Would the real Newcastle United please stand up

[TheBigSausage]

Personally, I think today was a more accurate reflection of where we are and how we are likely to fare this season. I think the last three wins have given a false impression of our true standing and, for me, we're still in deep trouble.

And no, this isn't a knee-jerk reaction to one defeat. The bigger picture is that we've been pretty shit all season and, if anything, thinking we're ok after the 3 wins is a knee-jerk reaction.

Today, even though I felt their first goal was a bit against the run of play, we hadn't threatened their goal seriously and by the end of the half, with the breakaways they'd had, they could easily have had a couple more. Don't think we'd played badly but it was clear which team had the better players-their passing was faster and more accurate, their ball control was streets ahead of ours and their movement...well, you can't really compare theirs with ours because ours was non-existent.

And oh, my...that second half was appalling. Apart from the almost total lack of footballing ability, we seemed to lack the spirit and determination which served us so well in the second half of last season. Rafa can only do so much with this bunch of players and i reckon that with a different manager, we'd actually be bottom.

Ok, maybe i should have waited a bit longer after getting in before posting this but I remain very worried about this season.

Yea I think you are right .. I posted that ,in those wins the teams seemed to lose the ability to finish .. Watford especially , burnley less so , but we got lucky , that's football .
Watching the West Ham game they couldn't string 2 passes together, their pass rate was down to 65% at one stage . We deserved to lose ,but 3-0 flatters them a bit ,they are awful also .
Luckily this season there is a glut of Shiite at the bottom so we can scrape out of it . Still need 20pts minimum by the Liverpool game i think .

[Scott Kirkland]

We could still sign Shola on a free. He would add about 4 goals a season. About the same as Joselu & Perez.

[Zippity]

Honestly....3-0 did not flatter them at all!1

[HughieG]

Honestly....3-0 did not flatter them at all!1

I like your OP and think you're right.

However, I do think Rafa will keep us out of trouble and not get us relegated - but we're only postponing our misery. He will leave in the summer and there's no way we can attract a manager of his quality again, especially when it's so obvious that there's no ambition from the owner. We'll get a sh!t manager to manage our sh!t team and we'll do a Leeds.

Sorry, I hate Sundays.

[Zippity]

I like your OP and think you're right.

However, I do think Rafa will keep us out of trouble and not get us relegated - but we're only postponing our misery. He will leave in the summer and there's no way we can attract a manager of his quality again, especially when it's so obvious that there's no ambition from the owner. We'll get a sh!t manager to manage our sh!t team and we'll do a Leeds.

Sorry, I hate Sundays.

Hughie...the only hope we have is if someone buys us and Rafa stays.

Who knows-maybe there's due diligence going on in the background. If that doesn't happen and Rafa does leave then we are truly fucked. At the minute, with him still here, we've got a fighting chance but there's a very good possibility that things are going to get incredibly ugly round these parts.

[toonlegend]

Hughie...the only hope we have is if someone buys us and Rafa stays.

Who knows-maybe there's due diligence going on in the background. If that doesn't happen and Rafa does leave then we are truly fucked. At the minute, with him still here, we've got a fighting chance but there's a very good possibility that things are going to get incredibly ugly round these parts.

yep hate to say it. but have to agree

[Scott Kirkland]

If he does leave I hope it is to a top team.
He could put a huge bid in for Perez.
Im sick of Ashley coming out and saying we can't compete with the top 6. We can't even compete with the other 13. Does he say to his SD staff we can't compete with any other Sports Shops.
I forgot the main Question.

[Kingstonbob1]

Apathy comes from the top down so if the FCB doesn’t have a wish to progress just to consolidate the rest of those at the club will question their ability to improve.

GOOOC

[Scott Kirkland]

How Diame still gets into the team ahead of, Do we have anyone else who can run around doing **** all.

[Jammy89]

How Diame still gets into the team ahead of, Do we have anyone else who can run around doing **** all.

Mainly because he does a lot of dirty work. He's 3rd or 5th highest for tackles made in prem so far.