WHILE most players dream of scoring against their former club, it is safe to assume that Lee Bowyer will derive little satisfaction from yesterday's decisive strike at the Valley.

The former Charlton midfielder knew little about the 36th-minute deflection that sent Craig Moore's clearance careering into the Newcastle net, yet it was perfectly in keeping with much that went both before and after it.

That Bowyer's unfortunate aberration did not mark the low point of yet another dire defensive display says much about the Magpies' current plight. It comes to something when an own goal is little more than the logical next step in a succession of mishaps and misjudgements.

Newcastle's next manager will face a myriad of problems when he takes over at St James' Park, but the need to radically overhaul a persistently porous defence will be by far the most pressing.

Martin O'Neill, who remains the favourite for the post and attended a meeting with representatives of the United board last week, was hailed as a miracle worker after taking Wycombe into the Football League, leading Leicester into Europe and steering Celtic to the final of the UEFA Cup. He will need to be to sort out this lot.

With Jean-Alain Boumsong back to his bungling worst and Craig Moore blighting his first Newcastle start with the concession of a penalty and the rushed first-half clearance that cannoned into Bowyer, the visitors were their own worst enemies yet again.

Charlton were little better than they had been against Middlesbrough on Thursday night but, with Newcastle's defence in front of them, the likes of Darren Bent and Matt Holland were transformed into world-beaters.

At least the Magpies' failings made things interesting. While the pressure of an FA Cup quarter-final served to constrain Charlton and Middlesbrough in the week, the freedom afforded by Premiership mediocrity enabled yesterday's opponents to take more of a risk in pursuit of a breakthrough.

Newcastle were the chief beneficiaries initially, with both Bowyer and Scott Parker clearly relishing a return to south-east London.

Bowyer's third-minute lay-off teed up Alan Shearer for a long-range piledriver that he blazed over the crossbar, before the pair combined again to carve out another opening on the quarter-hour mark.

Shearer's intelligent step-over took out two Charlton defenders as Nolberto Solano fed the ball in from the right, but the onrushing Bowyer was unable to find the target as he fired a low drive across the face of goal.

Charlton's attackers had barely featured at that stage but, predictably enough, they were eventually ushered into the game by a Newcastle defence bearing gifts.

Both the out-of-form Boumsong and the out-of-position Peter Ramage made a mess of clearing a routine long ball into the box and, with Jerome Thomas about to pounce on the edge of the area, Moore was penalised for a clumsy lunge at the former Arsenal midfielder.

Darren Bent's 20th goal of the season was a formality from the penalty spot, but there was nothing routine about Newcastle's dramatic leveller in the 35th minute.

Parker has hardly been a goal machine since his £6.5m move from Chelsea in the summer but, after picking up a pull-back from Shearer in a pocket of space, the midfielder arrowed an unstoppable 30-yard strike into the top-right hand corner of the net.

The strike silenced an antagonistic home crowd and provided a timely reminder of the skills that had made Parker such a fans' favourite during his 145 games for the Addicks. Clearly, his shooting boots had been held in storage at the Valley.

The 25-year-old's effort was an unexpected bolt from the blue, something that could hardly be said about Charlton's second when it came less than 60 seconds later.

Once again, a routine long ball proved the Magpies' undoing, with Hermann Hreidarsson's header causing confusion in the six-yard box and Moore's hasty clearance ricocheting off a helpless Bowyer before rebounding into the net.

As far as illustrations of how not to defend go, Newcastle's bungling was right up there with the best, but, almost unbelievably, things got even worse after the interval.

Matt Holland's 62nd-minute through ball was hardly out of the ordinary, yet it still reduced the Magpies' backline to a shambolic mess.

With both Boumsong and Moore holding their line, an onside Marcus Bent was allowed to advance on goal unchecked, only for the former Everton striker to shank his shot well wide. It was a miss that was every bit as embarrassing as the abject defending that had preceded it.

The visitors weren't finished, though, and a third Charlton goal duly arrived with one minute left. Dennis Rommedahl skipped past Boumsong on the left-hand side and fellow substitute Jay Bothroyd stole between Moore and Peter Ramage to glance a front-post header past Shay Given. It was a fitting finale to yet another bad day at the back.

Result: Charlton Athletic 3, Newcastle United 1.