Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer apologised to the club’s fans after a 1-0 defeat at Newcastle left them in 12th place in the Premier League.
Disgruntled travelling supporters sang anti-Glazer family chants as Matty Longstaff’s debut goal at St James’ Park left United without an away win in 11 attempts in all competitions.
Manager Solskjaer admitted after the game that they had simply not been good enough.
He said: “We’re unhappy with the results and it’s the results that bring out the mood of everyone, and I’ve got to say sorry to the fans that we’re not winning games.
“But that’s down to that now as well, we have started a rebuild. This is not a similar situation to when I was sat here after Everton last year when I felt people had given up and they don’t give what they have for the shirt.
“These boys give everything they’ve got for the shirt, and we’ll get there again.”
The visitors enjoyed plenty of possession on Tyneside against a Magpies side routed 5-0 at Leicester a week earlier but failed to convert it into meaningful chances, with defender Harry Maguire’s glaring miss on the stroke of half-time as good as it got.
Asked to assess the performance, Solskjaer said: “Very symptomatic of where we are at the moment, disappointing. We don’t create enough chances to deserve to win a game of football – and that’s the short version.
“The first half, I couldn’t see that one coming before the game because it was such a disappointing performance first half.
“The ball, it seemed like we couldn’t control it, it seemed like it was a hot potato and it was bouncing off our feet.
“Second half was better, we dominated more – but you could still see a couple of counter-attacks coming, especially just before the goal as well.”
Newcastle’s Geordie head coach Steve Bruce was thrilled at the response of his players to their humiliation at the King Power Stadium as he enjoyed the first win of his managerial career over the club for which he played for eight-and-a-half years.
He said: “Especially against who the visitors were… It’s been a long time coming, probably too long.
“It’s been a difficult week in particular, but that result gives everybody a lift, and let’s just hope now they all come back from internationals and we can stay a bit injury-free.”