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Newcastle were a 45min side

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Former Newcastle United captain Steven Taylor believes their relegation to the Championship was also inevitable last season due to the lack of consistency and team spirit at the club.

The 30 year old, who moved on a free transfer to MLS side Portland Timbers this summer, felt that from January onwards there were warning signs that meant it was very hard for the team to address the slide which led to them being relegated at the end of last season. He is quoted by the Shields Gazette as saying:

“Last time we went down, people said Newcastle were too good to go down. This time it didn’t really get expressed in the media, but the warning signs were there for four or five months.”

“We were a 45-minute side. We played well first half or second half. We weren’t a 90-minute side. We had some tremendous players, but we couldn’t get any rhythm. We didn’t play as a team.”

Taylor was allowed to leave the Magpies after thirteen years at the club during the summer when his contract expired. Rafa Benitez has overseen a clear out of players at the club bringing in twelve new signings to create a new team designed to bounce back at the first attempt to the Premier League.

Experienced Championship players such as Mo Diame, Daryl Murphy and Grant Hanley have been signed and Taylor is hopeful the Newcastle boss has the right players with the right team spirit to gain automatic promotion:

“One of the biggest things when you’re down in the Championship is building a team spirit. If Newcastle are to get back up they’re going to need team spirit, and I think the last few results and performances show you that they’ve got that. They’re going to need characters.”

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