Jamaal Lascelles has refused to blame Steve Bruce’s tactics for Newcastle’s 5-0 thrashing away at Leicester.
The Magpie’s captain has instead insisted blame for Sunday’s crushing defeat be held by the Newcastle players themselves.
“It doesn’t matter what manager you have. It’s just not acceptable. It doesn’t matter about tactics. We really do need to look at ourselves,” the skipper said to Sky Sports after the game.
He also went on to add that the players endured a full time hairdryer from Steve Bruce, who will now be under immense pressure to pick up a result next weekend at home to Manchester United.
“It was terrible. It is not acceptable. We have had a rollicking from the gaffer and we really need to look in the mirror. You have to flipping make it hard for them. We did not do that, it is not good enough.”
Lascelles was seen at the final whistle apologising to Newcastle’s 2,650 strong away support, with this our heaviest defeat since October 2015 when the Magpies suffered a 6-1 loss away at Manchester City.
Results like this only adds to the feeling that Newcastle United are serious contenders for relegation this season, with the Toon now sitting 19th in the Premier League after the opening 7 games.
We endured a worse start last season, but with Benitez there was always a plan and always hope that we’d find a way. The same cannot be said now.
Jamaal was hardly going to criticise Bruce in his post-match interviews, but it would be interesting to know what the players are really thinking behind closed doors. It was rumoured that some players were confused by the managers instructions over the first few weeks of the season, with Jetro Willems’ confusing substitution an example against Arsenal, and it was clear as ever today that we never possessed any real game plan or vision as to how we wanted to play.
Lascelles has always presented himself in an honest and old-school manner, famously criticising the team’s performance away at Southampton in April 2016 when still very much regarded as a prospect for the future. His honesty is refreshingly in a way, but is he being honest by saying this defeat has nothing to do with the manager? I don’t think so given how clueless we looked from start to finish.
The players may have got a rollicking last night and rightly so. but when is Bruce going to be given a talking to for his inept displays?
