Tottenham played off the park by Newcastle in shameful 6-1 trashing at St James' Park

Newcastle United 6-1 Tottenham Hotspur

The Tottenham Hotspur players should hang their heads in shame after being brushed 6-1 aside against Newcastle United at St James’ Park on Sunday afternoon.

Fourth-placed Newcastle against Tottenham sitting only three points behind, had all the makings of a top-four decider.

And it’s hard to see how Harry Kane and company are going to come back from this, not least as the Magpies still have a game in hand on their closest Champions League rivals. If they win it they'll be nine ahead with only 24 up for grabs.

If we decide to ignore the result in itself, the manner of this disasterclass could have fatal repercussions on the players because conceding FIVE goals in 21 minutes isn’t normal. It simply isn't for a team that still featured in the Champions League this season.

Antonio Conte, watching from his Turin sofa, must have given the most gloating account of himself in front of the television.

He knew what he was talking about after all. His repetitive interviews, which infuriated club and fans, are now surely justified. He knew that this Spurs team wasn’t cut out to perform at the top level. He knew he had taken this bunch of players as far as he could. And it certainly won’t get any easier for the club to convince star man Harry Kane to see out the last year of his never-ending contract.

Spurs were so bad on the day that even Magpies heroes Alan Shearer, Tino Asprilla and Philippe Albert could have temporarily come out of retirement and make an impact.

Both sides took to the pitch on the back of painful defeats at Aston Villa and at home to Bournemouth respectively but time has now told us all that the Magpies’ 3-0 reversal in Birmingham was just a blip. For Tottenham it was the beginning of the end in their quest to finish above fifth.

Eddie Howe’s rampant players knew the importance of this game from the off. And feeding off the spectacular crowd, it took Jacob Murphy only two minutes to give Toon the lead after Hugo Lloris kept Joelinton’s initial effort out.

Only four minutes later the experienced Brazilian scored himself after a brilliant run in behind Pedro Porro before holding his nerve in front of Lloris and tapping home.

There were still 81 minutes plus stoppage to go but this already turned into a damage limitation exercise for the Londoners. Not content with being 2-0 up, Toon turned up the heat and made a real statement of intent.

And after an ill-advised Dier pass destined for Son was intercepted, the ball fell to Murphy’s feet. And he picked his spot from distance to make it 3-0 after NINE minutes.

Sweden international Alexander Isak, who joined for £60m from Real Socieded, joined the celebrations adding goals number four and five of the afternoon.

While the disjointedly shell-shocked Spurs players failed to grasp what was going on, the electric Toon fans wished this game never ended.

The only positives of the day for Spurs were Kane’s goal and the fact they only conceded once more after the interval.

Unaffected by the “you’re just a s*** Alan Shearer” chorus ringing out, the club’s record goalscorer pounced on a rare wobbling moment to fire home a consolation goal for Spurs.

But the home side were so good they netted again. Dangermen Miguel Almiron and Wilson, who had just come off the bench, gave the supporters another lovely moment to savour. The Paraguayan’s effort inside the box ricocheted off Romero for Wilson to convert for 6-1.

Today was undoubtedly the high-water mark of the Saudis reign on Tyneside with the club looking set to return to the Champions League after a 20-year absence. For Spurs, the nadir. It’s time for reflection and it would be surprising if Stellini was still in the hotseat for the reception of Man United on Thursday.

Newcastle United

22 Pope- 2 Trippier- 4 Botman- 5 Schaer- 7 Joelinton- 14 Isak- 23 Murphy- 28 Willock- 33 Burn- 36 Longstaff- 39 Guimaraes

Tottenham Hotspur

1 Lloris- 4 Skipp- 5 Hojbierg- 7 Son Heung-Min- 10 Kane- 14 Perisic- 15 Dier- 17 Romero- 21 Kulusevski- 23 Porro- 29 Sarr