The arrival of Kevin Campbell and Scot Gemmill was supposedly a sad indication that Everton were doomed.
Everyone knows the script. Walter Smith, left with a transfer kitty of three buttons and a Scottish pound note, is reduced to signing two players of dubious Premiership quality. In the battle for survival they prove as useful as bombing Belgrade with a biplane.
Except that, unlike Nato, Smith seems to have got his targets spot on. Campbell and Gemmill, a midfielder considered expendable even by Nottingham Forest, scored the goals on Saturday which will surely save Everton from the drop. It was appropriate that Campbell, who came on loan from Trabzonspor of Turkey after the chairman described him as "a discoloured cannibal", should have eaten Newcastle alive.
His two first-half strikes made him Everton's joint leading Premiership goal-scorer with four, all accumulated in the past two matches. With scant respect for recent Goodison history, the 29-year-old is averaging a goal a game.
Campbell, unlike most sane folk, would gladly swap the Black Sea for the Mersey (his wife has already made it clear she will not return) and Smith must be equally keen to keep him beyond May.
"Hopefully something can be sorted out about me joining on a permanent basis," the striker said. "But that's not in my hands." Unfortunately, it is not in Smith's either. Until an expected take-over goes through, it is unclear how much money will be available.
What is clear is that Everton have found an unlikely saviour. Until he departed with a hip injury after 62 minutes, Campbell was at his bulldozing best against strangely uninterested opponents. It was tempting to think Newcastle were suffering from a hangover after reaching the FA Cup final. But then Ruud Gullit banned booze after the Spurs win.
"We knew Kevin from Arsenal and Nottingham Forest and he's added a different class," said Don Hutchison. "Duncan Ferguson leaving left a massive gap but he's come in and, wearing Duncan's number nine shirt, he's taken it on his shoulders and scored some great goals." Not that Hutchison was as pleased as his team-mates at this success. Born in Gateshead of Newcastle United stock, he left to face the wrath of his mum who lives only a couple of minutes away from St James' Park.
With cup final places up for grabs, Newcastle's performance was especially puzzling. David Beharall, a centre-half making his first start, was one of few to emerge with credit but he will fall down the pecking order with the expected arrival of the French defender Alain Goma from Paris StGermain.
"I think we played some good football," Gullit said, "but the anger, the desire to win was missing. It's like having a Ferrari and using it only to fourth gear." Everton resembled a jalopy whining in fifth but delighted at last to be out of reverse. Smith admitted his side were less impressive than they had been during the 4-1 FA Cup defeat here last month. But that mattered little.
Campbell seized on a pass from Hutchison to put them ahead after 42 seconds and made Alan Shearer pay for a missed penalty by bundling in the second via Aaron Hughes. Although Shearer later made amends from the spot, Gemmill secured victory with a neat volley. The sight of two of their former players inflicting the damage must have made Forest wonder what might have been.
A similar result at home to Charlton on Saturday and Everton will be able to relax. "Newcastle have got their cup final and that's ours," said Campbell, whom Everton would do well to keep.
Newcastle: Given, Beharall, Lee, Speed, Shearer, Hughes, Barton, Ketsbaia (Solano 75), Griffin, Hamann, Maric (Saha 55). Subs Not Used: Harper, Pearce, Andersson. Booked: Lee. Goals: Shearer 82 pen.
Everton: Myhre, Ball, Dacourt, Watson, Unsworth, Campbell (Bakayoko 62), Hutchison, Gemmill, Short, Weir, Jeffers (Cadamarteri 82). Subs Not Used: Gerrard, Ward, Degn. Booked: Short, Gemmill. Goals: Campbell 1, 44, Gemmill 88.
Referee: G Poll (Tring).
