Now is time to right a dreadful wrong for side
NO HIDING PLACE SO BRUCE MUST DITCH TIMID TACTICS AND RESTORE TEAM PRIDE
WHAT we are facing is a do-or-die week for a crestfallen Newcastle United.
A week on the road when they face Arsenal in the FA Cup, Sheffield United in a monumental Premier League encounter and then return to the Emirates Stadium for a second dollop of reality.
With that in mind I implore Steve Bruce to restore the pride of the Geordies by ridding United of their timid tactics and easy submission.
Going on the defensive from kickoff has brought nothing but derision and defeat.
So what I would love to see is Bruce get rid of three central defenders and go with a flat back four and two up top with a partner for Callum Wilson.
I watch Wilson playing in my old centre-forward role and my heart goes out to him.
He has been turned from a goalscoring striker into a front defender.
By that I mean he spends as much time chasing down the centre-half or the full-backs as he does getting shots off. When I was scoring goals regularly for Newcastle I always played in a partnership. So did Alan Shearer in his pomp.
Now Wilson is isolated. Three central defenders does not mean the wing backs pushing right up the field but a rigid back five which reflects on midfield and then up front.
United are set up to be beaten, hoping as they do right from the kick-off that they can salvage a point or very, very occasionally snatch a win against all odds by scoring on the break.
That must stop but will it? I am not holding my breath.
It is not in the nature of Bruce the manager to be bold, which is amazing when you think he was brought up at Manchester United under Alex
Ferguson. Kevin Keegan certainly brought the old Liverpool way of thinking to St James’ Park.
To folk outside the North East who don’t follow the Mags regularly, United look all right with their points total and both Sheffield United and West Bromwich tailed off.
However, we know they are in a desperat e run of form – no victories in their last six matches – and performances have hit rock bottom.
A crisis is just round the corner – and will arrive down in Yorkshire on Tuesday night if they don’t win.
Newcastle simply must show pride, determination, and caring at the Emirates come Saturday tea time.
They dare not go out of the FA Cup with a whimper as they did in the League Cup at Brentford.
Geordies demanding. are not
They don’t expect to win things but they want the players and themanagement to care as much as they do.
It is no exaggeration to say Bruce and United could be broken this week.
If they go out of the Cup at Arsenal the pressure against Sheffield United will be immense and then it is back to the Emirates with the prospect of getting more of the same. Performance is as big as the result each and every time this week.
It is one thing to go out of the Cup, quite another to submit passively.
What happens at the Emirates will set the template for the rest of the week.
Every Geordie, not to mention the whole nation, can see what is going on because every game is live on TV. There is no hiding place. Miss this opportunity to right a dreadful wrong and all hope will disappear out of the door.