The 61-year-old was in the stands at St James' Park today - he had still to serve a two-game touchline ban from his spell in charge of Nottingham Forest - to see the Magpies lose 2-1 to Blackburn.

Kinnear, who was appointed as interim manager yesterday, was horrified at the defending which saw Christopher Samba and Roque Santa Cruz head the visitors into a 2-0 lead with just 41 minutes gone.

The former Wimbledon boss, who had addressed the players before kick-off, had some choice words for them at the break, and that seemed to do the trick as they turned in a much-improved second-half display.

However, Michael Owen's 49th-minute penalty - his fifth goal in seven games - was the only tangible reward and Kinnear knows he has a major task on his hands in training on Monday.

He said: "We needed to stop feeling sorry for ourselves.

"We need to get rid of all the issues that are going on - Is the club being sold? Are we bringing back Kevin Keegan? - until it actually happens.

"We need to focus on playing football, it's as simple as that. And they need to play football well.

"But what has not helped matters, I am told, is that six or seven of the best players are missing.

"On the good side, with the international break coming up we could have four or five of them back.

"We need to be more vocal in the dressing room, we need more input. It's something that I have always had throughout my career, feedback from players, players who show emotion, players who want to win, players who have things to say.

"I was pleased with the second half. When we got the early goal we had a reasonable chance with Geremi and he tried to bring it down in the six-yard box when I thought he might have got a shot off.

"But we were tighter at the back, we limited them to maybe two shots in the second half. Having said that, we need to get more end product ourselves from the strikers we have."

Kinnear will also have to watch next week's game at Everton from the stands after being punished for comments made to the referee following Forest's clash with Gillingham in November 2004, shortly before his departure.

Asked about the ban, he said: "I got two matches for calling one of the referees Coco the Clown. I asked the referee what he did in his spare time, and that was it."

Rovers boss Paul Ince was happy that his side had managed to put the ongoing saga at St James' Park out of their minds to claim all three points.

He said: "It was important in the last 48 hours that we shut that out and concentrated on what Blackburn Rovers is all about rather than feeling sorry for Newcastle.

"Also, it was a case of who got the first goal. As soon as we got the first goal I felt at ease because I knew the crowd would get on their backs.

"It's not the [Newcastle] players' fault. They are trying, they are trying really, really hard and I feel sorry for them.

"But at the end of the day, as soon as we got the first goal, I thought we were comfortable."