LAS-GASP HERO

Jamaal rescues vital point for Bruce

JAMAAL LASCELLES rescued a 94th-minute point for Newcastle in a crazy finish.

Ciaran Clark’s own goal had put Aston Villa in front in the 87th minute but the Toon skipper netted a bullet header from Jacob Murphy’s left-wing cross.

The opener came when Matt Targett crossed from the left and Villa’s leading scorer Ollie Watkins stooped to head goalwards.

The ball took a huge deflection off Newcastle central defender Clark to give keeper Martin Dubravka no chance.

Predictably this was no Friday night festival of football, with mid-table Villa also below par and lacking edge until Watkins’ intervention.

And until stoppage time the home side’s best effort on goal was a header by Targett at his own goal well saved by Emiliano Martinez.

Dean Smith’s visitors were mainly flat in front of goal having not scored in the previous three games and only twice in the last five.

“A distinct lack of quality in the final third,” was the verdict from Alan Shearer in the East Stand.

The Toon legend called correctly.

It was a tight first half, with Villa looking the more composed and Newcastle failing to look a fluid outfit who can score enough goals.

The Geordies have failed to score in the first half of 21 of their 28 games this season.

Boss Steve Bruce has a major problem up front without his main strikers Callum Wilson, Allan Saintmaximin and Miguel Almiron.

That trio has been involved in all but six of the Toon’s 27 league goals and the home side struggled again, with Joelinton isolated on the right wing, Dwight Gayle toiling on the it left and diminutive Ryan Fraser playing as a ‘false nine’ through the middle.

The makeshift threesome did combine once, with the Brazilian and Gayle teeing up Fraser for a volley which Martinez saved.

Newcastle were nervy but Joelinton nicked the ball ahead of Tyrone Mings and raced in on goal in a spirited run.

As usual he lacked a finish as his shot was well blocked by Ezri Konsa sliding in, again raising questions as to how the club paid £40m for him.

Villa suffered a blow when Bertrand Traore smashed into a metal railing on the side of the pitch after being nudged by Paul Dummett and he smashed a rib before staggering off in pain.

Sub Anwar El Ghazi drilled in a shot which Dubravka saved and the Slovakian also had to be sharp to beat away Trezeguet’s shot from an angle as Villa dominated despite having only won once in their last five games.

Clear-cut chances were rare in a workmanlike first-half stalemate but Konsa’s header from Targett’s free-kick went close after the break.

Villa’s own form has not been great since Jack Grealish was injured and they need their star man back quickly to provide a cutting edge.

Joelinton squandered a chance with 18 minutes to go. He did well to surge clear onto Joe Willock’s ball with the goal begging to be hit until he squared to a Villa player to clear.

BRAMALL PAIN: Neil Warnock, now at Middlesbrough (above), quit 14 years ago and the club nosedived. Paddy Kenny thinks the departure of Chris Wilder might have a similar effect

PADDY KENNY says Sheffield United are repeating their mistakes by letting Chris Wilder walk away.

United let Neil Warnock quit in 2007 after they were last relegated from the Premier League 14 years ago.

Kenny was part of that team at Bramall Lane and says they paid for their error, spending the next 12 years out of the top flight, including six in League One.

And the former Blades goalkeeper

(inset) fears United face another spell in the wilderness, once they are relegated from the Premier League, because Wilder was also a perfect fit there.

He said: “Only time will tell, but that’s exactly how it’s looking.

“When we got relegated in horrible circumstances when we lost the last game of the season to Wigan, if you’d asked, ‘Who do you want in charge next season?’, you would have said, ‘Neil Warnock’.

“Now if you ask that question, you would want Chris Wilder to give you the best chance of coming straight back up.

“I don’t think it was a good move when Warnock left and the club went on a massive decline.

“It needed Chris taking over five years ago to get them back and I fear what will happen now.” The Blades have a poor record in replacing managers who have taken them to the top flight.

Bryan Robson was sacked within nine months of taking over from Warnock.

It also did not work out when they sacked Ken Furphy in 1975 and when Dave Bassett quit in 1995. The board’s mistakes led to long exiles from the top flight.

Kenny, who spent eight years at Bramall Lane, says owner Prince Abdullah must get Wilder’s successor right.

“Definitely, you saw that when we got relegated all those years ago,” he said. “They need to make the right appointment.”

The new man will have to be more flexible than Wilder, whose insistence on maintaining control over all football matters was one of the reasons why his relationship with the board broke down.

Wilder wanted to retain the bulk of his squad for next season to boost their chances of bouncing straight back up while adding a couple more players.

The board disagreed and feel they need to cash in on assets like John Egan and Sander Berge to reduce costs.

They also wanted to review their recruitment strategy because they did not feel Wilder delivered value for money, despite being given over £100m to spend following promotion in 2019.

The final straw for Wilder came in January when the board blocked his transfer requests and he had wanted at least two more players, including Jesse Lingard.

He was also dismayed by the delays to the redevelopment of their outdated training ground and saw both as a lack of support for him.

Wilder’s departure became inevitable with so much tension between the sides and Kenny feels both parties are the losers.

“Chris will be gutted it’s come to this because he’s Sheffield United through and through,” he said.

“The club, too, have lost out and he was perfect for them.”