Protests limited as Newcastle make a point, but Alan Pardew remains public enemy No 1 at St James' Park

There were signs of the rebellion everywhere. From the old man in the Trent House pub who finished off his pint warning there would be “hell on because the manager is useless” to the parents handing placards to their smiling sons and daughters and the excited groups of young men bounding up the hill ready to unleash a torrent of abuse on manager Alan Pardew’s silver head.

Yet, inside St James’ Park there were few signs of the mass protests promised. It was replaced by an uneasy atmosphere, occasionally crackling with chants calling for Pardew’s removal. There were also regular airings of old chants urging Mike Ashley, the Newcastle United owner, to sell up and move on.

But, with many of the anti-Pardew banners and placards confiscated by stewards at turnstiles, the protests were engulfed by the more familiar sight of Newcastle’s supporters doing everything they can to support their team.

This is the eternal contradiction of the Newcastle supporter. They can be demanding, hard to please and emotionally charged, but they will always be loyal to those in black and white stripes. No matter how angry they are with those who run the club in their name, no matter how many of them have lost affection and belief in the manager, they would rather support the team on a match day than hurt it. It is loyalty to a fault; blind, unflinching and unbreakable.

It is a loyalty that meant Pardew escaped being subjected to the hate of a baying mob and it meant Ashley could sit with his arms folded in the director’s box, safe in the knowledge that the supporters who do not approve of him and resent the lack of ambition he presides over, will still pack the stadium he has covered in Sports Direct branding.

Without Newcastle’s fans getting behind their team, Hull City would have won this match with ease. Newcastle did not play badly, but it was hardly inspiring stuff, one-paced, shaky at the back and devoid of a goal threat until Papiss Demba Cissé emerged from the bench, got two chances and scored them.

But if Pardew thought anything had changed in the widespread animosity towards him he was wrong. The fans, despite his accusations they were caught in the grip of mass hysteria in the build-up to the game, were restrained, but they still made sure he knew it will take more than a draw at home to Hull – extended a bad run to one win in 13 games – to quell calls for him to go.

He was booed whenever he caught their attention from the moment he left the sanctuary of the tunnel. Even in the midst of the joyful celebrations of Cissé’s first goal, Pardew was reminded he would not be allowed to take the credit for anything good that happened.

As Cissé danced up the touchline with the crowds’ cheers ringing in his ears, Pardew stuck out a hand to high five him and St James’ Park booed loudly when Cissé touched it.

It was a brutally calculated moment which, crucially, could not have done anything to harm the team. The fact Newcastle managed to score again, roared on towards the Gallowgate End, owed as much to the noise being made in the stands, as it did to incisive attacking play.

Indeed, Hull’s defenders were lulled into a false sense of security before Cissé’s arrival. Deservedly leading through Nikica Jelavic’s acrobatic scissor-kick and Mohamed Diamé’s thunderbolt, they looked comfortable dealing with Newcastle’s stunted, long-ball attacks.

Cissé changed that, drilling a low shot past Allan McGregor that the goalkeeper should have saved easily at his near post, before tapping in an equaliser with three minutes remaining, when Gouffran was left unmarked by Hull’s young full-back Andrew Robertson, and headed back across goal.

“I’m just a happy man,” Cissé said. “I came back from injury and scored two goals and gained one point for the team. It has been hard for the manager all week, but he told us we had to be disciplined and work hard, forget about everything else and concentrate on the pitch.”

Steve Bruce, the Hull manager, left knowing his team had thrown the win away with their carelessness.

“We’ve got the makings of a very decent side and hopefully we’ll get better,” he said. “We’ve always been so resolute and don’t make silly mistakes like that. Unfortunately today we’ve been punished. We should be winning the game. It’s like a morgue in our dressing room.”