For much of the match on Wednesday night, the play on both sides of the pitch was very poor. The game didn’t come to life until Xherdan Shaqiri’s strike in the 81st minute. The game could perfectly sum up the season for Newcastle. For much of the match, the Magpies did not seem like they could string together attacking play and produce a result. In serious relegation territory, the Magpies can’t afford any more outings like this, especially with easier opponents on the horizon. Yes, Stoke are a historically good side at home, but with a little more adventurous play, McClaren’s side could’ve come away with something. Here are five things that we learned from Stoke’s defeat of Newcastle at the Britannia…
1. Steve McClaren may need to go
With eleven matches left this year, McClaren has the Magpies still in relegation territory at 19th. Newcastle have dropped four of their last five in the Premier League and the supporters are taking notice. A sea of boos reigned on the manager as the final whistle blew. Daryl Janmaat even apologised to the away fans for the poor performance. From the decision to go to Spain during the two-week break, to starting XIs in various fixtures, the Magpie supporters are questioning the leadership of their manager.
2. The attacking woes continue
The Toon looked to have won the January transfer window after filling the roles that they were lacking. Wednesday proved that wrong as the Magpies failed to find the net again. In their last four games, McClaren’s side has scored only one goal while conceding ten. The attacking additions of JonJo Shelvy, Andros Townsend and Seydou Doumbia have failed to change the outlook of Newcastle’s season. Newcastle didn’t even give Stoke keeper Jack Butland much of a challenge throughout the game. Except for one chance in time added on, which Butland saved, the Magpies were shut down in the attacking third.
3. Newcastle need to take advantage of matches at home
A poor run on the road with five losses in a row shines a light on a big problem for Newcastle as we enter the final stretch of the season. The match followed the pattern of bad play on the road. Newcastle haven’t played too badly at home, including good results like a win over West Ham and a 3-3 draw against United. Looking at their upcoming home schedule they face Bournemouth, Sunderland, Swansea, Crystal Palace, Tottenham and a yet to be scheduled match against Manchester City. The Magpies need good results from those home matches if they want to stay up and if you were to use the code BETJAMES use it on their matches at St James’ Park.
4. Take advantage of weaker opponents
Now that Newcastle have established that points are going to be hard to come by, they need to come away with results any way they can. Sunderland and Norwich find themselves in similar positions, but if Newcastle can come away with at least four points in these fixtures, the Magpies will find themselves in a good position to stay up. Also, matches against Bournemouth, Swansea City, Crystal Palace and Aston Villa follow the similar trend. None of these teams have firmly place their position in the Premier League next season and against the weaker sides, the Toon need to come away with positive results.
5. The Magpies have not recovered from the Chelsea thrashing?
It’s only been only game, but Newcastle looked lifeless, just as they did for much of the Chelsea game. While Stoke didn’t come out of the gate like Chelsea did, there was no life in the Magpies’ play. It’s only one result, but if Newcastle want to stay up, they have to play with more urgency instead of looking like the life was sucked out of them. Unless the Magpies win a game with some confidence, the rest of the campaign could be very bad for the Toon Army.
