THE Newcastle United captain, Scott Parker, is nothing if not influential. Visibly upset by his part in an injury to the Fulham midfielder, Jimmy Bullard, he cleared his mind to score what should have been the winner, before making way with a knock of his own.

That his teammates should then collapse, conceding two goals in the last eight minutes of a match that had a home win written all over it, was no coincidence.

Parker, of all people, did not deserve to lose. Upset by the first-half incident that led to Bullard being stretchered off with a badly twisted knee, he had to be consoled by his manager, Glenn Roeder, on the touchline. To check on Bullard’s condition, he went to Fulham’s dressing room at half-time, again at full-time, and somehow managed to score a goal in between. As it turned out, he need not have worried.

Fulham manager Chris Coleman insisted the injury was not as bad as it looked, and emphasised that Parker should not be held responsible.

“It shocked the boys a little bit,” said the Fulham manager. “Scott was in shock as well, but it was a fair challenge with no malice whatever in it. With his foot planted on the floor, his leg went one way and his knee the other.

“It didn’t look great, and he was in a lot of pain, but I don’t think it’s a real bad one. All respect to Scottie, though. His team conceded three points in about five minutes, but he still came in at full-time.”

Bullard, signed in the summer from Wigan Athletic, was taken to hospital. Fulham assistant manager Steve Kean said from the hospital: “It’s nowhere near as bad as we thought. He dislocated his kneecap and will be out for six to eight weeks, which is brilliant news for us. He’ll be travelling back with us tonight.”

It must have cheered Bullard up no end to hear that his team had gone on in his absence to secure only their second away win in over a year.

Despite mustering barely a shot on goal all afternoon, the London side somehow contrived to produce two in a storming finale, and scored from each of them.

Brian McBride popped up at the back post to sidefoot home a Wayne Routledge cross, before five minutes later pranging a header against the crossbar from the other end of the six-yard area. In the ensuing melee, substitute Carlos Bocanegra bundled it over the line to disgust an already disgruntled home support.

With Coleman in no doubt that the departure of Parker was crucial, the player’s knee injury, which he sustained late in the game, will be a worry to Newcastle.

“He was not giving us an inch in midfield,” said the Fulham manager. “So when he came off injured it gave us a lift, and gave us more space. We were lucky. Until then, it had been all Newcastle.”

Roeder, meanwhile, blamed the defeat on individual errors, and although he didn’t single out any of his players, Titus Bramble was posted missing for the second goal. How Newcastle’s manager must wish that the £15m spent on Damien Duff and Obafemi Martins had been more evenly distributed through the team.

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