We were all pleasantly surprised to see us win so convincingly against a usually solid Sheffield Utd side yesterday, however it may have come as an even bigger shock to some Blades fans.
After all, they had only lost ONCE away from home all season before Sunday’s trip up to Tyneside – and that was at Anfield!
Moments after the full-time whistle, we reached out to Blades season-ticket holder Joe Glave (@glavey) to gain a few of his thoughts after he watched their 3-0 defeat at St James’ Park from his sofa.
Here’s our chat with Joe, who gave a fair and honest assessment:
Q1) What did you make of the game as a whole? Does 3-0 flatter us or do you believe you got what you deserved?
“I think the game as a whole was one which of course was incredibly disappointing from our point of view, we started the game pretty well but you guys looked more dangerous but felt at half time it was still anyone’s game.
“Now whether this was the bit that changed the dynamic of the game or not I’m still not completely sure, but the red card for Egan… Clearly it’s a yellow card, if it wasn’t for the other defender tracking back just behind it would be a straight red, but the first yellow card was a farce, for both Joelinton and Egan.
“Neither of the lads went for a head-****, you just had one guy trying to get the ball back and Joelinton got a mardy about it…apologies for the Sheffield phrase here!
“So for me if that’s a yellow does the game go the same way it did?
“Maybe not. But the way we capitulated after very sloppy defensive mistakes, was pretty unacceptable and out of character.
Q2) Who impressed you for Newcastle? Give us a few players that stood out to you and why..
“Just like the game at Bramall Lane, Saint-Maximin is clearly a very talented footballer. What impressed me was not his obvious pace and technical ability, but also his strength on the ball. He’s certainly the player you wanna be keeping going forward, especially if the Saudis take over!
“I thought Hayden was particularly solid.I recall him putting a couple solid tackles in on arguably our best and most dangerous player, John Fleck – who like most of our team, barring Basham (Geordie lad) – was pretty abysmal.
“Shelvey played well. I reckon you lot just wished he was more consistent because the quality is clearly there isn’t it?!
Q3) On the flip side, did you notice any weak links in our side or players in black and white that looked below par?
“I’ll be perfectly honest mate, we were that poor that it didn’t really give me the chance to see any weaknesses you guys may have possessed. We would of got turned over against a mid table Championship team playing the way we did!
“I actually said to a friend of mine, who’s a Newcastle fan, literally 2 mins before the 3rd goal, “at this rate ***** Joelinton will score!”. And of course, it happened…..
“I’ll be brutally honest and say that I’ve not been particularly impressed from what I’ve seen of him this season, HOWEVER, with goals comes confidence and now he’s got that long awaited second goal, it just might be the catalyst to spur him on in future games.
“My personal opinion is that he would thrive playing with a second striker up top but I can’t see that happening anytime soon.”
Q4) I read a stat after the game saying 18% of the goals you’ve conceded this season have come against NUFC! This season has been a struggle for us at times, yet our aggregate score against you lads has been 5-0, somehow! Why do you think we’ve become your bogey side this season?
“Yeah it is an interesting one that isn’t it, in fact we’ve not lost by more than 2 goals all season so for you to put 3 past us wasn’t to be expected to be perfectly honest!
“I think the first game at the Lane was a case of you guys getting the early goal and Bruce doing his classic 10 men behind the ball tactic.
“It’s not the prettiest but can get you the points against certain opposition!”
Q5) Finally, I’m sure I speak for all football fans in saying you were robbed at Villa last week. Do you think that awful decision might’ve affected the players coming into this one? I’m just trying to put my finger on what must’ve been your poorest performance of the season by some way, as it seemed so out of character based on the standard you’ve set this season..
“I’m struggling to put my finger just on what it is that’s going on because we look a completely different team since the restart.
“A common denominator this season is that we do tend to play better if we get the first goal and struggle when we don’t, very much like the first game at Bramall Lane.
“Bruce has won 11 out of his 13 games against us so he clearly knows how to manage a team when up against us, maybe it’s time to actually give the bloke a tap on the back and realise he’s actually a steady manager.
“I certainly didn’t think I’d be saying that come the start of this season and I don’t think a lot of Geordies would either!”
A fair and respectable set of response from Joe – especially straight after a 3-0 defeat than came just a few days after they were wrongly denied two points at Aston Villa.
Good luck to the Chris Wilder’s Blades for the rest of the season. What a story it would be if he managed to get them into Europe!
