Another Saturday afternoon, another 4-0 defeat in the Premier League for Newcastle United, this time against Manchester United after Southampton beat them by the same score line last weekend.
It was more of the same from Newcastle, as the Magpies were inept once more and are a team in freefall for whom the end of the season can’t come quick enough.
Stoke, Swansea and Arsenal will be licking their lips at the prospect of seeing Newcastle on their fixture list in the coming weeks and if Alan Pardew continues to pick the same starting XI then that trio’s defences can pack up and go home.
That was the fourth time in five matches that Newcastle have failed to score, with the other game seeing Papiss Cisse net a late, late winner, and if the Magpies continue to persist with Luuk de Jong up top then they’re not likely to buck the trend anytime soon.
De Jong looks like a player who hasn’t scored for a year and while his hold up play isn’t too bad, he offers absolutely no threat of finding the back of the net.
His confidence is well and truly shot, much like Cisse’s, and his 15 million Euro price-tag looks like one from ancient history.
The one positive that Newcastle can draw on is that the 23-year-old is only on loan at St James’ Park and they can make an easy £8.5m saving in the summer by sending him straight back to Germany.
Newcastle have severe striking problems, de Jong is not the answer, but maybe Bafetimbi Gomis is, as this lovely assist on 01:25 shows…
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Click on the Newcastle DUO below to see 7 players for the chop
