Ryan Fraser has revealed the sordid feelings in the dressing room following Newcastle’s lacklustre performance in a 3-0 defeat against relegation-threatened rivals Brighton – but issued a defiant claim.
What’s the story?
Fraser held nothing back in describing how frustrated and ‘down’ the squad felt after the defeat in the dressing room, before vowing a renewed grit would define Newcastle in the coming games and re-iterating the gravitas behind every game until the end of the season.
Quoted by the Chronicle as he spoke to NUFC TV, Fraser let the vexations of the dressing room be known in the public domain:
“It’s horrible,” Fraser claimed.
“No one’s going to be happy about it. Everyone is down, no one is speaking in there. We’ve obviously spoken to each other as well and got stuff off our chests.
“We can’t be too down. We’re still not in the bottom three. We don’t want to be in there. We’ve still got games to save it and I know we keep saying our next game is massive but it really is.
“Every game between now and the end of the season – it doesn’t matter who it’s against – is a cup final. This club can’t go down and we’ll make sure that it doesn’t.”
The Verdict
Fraser’s stoic vow to the fans is certainly commendable, but actions speak louder than words.
Put simply, mentality and attitude is only half of the fight.
The characteristics the squad wishes to embody have to translate to on-field prowess, and the unconvincing defeat against Brighton showed a side and a manager far from the mark.
