Ipswich 3-1 Newcastle - Match Reaction

Although it is not yet panic stations, Newcastle United still have work to do to get over the line and back into the Premier League.

At the start of the season, promotion was the expectation, but the title was the aim.

Three games from the end of the season, and every fan would settle for the team simply limping over the finish-line in second.

How things change.

While almost everyone other than the staunchest Huddersfield Town fan expects Newcastle to get promoted, the fact that the post-Christmas performances and the results – of late – have fallen away badly, is a worrying indictment of the players – many of which were brought in specifically for their Championship experience, and to prevent this exact scenario from happening.

The performance at Portman Road on Monday epitomised everything that has been wrong about Newcastle in the second half of the season.

They were dreadful from one to 11 (or whatever numbers adorn the shirts nowadays). Too many players went missing, and the ones that didn’t, simply didn’t look interested.

I am loathed to criticise Rafa Benitez – the single best thing that has happened to the club since bringing Keegan in as manager (first time round) in my opinion – but, after such an encouraging performance just three days earlier against Leeds, did he really need to change so many of the personnel?

It seems hard to believe that football has changed so much over the years that professional footballers, who are conditioned to be at their healthiest and peak of performance in the current era, cannot be deemed able to play two games in three days.

So any excuses of tiredness and number of games is an utter nonsense. Just ask the players who pay weekly subs to play for their clubs – often on a Saturday, Sunday morning and again on Sunday afternoon!

Yes, the Championship is a long season. And yes, it is a physical league. But these players are earning thousands of pounds a week to perform and to deal with those physicalities and demands.

On Monday, Newcastle were comprehensively outplayed in every department by an Ipswich side that has struggled for most of the season.

Jonjo Shelvey has been inspirational for the Black and Whites on many occasions this season, but on Monday he was anonymous.

Jamaal Lascelles’ performances of late have been woeful. Whether that is down to a bad run of form, or whether it is because his long-time defensive partner Ciaran Clark is missing, is up for debate. But if it is the latter, then it would suggest that Clark’s form has been papering over some fairly significant cracks from the former.

It was typical, however, that the one player that has been able to hold his head high throughout the season, Matt Ritchie, should be ‘Villain and Villainer’ against Ipswich.

Missing the gilt-edged chance by mistiming his header into the ground was bad enough, and probably – in part – played a hand in what was to come next. Being caught in possession in the middle of the park – while almost certainly still thinking about the missed chance that frustrated him so much he almost pounded a hole in the turf by punching the ground over and over – was worse.

From the moment he lost it, a goal seemed the only outcome of the move. It was to prove pivotal too, with Newcastle chasing the game from that point.

Even when Daryl Murphy equalised, there was never a sense of the players coming together, rolling their sleeves up, and finishing the job.

They went back into their shell, and paid the price just seven minutes later.

Make no mistake, this was a deserved loss.

If we put three more performances together on par with this shambolic display in East Anglia, then we could conceivably lose all of our remaining games.

Rafa will surely not let that happen. But to prevent it, he needs to use all of his skills, knowledge and experience as a manager. He needs to pick the players up, have them all in his office one by one, telling them how good they are, why he bought them, or believes in them, and more importantly, having them believe in themselves.

Newcastle have averaged over 50,000 for home games this season. Other clubs have wrongly claimed to be the ‘big scalp’ in the division, or continually belittle the club and the fans, but the proof, should it not be obvious enough to everyone, is that week in, week out, those 50k plus have turned up to show their utter belief and faith in the manager and players.

Whether it was Rotherham, Burton, Villa or Leeds, they have shown unwavering faith and support for the team.

It is time, over these next three games, for the team to repay that support.

Howay the Lads!