Newcastle 2-2 Bristol City - Match Reaction

There seems to be a lot of distaste towards the squad after Saturday’s draw with Bristol City. Is it really warranted or a slight overreaction?

A lot of fingers have been pointed at a few players over the last couple of weeks and in particular this weekend. After the mistakes at Norwich, and then again against Bristol, you might say that these are necessary. To an extent, they are, our fans do tend to overreact though.

Firstly, Darlow. Overall, he’s a very good keeper. He has an issue with his decision making when it comes to whether to rush the ball or not. Does this mean he should be dropped? If Elliot is fit, I would take him out for a couple of games, otherwise, not a chance. He’s a great shot stopper, and as far as keepers go, is fairly young. I don’t believe he’s the issue.

I’ve also seen some calls for Dummett to be gotten rid of. Last season, I would’ve wholeheartedly agreed with them, as well as the beginning of this season. However, he has been solid for us for a few months now, he’s not out best defender, granted, but what’s the alternative? Haidara? Lazaar? If they were good enough to replace him right now, they would’ve already.

As for the game itself, we had a very poor first half. Too many times this season have we played teams at home, and just expected to win without needing to concentrate or put any effort in. We showed how much we could boss them in the second half, if we start like that, we could’ve stuck six past them.

For me, it’s obvious what our problems are. First, our ‘Number 10’ role is completely pointless. Perez is awful at it, and Mitro doesn’t seem to know how to play with one either. Secondly, our chance conversion is woeful. We had 20 shots on Saturday, mustering a pitiful 5 on target. For a team that is supposed to be building for the Premier League, it’s simply not good enough.

We have a very tough few away games coming up, and if you told me we had to drop points against someone, I would’ve chosen to drop them against Bristol. Our home form isn’t as good as our away form, and we they aren’t anywhere near us. There’s a lot of worry about the 3 following games, and I’d say we’re worrying about well, not a great deal as of right now.

We have the ability to win the next three games. Brighton took apart Reading, which we could also do. Huddersfield play a very specific type of attacking football, and if there’s anyone you want tactically setting up a defence, it’s Rafa Benitez. Brighton will obviously be our toughest test, but I still think we can beat them.

Worst case scenario is we lose all three games, and then still have 12 games left to make up those points. These aren’t the last three games of the season, these aren’t cup finals, we can and will win them, and we can and will be promoted.