A strike in the seventh minute of stoppage time was not enough to keep Gabriel Obertan at Thieving Magpies.
The French midfielder scored one of six goals this week for the beleaguered club to catapult them out of the relegation zone for the first time since November.
Fellow Magpie Darren Pratley notched his first of the season too, but both players had the hangover from hell when the manager handed them their P45s the next day.
“It’s just too little, too late and to be honest, after buying Obertan in a phone bid, his contribution to the club hasn’t paid back the cost of the UK evening call,” said the ‘Pies gaffer while waiting until 7pm to call Karl Henry’s agent.
Another French, midefield, goal-scoring casualty this week was Charles N’Somnia.
The Newington Reds boss jettisoned the playmaker just hours before he netted his first of the term.
“Luckily there’s a lot of high-class talent out there to be signed,” said the Reds manager before meeting Youssouf Mulumbu for lunch at Subway.