Wednesday woes for Newcastle

AFTER crashing out of the Capital One Cup to the hands of lower league opposition in midweek, Newcastle fans will be dreading the thought of the Premier League champions coming to town on Saturday evening.

The defeat to Sheffield Wednesday continued to pile misery on Steve McClaren’s miserable start as Newcastle boss, as the word ‘crisis’ harmonised with the crescendo of boos echoing around St. James’ Park.

The two biggest issues coming out of this latest defeat, was the fact the Magpies faced a Wednesday side that had made ten changes from the weekend, and they still couldn’t manage to score, nor register a shot on target.

Despite heavy investment in the side, it appears a lot more needs to be done to ensure Newcastle start to pull in the right direction. It’s a case of same old, same old despite a summer of transition.

It’s hard to see a glimmer of light in dark times, though the only thing that Newcastle can hold on to ahead of the Chelsea game is that Diego Costa won’t be playing, as the player serves the second of a three match ban. Though with Radamel Falcao and Loic Remy to call upon it’s just another constant reminder of what Newcastle haven’t got, strength in depth up top.

Unfortunately it doesn't look like the tide is going to turn at Newcastle any time soon so whatever the result on Saturday, what fans really want from McClaren’s men is a passionate and hard working performance. That in itself will prove a positive step if Newcastle are to turn their season around.

What has gone wrong?

FIRST thing’s first and it’s clear to see that there is a severe lack of confidence in the dressing room at Newcastle. The John Carver cobwebs clearly have not been swept away, and it’s putting the team in real jeopardy.

Secondly the incomings/outgoings in the transfer market have not done enough to turn that mood around and make a positive impact on the performances.

The additions are Premier League novices, and are putting fans’ heads in their hands, rather than bums on the edge of seats. Florian Thauvin at £13m is a prime example of that.

You expect a lot more of a return for that amount of money, as such is the frantic pace of the Premier League, you simply do not have time to let these players settle, you need instant impact.

No No 9 on the Tyne

YOU won’t win games if you don’t score goals. A simplistic statement, a simplistic problem for Newcastle, but how they fix it is far more complex.

The Tyneside outfit have scored the fewest amount of goals in the Premier League this season (3), and have failed to find the net in five out of eight games in all competitions this term.

Aleksandar Mitrovic in on course for more cards than goals, and that needs to change, and Papiss Cisse looks a shadow of his former self as he bids to re-find his goalscoring touch. Unless something changes soon, it will be a long wait until the SOS of the January transfer window.

Who to start up front against Chelsea is the biggest problem? If only they had Adam Armstrong back from his loan with Coventry, he’d be worth a shout at this rate despite his lack of experience.