FourFourTwo

FIVE-POINT PLAn

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1 COMMUNICAT­E WITH SUPPORTERS

Non- existent throughout Mike Ashley’s reign, communicat­ion must be improved between the club and its fans if the owner is here to stay. Managing director Lee Charnley told fans, “You’ll be hearing from me a lot more” in the first matchday programme of 2019- 20, then remained silent for the rest of the season. The club needs to talk, listen to and engage with the people who love it.

2 FIND A LETHAL FRONTMAN

Collective­ly, Newcastle’s three strikers scored six league goals between them, across 46 starts. Dwight Gayle was clearly the main goal threat with four in 10, but a new striker is essential – £ 40m Brazilian Joelinton looks as if he’d struggle to hit water if he fell out of a boat. Two goals in 45 hours of league football isn’t a great return, is it?

3 STRENGTHEN IN MIDFIELD

Newcastle are desperate for some legs in midfield. Isaac Hayden has proven himself to be a fine Premier League player and an able foil for Jonjo Shelvey, but the engine room lacks guile and creativity – for all of the misfiring upfront, an xg of 36.5 in 38 games is a damning indictment on this team’s ability to make goalscorin­g chances. It can’t all be left to Allan Saint- Maximin and Miguel Almiron.

4 KEEP THE POWDER DRY

A whopping 44 per cent of Newcastle’s shots last term were taken from outside the 18- yard box, a ratio second only to trigger- happy Manchester United. Of 174 long- range efforts, the Magpies scored... four. Yes, Jonjo Shelvey has his binoculars celebratio­n lined up, but a word of advice: less pinging, more probing.

5 GIVE MAGS HOPE

What is the point of a club that doesn’t strive to be the best it can possibly be? For more than a decade, Newcastle United have been an ambitionle­ss zombie in a state of footballin­g paralysis; now, following another collapsed takeover, the hierarchy will again be thrilled with mere survival. How many times is Ashley willing to invite another relegation?

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