SUPER MAC United hitting form and capable of beating drop
I BELIEVE the manner and the performance in thrashing Southampton 3-0 was the best I have seen from Newcastle – not just this season but last as well.
Honestly, I don’t think there was a better 90 minutes when winning the Championship than the one we have just witnessed.
It completely changed everything heading into a three-week break.
There is a real belief relegation will be put to bed once and for all, whereas defeat against the Saints would have made for three weeks from hell.
I saw so much to give us all hope. Let me, if I may, talk of the improvements we are seeing right now.
First and foremost there is the goalkeeper Martin Dubravka – he is having a huge influence on the side.
His confident handling of the ball, his willingness to come and take it under pressure and his verbal communication has had much to do with the renewed authority of United’s central defenders.
It also have taken away Jonjo Shelvey’s obsession with shielding the back four and let him concentrate more on his great strength of producing 20 and 30-yard passes.
Then there is Paul Dummett who reminds me more and more of my old No 3 Frank Clark, who won the European Fairs Cup with United and the European Cup with Nottingham Forest. Clarkie was the ultimate defender and so is Dummett.
He does not have the pace or ability to break forward