Leicester City manager Nigel Pearson jokes that 'ostrich burgers’ lift side ahead of Newcastle win

Newcastle United is a club in freefall and so utterly devoid of direction they would take a wrong turn en route to the abyss.

This pitiful, wimpish performance at the King Power Stadium had the overpowering stench of relegation and even chairman Mike Ashley cannot ignore the warning lights in bright red neon.

Years of mismanagement could leave Ashley paying the ultimate price of dropping into the Championship unless he wakes up to the fact that John Carver – a decent, honest man with Newcastle blood coursing through his veins – is totally out of his depth.

Newcastle probably need only one win to survive but you cannot see it coming under Carver, especially after his astonishing attack on his squad following this eighth successive defeat.

Leicester were everything Newcastle were not - passionate, determined, adventurous and completely aware of the ramifications of the game on their season.

The painful sight of Newcastle’s players, led by captain Fabricio Coloccini, receiving the bird from their own fans after the final whistle was the footnote of a disastrous afternoon.

Coloccini has demanded an instant response but hit back at accusations that the Newcastle squad do not care about their predicament.

“We haven’t given in, it would be wrong to say that. It’s not true that we don’t care. If you go to the training ground, you will see that we train hard and do everything we can to be successful,” he said.

“Sometimes you can have bad times, but it’s not because you don’t care. We are trying everything to win. The most important thing here is the club and the supporters. We are playing for them, and we should be better than we are.

“Any player who wants to play in the Championship must be stupid. It would be crazy to think like that. Now, we all have to understand that our position is serious. We have to wake up because we are in a fight.

“We are not thinking about the manager and the future, we are just thinking about the present and we have to be better. We are looking for one win.”

While Newcastle are heading inexorably towards relegation, Leicester are on course for survival after a fifth win in six games.

Leonardo Ulloa’s header after 37 seconds set the tone for a commanding team performance, before Wes Morgan flicked in Marc Albrighton’s free kick.

Emmanuel Riviere’s inexplicable push on Marcin Wasilewski enabled Ulloa to extend their lead from the penalty spot and Mike Williamson was dismissed just after the hour for a dangerous challenge on Jamie Vardy. Daryl Janmaat completed Newcastle’s misery by being sent off in injury time.

This was the perfect response for Nigel Pearson, the Leicester manager, after his bizarre “ostrich” rant at a journalist following the Chelsea defeat in midweek.

And Pearson revealed the spirit and togetherness of his squad and backroom staff has remained fully intact during a difficult few days.

“There’s been a bit of banter, including ostrich burgers on the menu at the training ground,” he said.

“You have to be able to laugh at yourself and allow other people to do that. Look, what happened, happened. What makes it easier is getting this result today, of course it does.

“But Newcastle are still one point ahead of us and that in itself means we have work to do.”