A FURIOUS Alan Pardew slammed his players for an 'unacceptable performance' that condemned Newcastle United to a fourth consecutive league home defeat for the first time in the Premier League era.

After the Magpies had fallen behind to Emmanuel Adebayor's opener in the 19th minute, Pardew was often seen shaking his head in his technical area as his players conceded three more goals in the second half.

Paulinho made it two eight minutes after the restart, Adebayor crashed in his second of the night in the 82nd minute and then Nacer Chadli wrapped things up in style with a late fourth.

The 4-0 defeat could have been even worse, with Tottenham, who are chasing a Champions League place, tearing the Newcastle defence apart almost every time they counter-attacked at St James' Park.

And Pardew, whose side have won just one of their last nine after spending the first half of the campaign in touch with the top four, admitted his team looked like they had lost self-belief.

“For the first time, I think we looked a bit unconfident, a bit unsure of what we’re doing,” said Pardew. “I thought we lacked energy in certain areas, I’m not going to elaborate more on that. Of course I’m not happy.

“This is a game where as a manager you expect life and limb on the football pitch. As a player, that’s what I gave and that’s what I expect my players to give, in every moment, in every game.

“I don’t care what the scoreline is, I don’t care what the scenario is, that’s what I expect and that’s what these fans expect. And if you drop down from that, then you’re going to suffer a game like that.”

Pardew took his time in emerging from the dressing room after last night's game and he left his players clear in how disappointed he was with their display.

But he said: “It was a tough night really in terms of what I was hoping to come out of the game with. The performance wasn’t good enough, we were dominated from start to finish and we lost 4-0. That really sums it up.

“I made my views very clear in the dressing room and that’s where they’ll stay. I'm not going to say too much in front of you guys (media) other than to give a message to our fans to say that wasn’t good enough. And Aston Villa, we need to make sure it’s good enough.”

Newcastle, out of the FA Cup, now have a free weekend and by the time they face Aston Villa at St James' a week on Sunday it is hoped injured pair Fabricio Coloccini and Cheik Tiote will be back.

Suspended striker Loic Remy will also be available again and Pardew, who had been hoping for a much better result in his 150th game in charge of the club, will be hoping the return of the trio will lead to better form.

“We’re in at quarter to ten tomorrow,” said Pardew, whose side remain ninth and nine points ahead of tenth placed Swansea. “They’d better get the message because they’re going to get it loud and clear this week.

“I don’t want to stand there on my 150th game and watch a performance like that. I don’t care about how good Tottenham were. They don’t interest me. They were good but my team has to be better than that and I’m not going to go into any more detail than that.”

Full-back Davide Santon was replaced at the break after a tough first half In truth it could have been one of a number of Newcastle players hauled off after such a frustrating night on Tyneside for the club.

“I felt we needed a left footer down that side so Davide came off,” said Pardew. “I thought Paul Dummett did well when he came on. Probably him and Mathieu Debuchy were the only two players who came out of this game with any credit tonight in my opinion.”

While Newcastle wonder where the next win will come from, Tottenham march on under Tim Sherwood.

Only a late winner from Steven Gerrard for Liverpool last night prevented Spurs from closing the gap to the Champions League places to one point.

And the impact of Adebayor, who has scored eight in 11 league games since he was recalled following the sacking of Andre Villas-Boas.

Adebayor said: “The last time I had a good run like this was at Arsenal and they were good memories for me .

“The manager has given me a chance to play, my team-mates believe in me and, the most important thing for me is to play and enjoy myself and that is what I am doing. It is going quite well at the moment, so let me enjoy it and see what I can achieve.”