NEWCASTLE'S Jekyll and Hyde character, embodied best by the enigmatic Laurent Robert, resurfaced at St. James' Park and threatened to make a mockery of their end-of-term celebrations.

As it was, the real Newcastle finally stepped forward and the party ultimately went with a swing as the Magpies indulged in a lap of honour after their last home game to salute the fans who have roared them to Champions' League qualification and sustained average Premiership crowds of more than 51,000 on Tyneside this season.

Manager Bobby Robson has often likened the nature of the club to that of a family, and they were all there on Saturday.

Skipper Alan Shearer, for instance, was accompanied on the pitch by 19-month-old son Will and daughters Chloe and Hollie.

There have been times this season when French winger Robert has had the look of a little boy lost among the throng.

Many believe Newcastle might have run Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool closer for the title had the £9.5m signing from Paris St. Germain performed anywhere near his optimum on a regular basis.

Too often he has disappeared in games, notably in the 3-0 defeat at Liverpool where his exasperated teammates, led by Shearer, rounded on him in the dressing room at the end of the match.

The visit of West Ham provided another example of the good and the bad in the languid Robert who, at 26, is destined to miss out as France prepare to defend the World Cup.

It wasn't until three minutes before half-time that he produced something of genuine quality to help turn the match, what Robson termed a "clever'' through-ball for Shearer to race clear and fire home his 26th goal of the season - and fourth in three games - to ensure parity at the interval.

The Hammers, managed by former Newcastle skipper Glenn Roeder, had taken a deserved 20th-minute lead when rising star Jermain Defoe, brilliantly denied earlier by home goalkeeper Shay Given, scored his 14th this term with an angled drive from Frederic Kanoute's flick-on. But Shearer's goal was the spur for Newcastle and with Robert and Nolberto Solano working wonders on the wings, the transformation was truly remarkable.

Having made one, Robert helped create one for Lomana LuaLua in the 53rd minute. Keeper David James parried Robert's raking drive and LuaLua reacted first to tuck away his third goal in four games.

This time there was only one somersault, not the seven he performed in a fantastic gymnastic display a week earlier at home to Charlton.

And Robert helped himself to his tenth goal of the season 12 minutes later, running on to Solano's sublime crossfield ball, nicking it past the onrushing James and, after the post intervened, knocking it into an empty net.

It was the sort of tour de force which fuels Robson conviction that, on his day, Robert has no equal in the English game.

"His ability has never been in doubt,'' said Robson, who has been more frustrated than anyone with Robert's inconsistency.

"Only when you live with someone do you know what they haven't got.

"We've had him here for nearly a year; we've seen the exterior and now we're seeing the interior.

"We want to make him a good player.

"We talk to him in French, Latin, everything! When he plays like that, there's nobody better in the country.

"He was poorish in the first half and scintillating in the second. When he's like he was in the first half, he's like me - on the bench!

"We just have to manufacture the boy, because in Laurent we have a very talented and exciting player.

"He's like John Barnes was. He's a goalscoring winger and if you get one of those, you've got an asset.

"Laurent has got us vital goals this season. Maybe we're asking too much of him in terms of defensive work, but we just need a bit more from him.

"In the first half here he wanted to give the ball but not go: he started things but didn't finish them.

"In the second half he was a different player. Ian Pearce, who was up against him, must have thought, 'Who's this guy?''' As Newcastle fans sing to the tune of a well-known children's TV show featuring a bear, he's Laurent Robert - and everyone knows his name.

The problem for Robson is, he never knows which Robert he's going to be watching.

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