with suspicion, but his value to the Scot has been immeasurable over the past few days.

If any individual has been responsible for the pendulum swinging so dramatically in the manager’s favour, it is Robert. His introduction from the substitutes’ bench initiated Newcastle’s comeback in the Netherlands and he supplied the wicked cross for Patrick Kluivert to score the goal that did for Chelsea in the fifth round of the FA Cup. His recent consistency was repeated last night.

Ten minutes had whirred by when he collected a tidy flick from Kieron Dyer, sashayed to the byline and thumped the ball into the penalty area, where Breuer speared it into his own net. “From that point,” Verbeek said, “it was never a game any more,” and Robert, unquestionably, was the reason. “I was delighted with Laurent,” Souness said. “More of the same, please.”

Given the sodden conditions, the floodgates should have opened. By the midway point, Newcastle had amassed a lead that could have nudged double figures. Shola Ameobi, deputising for the injured Kluivert, spurned three solid chances — Dyer neglected to follow one up — while Nicky Butt shot viciously and Robert prompted a smart save from Brian Vandenbussche.

Little had fallen to Shearer, but after 25 minutes Dyer tumbled after contact from Breuer, the luckless centre half, and the captain walloped in the resulting free kick; Vandenbussche’s glancing touch was an irrelevance. Shearer’s 25th appearance in this competition represented a club record and, in his final season, others may be forthcoming.

Heerenveen had been restricted to token pressure. Theirs had been the opening attack, a drive from Klaas Jan Huntelaar that Shay Given blocked unfussily, but the threat was a mirage. Bruggink spun a shot wide of the post but the second half meandered and Newcastle coasted.

“In the minds of some players, the job was done by half-time,” Souness said. But if the performance was restrained, there was no hint of rebellion. Bruggink’s penalty in the 80th minute, awarded for Ameobi’s handling offence, was a minor irritation.

NEWCASTLE UNITED (4-4-2): S Given — S Carr, T Bramble, A O’Brien (sub: S Taylor, 78min), A Hughes — K Dyer (sub: J Jenas, 46), A Faye, N Butt, L Robert — F Ameobi, A Shearer (sub: J Milner, 65). Substitutes not used: C N’Zogbia, D Ambrose, T Caig, P Ramage.

HEERENVEEN (4-3-3): B Vandenbussche — S Bakkati, P Hansson, M Breuer (sub: M Seip, 74), T Rzasa — M Väyrynen, A Radomski, D Hestad — U Yildirim, K J Huntelaar (sub: G Samaras, 68), A Bruggink (sub: V Sikora, 80). Substitutes not used: B Waterman, Y Rose, H Haarala, T Prager.

Referee: D Delevic (Yugoslavia).

Valencia will discuss the future of Claudio Ranieri, their former Chelsea coach, today after the Spanish champions and Uefa Cup holders made their exit in a penalty shoot-out against Steaua Bucharest. Steaua repeated Valencia’s 2-0 victory from the first leg before winning 4-3 on penalties.

LAST 16

Austria Vienna or Athletic Bilbao v Real Zaragoza
Lille v Auxerre
MIDDLESBROUGH v Sporting Lisbon
Olympiakos v NEWCASTLE UTD
Panathinaikos or Seville v Parma
Partizan Belgrade v CSKA Moscow or Benfica Shakhtar
Donetsk v AZ Alkmaar
Steaua Bucharest v Dynamo Kiev or Villarreal

First leg ties to be played March 10, second leg matches will be played on March 17