IT’S DIY TIME FOR UNITED
RYDER: IGNORE HOW RIVALS ARE DOING, MAGPIES HAVE TO AWAKEN FROM SLUMBER SOON IF THEY ARE TO AVOID YET ANOTHER RELGATION
MAGPIES MUST ADDRESS THEIR PERILOUS POSITION – OR THE DROP IS A CERTAINTY
AFTER a weekend of varying emotions, one thing is still abundantly clear for Newcastle United – they are going down unless they wake up and smell the coffee.
There is no doubt about it, events at the wrong end of the Premier League could have been worse but the Magpies failed to help themselves and they could be in the relegation places before they even kick a ball at Brighton on Saturday night.
Once the relief of scrambling that 94th-minute equaliser through Jamaal Lascelles had worn off against Aston Villa to scrape a point, it was all eyes on games elsewhere.
Manchester City served up a favour by beating Fulham but relying on others is never a solution and in reality is an act of utter desperation.
The favours dried up as Brighton beat Southampton 2-1 and leapfrogged Steve Bruce’s side after the Sunday lunch clash at St Mary’s. The implications are serious for United too.
Fulham now face Leeds on Friday night, where a win would drag Newcastle into the relegation places for the first time since September 2019.
If the Magpies do kick off at the Amex under serious pressure and having to win to get out of the dropzone, it is not something which has unfolded overnight – it has been coming for months.
Two wins from 17 is relegation form but Newcastle have chosen not to act in terms of a change in the dugout.
True, bringing in Alan Shearer in 2009 and Rafa Benitez in 2016 with eight and 10 games respectively did not pay off because the damage was already done, and given United’s overly cautious pursuit of bringing in new staff and players you would not bank on a quick appointment.
Sticking with Bruce leaves them needing to win four games from 10 remaining fixtures, which on paper does not sound impossible.
Yet Newcastle managed three wins from their first 10 Premier League games this season and, as
Sticking with Bruce leaves them needing to win four games from 10 remaining fixtures, which on paper doesn’t sound impossible
stated earlier, have won just twice in the last 17. They would need to find their best form of the season in the last two months.
The remaining fixture list is daunting with Brighton (a), Spurs (h), Burnley (a), West Ham (h), Liverpool (a), Arsenal (h), Leicester (a), Manchester City (h), Sheffield United (h) and Fulham (a).
Brighton (a), Burnley (a), Sheff United (h) and Fulham (a) look like the key games but Newcastle have only managed to beat the Clarets out of that lot so far this campaign.
You could say a “siege mentality” is needed from Newcastle going into the run-in, yet Bruce has already tried something along those lines when shutting the media out and restricting questions at press conferences. Changing formation at least stopped the run of defeats – but United are still deep in trouble.
Given the national media seem to have started to champion Fulham’s cause with Scott Parker winning plenty of plaudits in recent weeks, the odds are stacking up against the much-maligned Magpies.
It has already been suggested that United are sleepwalking towards the drop by some pundits – and the weekend has done very little to prove them wrong.