NEWCASTLE UNITED’S calamitous season went from bad to worse as they crashed to a resounding 5-1 defeat at the hands of a Crystal Palace side led by their former boss, Alan Pardew.

Steve McClaren issued some harsh home truths at the start of the week, and challenged his players to prove their commitment to the cause in the wake of last weekend’s home defeat to Leicester City.

The response was a diabolical performance littered with defensive errors and listless displays that places a huge question mark over McClaren’s position. Whether anyone could elicit an improvement from the current crop of Newcastle players, however, is a moot point.

The Magpies actually led at Selhurst Park thanks to Papiss Cisse’s early header, but the concession of two quick-fire goals to James McArthur and Yannick Bolasie turned the game on its head before the 20-minute mark.

Wilfried Zaha added a third goal shortly before the interval, with Bolasie and McArthur both claiming their second goal of the game to complete the scoring in the second half.

With Sunderland winning and Bournemouth claiming a dramatic late draw, the result drops Newcastle to 19th position ahead of matches against Liverpool and Spurs.

Last week’s training-ground clear-the-air talks resulted in the demotion of Aleksandar Mitrovic to the substitutes’ bench, with Cisse replacing the Serbian in the starting line-up.

Cisse was making his first league start since mid-September, and after displaying a couple of bright early touches, the Newcastle number nine gave his side the ideal start.

Having timed his run towards the edge of the six-yard box perfectly, Cisse found himself completely unmarked as Daryl Janmaat floated over a cross from the right, and duly glanced a deft header into the bottom left-hand corner of the net.

The goal should have given Newcastle something to hold on to, and having claimed the lead, it was imperative the Magpies shut up shop for the next ten minutes.

Instead, they conceded two goals in the space of three minutes as their chronic defensive deficiencies came to the fore once more.

Palace’s threat on the break was hardly a surprise given the presence of Zaha, Bolasie and Jason Puncheon in their starting line-up, yet Newcastle were still wide open as they proved completely incapable of dealing with their opponents’ counter-attacks.

Just four minutes after claiming the lead, Connor Wickham was able to turn on the edge of the area as Fabricio Coloccini inexplicably stood off him. The former Sunderland striker rolled the ball into the path of McArthur, and the midfielder’s 20-yard strike took a huge deflection off Paul Dummett before looping into the net.

There was a large slice of luck about McArthur’s finish, but Newcastle could hardly bemoan their fortune when they conceded again in the 17th minute.

Wickham was involved again, crossing from the right-hand side, and Coloccini, Chancel Mbemba and Janmaat all somehow failed to make a connection with the ball before Bolasie drilled home at the back post.

With Jack Colback and Vurnon Anita unable to make any kind of impact at the heart of midfield, and neither Moussa Sissoko nor Georginio Wijnaldum offering any kind of protection from the wide positions, Palace were able to break on Newcastle’s back four at will.

Zaha caused Dummett a series of problems as he tore down the right-hand side, and it was hardly a surprise to see the winger claiming Palace’s third goal shortly before the interval.

Wickham hurdled a dreadful attempt a challenge from Mbemba, and pulled the ball back into the area. Zaha, predictably enough, was in acres of space, and his half-volley cannoned into the turf before spinning into the top left-hand corner of the net.

McClaren needed to tighten things up at the break, and he responded by bringing on Jamaal Lascelles for Ayoze Perez and switching to a three-man central defence and a 5-4-1 formation.

Two minutes later, and Palace scored their fourth.

Yohan Cabaye floated a free-kick in the area, Damian Delaney headed the ball back across the face of goal, and Bolasie volleyed home from close range as Newcastle’s defence was once again guilty of ball watching.

The hosts should have claimed a fifth before the hour mark, but after Zaha delivered another dangerous cross from the left, Wickham somehow got the ball stuck between his feet when it looked much easier to score.

The presence of an extra defender did nothing to make Newcastle more resolute in the second half, and Lascelles’ slow reactions enabled Bolasie to reach Pape Souare’s left-wing cross, only for his shot to sail over the crossbar when a more polished finish would almost certainly have brought him a hat-trick.

McClaren’s second raft of changes saw the introduction of Siem de Jong and Yoan Gouffran, but while the former saw a shot deflect narrowly wide following a knock-down from Cisse, it was Palace’s understandable lack of urgency in the latter stages that was the key factor in Newcastle finally steadying the ship.

There was still time for the hosts to inflict further misery, however, with McArthur claiming his second goal of the game in stoppage time. Lascelles’ dreadful attempted clearance from Bolasie’s cross went straight to the midfielder, who drilled home from close range.

Crystal Palace (4-2-3-1): Hennessey; Ward, Dann, Delaney, Souare; McArthur, Cabaye (Lee 75); Zaha (Jedinak 67), Puncheon, Bolasie; Wickham (Bamford 86).

Subs (not used): Speroni (gk), Kelly, Ledley, Chamakh.

Newcastle (4-2-3-1): Elliot; Janmaat, Mbemba, Coloccini, Dummett; Colback (de Jong 69), Anita; Sissoko, Perez (Lascelles 46), Wijnaldum (Gouffran 69); Cisse.

Subs (not used): Darlow (gk), Sterry, Thauvin, Mitrovic.

HOW TWITTER REACTED TO THE DEFEAT:

mark allman ‏@allman85 

no idea what McClaren is trying to achieve. no identity. would much prefer to see him drop players and put his stamp on the side #nufc

Luke Tansley ‏@LukeTansley2  

• McClaren isn't good enough • Charnley doesn't know what he's doing • Carr can't spot a mentally weak mercenary #NUFC need to clean house

Jamie Mercer ‏@Jamie_Mercer  

Jamie Vardy has now scored the same number of goals as the entire #NUFC squad. #context #LCFC #LEIMUN

Nick Bird ‏@nickbird1982  

Players called in tomorrow. Well I guess we can all expect a raft of personal apology emails written in perfect English #nufc

Phil Eagle ‏@philegl  

A disgustingly weak performance #NUFC. Sack them all. No passion no commitment and no skill. Board are clueless and the manager hopeless

Dalias ‏@DalianSpratt 

I don't even think Jesus could save our season #Nufc