Walker heaps misery on sorry Newcastle
It is just as well Rafa Benitez is so popular, so revered on Tyneside, because no other Newcastle United manager would have got away with sending out a team as weak to be knocked out of the League Cup at home to a Championship team.
Benitez will get away with it, despite the boos. There will be moaning about the 10 changes, but he will escape the vitriol that would have been fired at his predecessors had they dared to approach a cup match with such disinterest.
The Spaniard had warned he would make changes, but when you include three players effectively on the transfer list and others you would sell if you could, you cannot argue you took it seriously.
“I made that many changes because we played two [sic] days ago and we play again in two [sic],” said Benitez. “We wanted to go through in the cup, but we have to use the squad. You have to be ready to play against a Championship club, if you cannot, something is wrong.”
Nottingham Forest have started the season well under Mark Warburton and deserved their scalp.
They scored two goals in the first half through Jason Cummings, which cancelled out Aleksandar Mitrovic’s opener, and hung on in the second after a spectacular second goal from Rolando Aarons had given Newcastle a spring in their step.
That forced the match into extra time and it was Forest who struck, Tyler Walker, son of Forest legend Des, heading in a corner.
“In the first half, we were outstanding,” said Warburton. “We knew Newcastle would be a threat in the second, we survived a bit of an onslaught. I know Newcastle made 10 changes, but we made six and we were outstanding.”
Newcastle United