Bournemouth 0-1 Newcastle - The 'Index 6'

An invaluable 3 points for Steve McClaren’s men today. To say they had to work for it would be something of an understatement, but a win is a win, and the position Newcastle find themselves in, whether it is justified or not, all victories are priceless, regardless of how they come about.

Here are six things that I learned from yesterday's game, feel free to agree or disagree, all comments are welcome.

Here's the 'Index 6':

What goes around – comes around.

There have been a number of games where Newcastle have played well…and not won or dominated the stats…and not won. Then there is today. Newcastle were poor. Very poor. Yet remarkably…won!

Only the defenders and magnificent Rob Elliott can come away from the game saying they performed well. It is too early in the season to be calling games like this six-pointers, but in terms of massive wins, this would be right up there. Regardless of the performance, psychologically, winning away from home, leapfrogging their opponents and climbing out of the bottom three, will do wonders for the team.

The important thing is to build on this win. It will count for nothing if they don’t capitalise on it by beating Leicester at St James’ Park in a fortnight. With the slice of luck they got today, then maybe, just maybe, the tide is starting to turn in their favour.

Rob Elliott certainly played with a point to prove.

If this is Rob Elliott playing with an injury, then I hope he is doubtful for a few more games to come. All the talk this week was about Newcastle exploring the Emergency loan market for a replacement keeper. Well Elliott certainly played like he was reminding McClaren and Co that come January, should Newcastle look to bring in a new stopper, then it should be as back-up to himself and not as his replacement.

His performance today was reminiscent of Tim Krul’s at White Hart Lane a couple of seasons ago, when we were on the back-foot for 89 of the 90 minutes, only for the Dutch keeper to deny Spurs time after time after time. With displays like this, Elliott may yet mean that the loss of Krul for the season might not be quite as big a blow as it could have been.

Stats - What do they actually count for?

At the risk of sounding like a broken record – and I have said it a number of times now – the only statistic that counts is the one in the corner of the TV screen that shows the score. Everyone loves a good stat: Possession, Passes, Aerial Duels, blocks, etc, etc.

However, at the end of the day, the score-line is the only one that brings points. Newcastle have dominated the stat counts in their previous couple of games against Sunderland and Stoke, but gained only 1 measly point.

Yesterday, we were outshone in virtually every offensive stat count you could imagine – Possession (%): 35 – 65; Shots on target: 1 – 5; Total Shots: 2 – 20; Pass success (%): 70 – 86; Corners: 0 – 16; none of those were in Newcastle’s favour. The one stat that was in Newcastle’s favour of course was the result. Personally, although those stats favour Bournemouth, and yes they were on top for the whole of the game, I think it would have been unfair, on the Newcastle back four, who put in a brilliant performance, and particularly Rob Elliott, who was outstanding in goal.

Wijnaldum makes Newcastle tick.

Wijnaldum had probably his quietest and poorest game for Newcastle all season. I think I could count on one hand the number of touches he had. It is surely no coincidence that when he has an off-game, Newcastle as an offensive unit have an off-game. The game just seemed to pass him by, for whatever reason. It just reinforces the fact that we cannot rely on him every week.

It is in games like this when you need big performances from the likes of Moussa Sissoko and Aleksander Mitrovic. As it is, I thought both were pretty ordinary today too, but to be fair to Mitrovic, the ball was rarely played up to him for him to get involved as an attacking force, but Sissoko did not do a lot either. The amount of times we gave possession away was inexcusable at times, and in other games, it will cost us dear.

Even given half an hour, Cisse’s flaw is there for all to see.

Anyone who wonders why Cisse doesn’t get more opportunities in the starting line-up nowadays just need to watch his little cameo appearance against Bournemouth. I know Newcastle did not have the ball in the opposition half too many times, but when they did, and they played in and around Cisse, he showed, in my opinion, his biggest downfall – he cannot read a line. Watching the line is a fundamental basic of being a forward.

Yet, time and again, Cisse has shown that he does not do it. He has been caught offside 117 times in 113 appearances for Newcastle per game, and only about one third of those were full games. It is not a new problem for him either, in fact, when he was at Freiburg his record was worse – offside 132 times in 65 appearances Even the times when he was on-side, he couldn’t keep possession, and wasn’t able to hold the ball up to find a teammate.

So when he is not scoring when he is on the pitch, his overall contribution seems to be very minimal. It may be best for all parties concerned for Newcastle to move him on in January, presuming that a replacement is brought in.

We need more creativity/flair in the team.

My first thought, when I saw the team-sheet today was exactly the same as it was when the same team was named last week – where is the creativity and flair going to come from? We have many workmanlike players in our side, and in Wijnaldum, we have a top quality footballer. But none of the players that started today would be the kind of player that could unlock a defense with a piece of skill or trickery.

I am lucky because I am old enough to have watched some of the most skilful players ever to have worn the balck and white shirt. I saw Beardsley win games from nothing week after week, including the time he beat 3 Portsmouth defenders without actually touching the ball. I saw Ginola’s mercurial talents, Asprilla’s outrageous skills, and even Hatem Ben Arfa, when given the chance, could turn a game on its head with one flash of brilliance. This current side is crying out for someone like that. I had hoped that Cabella would be that player last season, and similar hopes for Thauvin this.

There is still a chance that the £12m French youngster might well prove to be the next Ginola, but evidence so far suggests that it may take a few months before we see his potential realised.

(All stats thanks to Whoscored.com)