IT’S PITS FOR PELL
ALI G, Super Mario, a Unicorn and a man in lederhosen delivered their own damning verdicts on Southampton’s pitiful display as they boarded the team bus.
They booed Mauricio Pellegrino and chairman Ralph Krueger as they shuffled down the steps outside St James’ Park, and chanted “Two up front,” a pointed reference to the Saints’ lack of bite in attack.
But then again, the motley crew could have hammered Southampton for almost everything else too – they really were that bad.
It was a surreal scene as the fancy dress-clad stag party vented their anger at a squad who, on this evidence, have about as much chance of avoiding the drop as West Brom.
Pellegrino was kept waiting on the bus more than 20 minutes before the last two Saints players emerged to take their seats behind him.
A trivial detail or a sign of his lack of authority and a disunited club?
On Saturday night, it felt like the latter. Manager apart, no one was willing to speak about a result which stretches their woeful run to just one win in 17 games.
Perhaps word had reached the visitors’ dressing room that the Argentine had just slaughtered them in his post-match press conference.
“I observed some players who gave up,” said Pellegrino, who would have needed both sets of fingers to illustrate the point. “You can have good players and a budget but without personality and spirit, you cannot compete.”
His friend and mentor Rafa Benitez tried his best to lift Pellegrino with platitudes but even he knows time is running out for his former Liverpool assistant.
And anyway, this was a chance for the Newcastle boss to talk up his own side after a win which looked inevitable from the moment Kenedy broke the deadlock after 63 seconds.
The Brazilian doubled the lead with a goal which underlined the pace within their ranks.
By the time Matt Ritchie made it three, the contest had become a training exercise for Newcastle.
Chelsea loanee Kenedy, 22, relishing his time in the limelight, and fellow January