Man Utd 3-1 Newcastle: Performances mean little when you lose games like that…

Our 14th league defeat. Another game and another loss to keep us just three points above the drop zone.

Newcastle lose 3-1 to Manchester United and it has to be said that if we were playing Martin Dubravka, that might not have been the case.

We had a fabulous first half where Man U’s goal was undeserved with the way we were playing. However, the second half led to a capitulation and complete loss of belief and action.

This was a truly gutting game. Hope can be brought forward into the Wolves game but Newcastle have to start playing their best players from the outset. Karl Darlow has filled in wonderfully but it is now time for Dubravka to take back his spot.

It has to be asked, would we have lost this game if Dubravka had started?

Newcastle came into this game with the knowledge that, after Fulham’s win against Sheffield United, only three points separated us from the relegation zone.

Pressure was now on to not only put in a convincing performance but also to pull something out of the bag because, although Manchester United sat high up the league and had recently destroyed Real Sociedad, they had played four days previously in Spain and had been held to a 1-1 draw by West Brom in their last Premier League match. Getting something from this match, despite our injuries, wasn’t an impossible task.

Newcastle only made one change to the line-up against Chelsea with Joelinton replacing Dwight Gayle. The continued exclusions of Fraser and Dubravka also raised more eyebrows.

In one aspect, there was some sense in playing Joelinton as he has more experience not playing as the main striker, but to expect him to play better than the last time he played in a right sided position (against Manchester United) was risky – even if this more forward-thinking formation could work in his favour.

Newcastle started off with some vigour and we were pressing high from the outset. This was a different start to the laboured beginning of the Chelsea game. Pressing, tackling and attacks were prominent from us in the very beginning. Almiron was a constant threat in the first half hour and it was really a testament for how good he can be if played in the correct position.

Manchester United were the team to break the duck however after rinsing Emil Krafth, Rashford beat Karl Darlow at his near post with a goal that should have really been stopped.

A cruel blow based on how the match had been going, but that’s what you get when you continually leave your best goalkeeper on the bench!

We needed to keep our heads up and keep at it. Thankfully, that’s what we did.

Goal! Newcastle didn’t give up and we were rewarded for our efforts with a fully deserved goal from Saint-Maximin! After sustained pressure, Willock put in a ball which then fell nicely to Saint-Maximin to blast into the net.

Half-time arrived and United (That’s Newcastle United, Jermaine Jenas…) played very well and probably deserved more that the 1-1 score line.

Miguel Almiron was the outstanding player in the first half but was outshone by Saint-Maximin’s fantastic goal to equalise.

The goal we conceded reiterated general problems for Newcastle with Emil Krafth showing again why he isn’t a Premier League standard player and Karl Darlow showing why he’s our second-choice goalkeeper.

Hope had been raised from this first half showing, and it was really on Newcastle to keep up the tempo and effort.

Joelinton seemed to pick up a back injury in the first half and was only able to last ten minutes into the second half before being replaced with Ryan Fraser.

Bad defending on our left-hand side and poor goalkeeping led to another Manchester United sucker punch with Daniel James taking advantage of free space and hitting the ball into Darlow’s inside corner… again.

Joe Willock then gave away a silly penalty allowing Fernandes to score an easy goal to take the game to 3-1. Absolutely gutting. Some questions raised about the validity of the penalty but ultimately, Man U took their chance to further the lead.

In the 88th minute, Manchester United decided to rub salt in the wound by handing a league debut to 17-year-old Geordie, Shola Shoretide. Another, more subtle reminder of how far we have fallen that we can’t even secure the services of young, local talent.

Full time and we lose again.

A spirited display that was destroyed by bad defensive play. We continue to be in danger but you wouldn’t know it with Bruce laughing away with Solksjaer.

We need to beat Wolves or we could quickly see ourselves nestled in the Relegation Zone if Fulham beat Palace.

91 thoughts on “Man Utd 3-1 Newcastle: Performances mean little when you lose games like that…

  1. *** Bruce was happy with our display tonight, can someone please tell him we lost. Yes it was expected but we held them in the first half but couldn’t continue that in the second. If Bruce was a true geordie surely he can see what he has achieved here and he would let someone else in to try and save our premier league status. He must realise he isn’t good enough as a premier league manager surely. Everyone says our next few games are easy but I don’t think we gonna have an easy ride. The players look lost and I’m sure they aren’t playing for Bruce. Mr Ashley wake up do u really want championship footy next season. Plus your asking price for nufc will have to b substantially reduced. As toon supporters we deserve far better

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  2. From what Bruce said it looks like Dubravka will be back. I dont really think Darlow had that bad of a game but Martin is the better keeper anyway.

    We all expected a loss and not surprisingly there was a dodgy penalty involved. I dont care if there was contact, it was about as much of a harm as being beaten up by a toddler.

    After that, we all knew we were done, if we didnt already before the game. This team does not have it in them to come back from 2 goals behind. But we all expected a loss here and against Chelsea so it is out of the way.

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  3. I dont mind what Bruce had to say. He has to keep the players positive. Apart from! And you know what dead horse I am about to flog. He seemed to imply that the Joelinton injury changed the game. We all know it didnt. He had a couple of good touches but still fell over when he had his one decent chance. He just isnt PL standard. If Olly gives him a 9 I am going to throw my computer against the wall.

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  4. Just looked at a picture of me in Cabo, Mexico with a friend in a bar on March 11, 2020. Why do I mention this? Because this covid shyte has been going on from then. He was already working from home in Seattle but then he got a text saying a tech conference he was attending was called off. That’s when I really knew it was serious. And then 2 days later when I get back to Chicago they shut the whole country down.

    So that is almost a year FFS. I am totally sick of this. Plus Chicago has 2 feet of snow and has been below freezing for 3 weeks.

    Then add in Bruce’s tripe and NUFC being NUFC at Chelsea and Man U and it makes you want to just give up.

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  5. Eric Sykes:
    From what Bruce said it looks like Dubravka will be back. I dont really think Darlow had that bad of a game but Martin is the better keeper anyway.

    We all expected a loss and not surprisingly there was a dodgy penalty involved. I dont care if there was contact, it was about as much of a harm as being beaten up by a toddler.

    After that, we all knew we were done, if we didnt already before the game. This team does not have it in them to come back from 2 goals behind. But we all expected a loss here and against Chelsea so it is out of the way.

    Eric – I hope he does bring Dubravka back in. I think Darlow has proved he is a very competent back up keeper – but that’s it. He has played really well, but he hasn’t grown in statue the way he should have imo.
    You’d expect his first 5-6 games he’d come in and just build his confidence. But beyond that I’d be expecting to see him commanding that position & defence if he was going to be first team – he’s never really done that.
    Time for Dubravka back in for me.

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  6. Eric Sykes:
    I dont mind what Bruce had to say. He has to keep the players positive. Apart from! And you know what dead horse I am about to flog. He seemed to imply that the Joelinton injury changed the game. We all know it didnt. He had a couple of good touches but still fell over when he had his one decent chance. He just isnt PL standard. If Olly gives him a 9 I am going to throw my computer against the wall.

    Eric – the game changed with the Joelinton injury because he replaced him with a 4ft winger. Joelinton was the only real physical presence up front – not a very good one granted, but still one all the same.

    Maguire, Lindelof & Matic – it needed Carroll to give them a bit of a battle so the likes of ASM, Miggy & Willock could get on with running at them. There was no central outlet last night at all.

    Bruce then brings on Fraser & Murphy and only with 15mins to go did he bring Gayle on.

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  7. You want to say we didn’t play too badly last night, and to an extent we didn’t. The high press & workrate was very good – exactly what I’ve wanted to see from the team.

    But ultimately we weren’t beaten by sublime skill or a moment of individual brilliance – it was 3 moments of bad defending.
    Couple that with the fact that we didn’t really work De Gea at all last night other than an excellent finish by ASM and we are are a team that aren’t that good at the back and have nowt to really offer up front.

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  8. Sharpy: that wasnt a penalty either. You cannot be giving penalties for the equivalent of a butterfly landing on somebody’s shoulder. I am not sure if you yellow card the diver if there was contact but there has to be a degree of contact that warrants a penalty. We all know that forwards go down for nothing nowadays and so should the Refs.

    We benefited from it at Spurs and that was just as bad. This VAR lark is a joke. You have the Fulham keeper almost cripple the Sheffield lad and nothing, NOTHING. And then Rashford falls over he gets a penalty.

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  9. Eric Sykes:
    Sharpy: that wasnt a penalty either. You cannot be giving penalties for the equivalent of a butterfly landing on somebody’s shoulder. I am not sure if you yellow card the diver if there was contact but there has to be a degree of contact that warrants a penalty. We all know that forwards go down for nothing nowadays and so should the Refs.

    We benefited from it at Spurs and that was just as bad. This VAR lark is a joke. You have the Fulham keeper almost cripple the Sheffield lad and nothing, NOTHING. And then Rashford falls over he gets a penalty.

    Eric – it was a soft one no doubt about that, but you could tell from Willocks reaction – he knew he’d made a mistake.
    Rashford just done him with quick feet & Willock wasn’t able to pull fully out the challenge – if it was the other way round I’d expect us to be award it.

    Other than that I thought Willock had a good game overall.

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  10. We knew we would get beat.

    We knew Man U would get a penalty.

    I dont even know why I am bothered about it. We move on. The rest of our games are winnable except City away. I would have said Liverpool away is a cert for the Red Bindippers but who knows what is going on there? Klopp did this at Dortmund, where he seemed to lose it.

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  11. Good news is we are slowly coming out of the lockdown. The bad news is we’re closer to being able to see NUFC in the flesh.

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  12. Stuart79:
    Good news is we are slowly coming out of the lockdown. The bad news is we’re closer to being able to see NUFC in the flesh.

    Stu – too bloody slow!!, I’m gonna miss out on my April holiday by the look of it. Seemingly it’s safe for us 3 to be sat in our house than a cottage in Northumberland.
    Sick to the back teeth of this **** now like!!.

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  13. Yes I agree, Sharpy. I’ve booked, cancelled and re booked so many holidays in the last 12 months I feel I could be a travel agent.

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  14. Luke Edwards
    @LukeEdwardsTele
    Told again this morning from sources that #nufc are not considering a change in manager. Now this can change in a flash if Ashley intervenes but I’m told he remains hands off regarding decision making at club which is low on list of business priorities at the moment

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  15. Stuart79:
    Yes I agree, Sharpy. I’ve booked, cancelled and re booked so many holidays in the last 12 months I feel I could be a travel agent.

    Stu – we purposefully went with Northumberland despite it only being about an hour & a half up the road coz we thought we are bound to be good for that at least – even if he brought back the local tier system.
    The lockdown was meant to protect the vulnerable & they are vaccinated now.

    Our cottage is booked for the 3rd April & hes lifting the restrictions on the 12th – why?. What’s so significant about the 12th and why is it less risky by a week?!.

    Up to 6 People can go out meeting people on the 29th March – so why leave the other restrictions another fortnight for a same household family being able to stay in a self contained holiday accommodation?!.

    I’m pig sick of him & his stupid haircut and bumbling voice.

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  16. kimtoon:
    Luke Edwards
    @LukeEdwardsTele
    Told again this morning from sources that #nufc are not considering a change in manager. Now this can change in a flash if Ashley intervenes but I’m told he remains hands off regarding decision making at club which is low on list of business priorities at the moment

    Kim – intervene?, it’s his bloody club!!. I can well believe it’s low on his list though, he’s desperate to get rid of it but if we go down I think his chances of selling are slim really.
    He had to ‘intervene’ to get rid of McClaren & left that too late.
    If he has to again that HAS to mean the end for Charnley as well though – and it won’t see another Rafa come in either, I put money on that!!.

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  17. I know we talk about us or Fulham for relegation but watching Brighton & Palace here and they are in it too imo – especially Palace.
    Actually looking at the table I think right up to Leeds are still in the mix.

    Palace are awful though, defo as poor as us.

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  18. I can’t believe Palace walk away with 3 points there!!. They were still awful and won’t get that lucky every week.

    They gave a stat in the game that over both games this season – Brighton had a combined 45 shots at Palace and only had 4 back off Palace – and yet Palace took 4 points and Brighton only 1.

    Both of them are still well involved in this relegation imo.

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  19. Sharpy: they have Sky Sports on before games sometimes in the US and Boris was on. Can the PM not even get to a barber? Are restrictions that tight or is he trying to send the message that he is just like everybody else? Anyway, they laid out the reopening plans and they seem like a hotch potch of BS.

    I have a trip to Maine on April 11. I have no idea if it will be open to visitors as it is currently under quarantine even though there are hardly any cases there. All I have done is book the flight which I can change at no charge. Like Stuart I have booked a few things and then found the places wouldnt be fully open.

    Every state has different rules so it is really hard to keep track. Seems the same in the UK with the tier system and the seemingly haphazard reopenings. There must be some plan but from the rules I saw on Sky I couldnt figure it out.

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  20. I cant believe Palace have 32 points. That’s them pretty much safe. Mr Roy must have made some pact with the devil as every time I have watched them they have been ****.

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  21. Bruce seems to think there are like 9 teams in danger of relegation. It shows how delusional he is. Unless there is a catastrophe for a team it is 5 teams:

    West Brom and Sheffield are down. Then it is between:

    Fulham – Parker has them organised and they look good in attack but they still have **** defenders. They have a tough run of fixtures coming up.

    Brighton – look good but cant score. That is often a recipe for disaster.

    NUFC – I would be much more confident if Wilson wasnt out but we still have the players to survive. We have been playing better and even played 2 good halves in the last 2 games. Pity they werent in the same game! Bookies have us at about 2/1 to go down and Fulham at evens. That sounds about right.

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  22. I want to know who these 6 or 7 teams are that are looking over their shoulders that Bruce mentions. From where I’m standing there’s literally 3 a us, Burnley and Brighton. Southampton are on 30 and are pretty safe. Just a bit more evidence of him talking absolute nonsense and taking supporters for idiots.

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  23. We have 13 games left – 39 points still to play for, so the likes of Palace aren’t safe yet, and Saints haven’t been playing great recently either.
    Mathematically there is still a lot that can happen.

    But – I’m our last 13 PL games we’ve picked up only 8 points. If the next 13 only gets us 8 points we are down for sure.

    I do think we have a run of winnable games coming up against teams around us. We take the points from them and not only do we strengthen our position but weaken theirs.

    5 of those games are against teams down there with us – WBA, Burnley, Brighton, Sheff Utd & Fulham.

    Are they realistically winnable games? – imo yes.

    But, when you consider we have only won 7 games out of 25 so far – winning 5 from 13 doesn’t look so likely.

    Of those teams (including us) no other team have won as many as us or Burnley – both on 7 wins.
    So with that in mind, I don’t see why any other club is going on a winning streak either.

    If you also factor in that out of the 25 games we’ve played so far, the vast majority we never actually played to win – or our approach certainly suggested that.

    I think we need Dubravka back in goal & we need a CF on the pitch. We won’t win games playing wingers up front.
    We need to be brave, and we need to continue playing as we have been – the high press & I think that will create chances and opportunities from mistakes for us to get goals.
    But we need to try and keep key players fit for those important games imo.

    All those things give us a chance. But we have to pick our points up & not just hope other teams drop them.

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  24. Kimtoon: not sure if Bristol will survive with Pearson and Barton in the same city. Now I really want Rovers to get promoted so you have a derby with those 2.

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  25. Well I said 3-1 to manure before the match and also predicted they would get a penalty. Sadly I was right but I should’ve put money on it. Softest penalty ever, but it’s manure, the ref will always find a way to give them something. Some things never change. We are dogsh.it these days… I don’t care when they let fans back in. There’s no way I will go back until Ashley is gone. At least paying my tv subscription I get to watch other teams play well. Going to the match would be like slitting my wrists and then spending 90 mins watching the blood drain out.

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  26. VAR was meant to stop wrong decisions. However, they are so concerned with judging offside to nearest millimetre they forget about real decisions that affect teams results. Two incorrect penalty decisions last weekend both cost us dear. Sheffield not getting a very clear penalty that would’ve given them a draw (assuming they scored it) and Fulham 2 points less, and giving the softest penalty on the planet to manure that killed us off.

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  27. Icedog: Fraser should be on purely for FKs and corners but Bruce doesnt know where to play him. That is because Bruce is not a good manager. It has taken him 18 months to see Shelvey should NEVER, EVER take a FK. NEVER… Unless you want it ending up in the stands.

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  28. Shelvey is driving me mad now with his skied free kicks to go along with his corners. He just dinks in the corners and hits the free kicks from the half way line like we went back to the old Ugly John Carver days – you know, the float it to Williamson on the edge of the box hoping he has a knockdown. I was having serious deja vu at Man U all over again, a flashback and not a good one.

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  29. What it is. Is that I am totally shocked if Shelvey gets a free kick on target now. You should have at least a 50% rate of hitting it on the goal. Again, watch videos of Ward Prowse. Same for corners. Not many seem to take them that well in the PL but Shelvey is the WORST.

    THE ABSOLUTE FCN WORST. Hits the 1st man or his patented floaters.

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  30. Yep, that is me done with Jonjo. Too slow and cannot take a set piece to save his life. So, what is the point of him? Hits a great ball once every 5 games, can do a crossfield pass? I think Mourinho once said that he could do a great crossfield pass as well even with his bad knees and being in his 50s but that doesnt get you very far.

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  31. Flogging another dead horse here but the second Jonjo steps up to a set piece my immediate thought is not that we have a chance to score. It is he will hit the 1st man, sky it or let the opposition have a chance for a quick break. I think everyone thinks the same now, even Bruce to an extent. The 5 Steves must have watched videos of our game by now for gods sake!!!!

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  32. Eric – Shelvey wouldn’t be in my team mate. All too often he’s a passenger bringing very little.

    If he wanted to go 3 at the back I’d drop Shelvey and put Fernandez back in. But if he did that I’d switch Krafth with Fraser as a winger back. Him one side & Lewis the other would still allow us to be offensive.

    Alternatively he could stay the same but put Longstaff back in who would offer more box to box.

    The other option would be drop Shelvey and bring in Fraser but that would probably mean going 4-2-3-1 with ASM, Miggy & Fraser behind the front man.

    It’s no coincidence that Shelvey was not in Rafas strongest 11 in the end & Bruce has options if he wanted to drop Shelvey out – but he won’t, he’ll stick with him and applaud every stray Hollywood pass he fails to make.

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  33. icedog:
    so Frazer is unhappy at the toon and with Bruce,so says Ryder

    Ice – you can’t blame the lad really. I don’t get why Bruce isn’t using him more. He must sit on that bench and watch some of the dross in ahead of him and wonder why the hell he joined.

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  34. Eric Sykes:
    Kimtoon: not sure if Bristol will survive with Pearson and Barton in the same city. Now I really want Rovers to get promoted so you have a derby with those 2.

    Ha, two aggressive managers in one city, Pearson is just until end of season though.

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  35. Sharpy, we’ve taken 8 points from the last available 42, not hopeful right now we can pick up 12 out the 39 available to put us on 37 at the end which even then might not be enough. That’s 4 wins .

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  36. kimtoon:
    Sharpy, we’ve taken 8 points from the last available 42, not hopeful right now we can pick up 12out the 39available to put us on 37 at the end which even then might not be enough. That’s4 wins .

    Kim – I think it’s highly unlikely we will, but I guess my point is we could. We have the games there that we could & should win – and with another manager I’d feel out confident we would.

    I mean it really should be in our hands, and watching Saints tonight, they are still not safe from this all imo – that would be 7 teams for 3 spots (or 5 for 1 spot as I think WBA & Sheff Utd take 2 of them).

    We have the fixtures that offer the points so Bruce would have no excuse – but if I was Ashley Ashley I’d be giving these final 13 games to another manager for a better chance of staying up – 10 or less doesn’t give a new manager enough time imo.

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  37. Icedog:
    Shelvey. Is the worst m/f in the PL,and the laziest

    Yep, he cannot take corners and his FK are mostly rubbish too. Fraser a far better taker of corners .

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  38. Sharpy17: Kim – I think it’s highly unlikely we will, but I guess my point is we could.We have the games there that we could & should win – and with another manager I’d feel out confident we would.

    I mean it really should be in our hands, and watching Saints tonight, they are still not safe from this all imo – that would be 7 teams for 3 spots (or 5 for 1 spot as I think WBA & Sheff Utd take 2 of them).

    We have the fixtures that offer the points so Bruce would have no excuse – but if I was Ashley Ashley I’d be giving these final 13 games to another manager for a better chance of staying up – 10 or less doesn’t give a new manager enough time imo.

    Yeah , it’s clear we need a new guy in and needed one weeks back, but Jabba leaves all that to Lee who is as useful as a chocolate teapot.

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  39. We have lost 60% of all games since December 2019 and won only 24%. How is it possible that firstly he’s still in a job and secondly how does anybody think it will change within 13 games? Sorry to say it looks like we’re gone.

    Fraser has every right to be pissed off. He never plays. When he does he was asked to defend more than attack. Same for most attackers at the club.

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  40. That stat of 8 points from the last 42 is not good at all – he says stating the bleeding obvious 🙂 I also watched Wraith’s show last night and they had a league table and we are bottom since Christmas. I think it also showed bottom in goals scored as well.

    I think we have the players to stay up but I am sure there must be tension between Bruce and Jones. Who is Jones anyway? I had never heard of him. Our pattern of play had improved a bit since he came in but I think Bruce has the final say, especially on team selection.

    We needed a refresh though because the 5 Steves were taking us down – yes there are 5 Steves coaching our team – but is Graeme Jones the right guy, I have no idea?

    It is hard not to get a bit despondent, but we never beat Chelsea or Man U away so they are throwaway games. I dont agree that the players looked like they have given up either. They tried a bit. Can you get them to fully adjust to a high press in less than half a season? You know that was how McClaren wanted to play as well? He had some 5 second rule where you pressed for 5 seconds and if you didnt get the ball you dropped back. We all know how that ended.

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  41. Stuart79:
    We have lost 60% of all games since December 2019 and won only 24%. How is it possible that firstly he’s still in a job and secondly how does anybody think it will change within 13 games? Sorry to say it looks like we’re gone.

    Fraser has every right to be pissed off. He never plays. When he does he was asked to defend more than attack. Same for most attackers at the club.

    We have to stop playing passengers. At the moment they are Shelvey, Joelinton and probably Lascelles. Not sure what to say about Lewis. Is he really a fullback? And Krafth seems ****.

    Bruce has to adjust the team and get our better players on the pitch. That would be Dummett, Dubravka and Fernandez. Probably Gayle as well. Not sure what the hell to do at right fullback.

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  42. Who do you replace Shelvey with? Probably give Matty a couple of games. I would have Hendrick ahead of Sean as well as he has been less bad. Addition by subtraction is the name of the game but I am sure Bruce will stick with Shelvey and the Brazilian Donkey, if fit.

    Or tweak the formation to get Fraser on.

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  43. And, to say Jokelinton did well on Sunday is a joke. He had a couple of decent flicks but failed in what we need him for which is hitting the target or at the very least getting a couple of crosses in. He did well by Joelinton standards which we all know are extremely low. How many crosses did he have? Shots? Headers?

    We really are screwed if we continue with the Shelvey floater to Donkey-Joe at set pieces. Passengers. I might go all Iggy Pop if this continues.

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  44. Stuart: a 24% winning record gets you 9 wins in a full season. Throw in, say, 6 draws and you are on 33 points. As if we didnt know it already we are in a Brucie death spiral. This Graeme Jones better be the messiah coz Bruce isnt going to fix this. He has shown it at every PL club he has managed. I think his win percentage before us was 29%.

    And it is not just the extremely low percentage wins, it is that we were very lucky in a lot of those games. We all saw it, as the pundits watched on and were praising Bruce. Now some of them have turned. Perhaps they have actually watched our games now instead of just match of the day highlights?!!!?

    I hate being this negative because I think we have enough to stay up. We have gaps – like Krafth – but all lower half teams have gaps. Bruce probably needs Dubs to save his bacon. Hmmm… bacon (as Homer Simpson would say).

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  45. Player ratings, who are actually fit now:

    Darlow: good shot stopper but still some flaws in his game.

    Dubravka: top 6 PL keeper.

    Krafth: not good enough for PL.

    Fernandez: Solid, but gives away too many corners.

    Lascelles: should not be captain. 1st time I saw him was live at a friendly in Milwaukee. He gave away a penalty and let a player from a Mixican mid-table team stroll past him for a 2nd goal. He flatters to deceive.

    Clark: a decent player.

    Dummett: our best defender.

    Lewis: I honestly have no idea. He looks good one week and then is a total failure the next.

    Longstaffs: Sean should have gone out on loan, Matty deserves a shot.

    Shelvey: I am done with Jonjo. He should never play for us again.

    Hayden: efficient but needs a runner or creative MF next to him.

    Willock: has looked good so far. We needed a runner.

    Hendrick: slightly below average PL player. A fill in.

    Almiron: our best attacker.

    Carroll: past it, but OK for last 20 mins to defend corners.

    Gayle: I like Dwight and think he can score goals if his attitude is right.

    Donkey-Joe: enough said already

    St Max: excellent skill as long as he doesnt try to do it all himself

    We can scratch together a team from that that is better than Fulham or Brighton and wait for Wilson to return.

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  46. I missed Fraser. He has something and seems like the only one who can take a set piece. I would have him start for that alone.

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  47. So what team would I start against Wolves? Ignoring Bruce because he knows f-all. I would get our best players on the pitch, including Clark at right back. Krafth is ****.

    Dubs

    Clark Fernandez Dummett Lewis

    Hayden Willock Fraser

    Almiron Gayle St Max

    I dont care if they are played out of position. When we have played Shelvey, Donkey-Joe and Krafth in their supposed best positions they have been terrible. So why not play the best players…

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  48. Shelvey should be replaced by Matty Longstaff and I’d now replace Darlow with Dubravka. I have no idea what we do about right back though. I’d leave Joelinton out. He’s just as good as me and we are playing with 10 men every time he’s selected. Go with Gayle. I’d play Fraser, Almiron and ASM. We need goals.

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  49. Piers Morgan has wasted 15 minutes opportunity to get information about Schools from Gavin Williamson in his pathetic little agenda to get the government to say sorry for Matt Hancock not publishing contracts on time in the middle of a pandemic. Do you thing, Piers, your viewers would rather know what’s happening with schools or whether you win your futile little war with the government…? Narcissistic beyond believe

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  50. Stuart: Morgan is a self serving turd. He had a show here for about 3 years on CNN and it was all about him. Superficially it was about the guests but really it all came back to him and his ego.

    I also see there is a story here and elsewhere about Ryder saying Fraser is disillusioned with Bruce. I dont doubt it because who wouldnt be if their manager plays Donkey-Joe ahead of them. However, it is Ryder, and I wouldnt believe his “reporting” if he told me East Enders starts at 8 O’Clock.

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  51. It was widely reported that Fraser kept us hanging on before joining us with a few reporters saying he was hoping for a better deal/club to come in. If those reports are true, then Bruce not starting him will hardly be going down well.
    When he does get on he looks good to me, excellent corners and FK’s , he should be on from start.

    Bruce has fallen out with the longstaffs, they won’t start.

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  52. People/media/newspapers/blogs have been saying for years that Dummett’s future position is centre half. He is 29 FFS and turns 30 in Sept. He is our best defender and should start ahead of Lascelles.

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  53. Kimtoon: is that the famed Bruce man management skills with the Longstaff’s 🙂 You can see from Bruce’s press conferences that he acts like a defensive petulant child sometimes. Most managers are like that but he has totally embraced Alan Pardew’s Big Book of Excuses that was left at his NUFC office.

    It is funny that we have had Bruce, Pards, Ugly John and Kinnear who are just full of **** in press conferences. Ashley seems to attract them like flies. I could add McClaren but he acted like a scared rabbit in the end.

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  54. Stuart79:
    Piers Morgan has wasted 15 minutes opportunity to get information about Schools from Gavin Williamson in his pathetic little agenda to get the government to say sorry for Matt Han**** not publishing contracts on time in the middle of a pandemic. Do you thing, Piers, your viewers would rather know what’s happening with schools or whether you win your futile little war with the government…? Narcissistic beyond believe

    Agree Stu, he’s obsessed just as he is with Megan and Harry.
    That said, it’s a strange stance to take that he had no time to publish contracts as we needed PPE , when other ministers are adamant that we were not short of it when grilled by Piers .
    I think we can all agree we WERE short and that certain companies were favored by this government, many having no experience in ordering PPE and that was shown by incorrect equipment arriving and being wasted and sent back or left laying useless.

    It’s done now though and it’s money we won’t ever get back, but hey, a few have gotten rich so silver linings and all that.

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  55. The evidence is now in and it is clear. All you have to do is look at Jonjo’s goals and assists to see he is not cutting it. Same with Donkey-Joe. We have had enough games to see it. Get our best players on the pitch and let the coaches figure out the formation. God knows that we have enough coaches now that they should be able to do a bit of tactics – 5 Steves and a Graeme.

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  56. Traore will take Lewis apart so it’s got to be Dummett as LB.
    Replace Krap .. . who though? Anybody will do even Hendrick or Sean.
    Dubravka and Fernandez definitely in. Lascelles has been rubbish all season.

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  57. I love Bruce’s excuse that he knows best because he has been in Management for over 20 years. Yes, Steve. But you have been **** at it and hired by **** teams and have a **** record! You have dragged around your puppies (the other Steves) and have got the same results everywhere you have been.

    Now we see at NUFC that even with better players you are still ****. If not for a lot of luck and Dubravka we would have been relegated last year. We need that formula again this year even with Fraser, Wilson, Willock added.

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  58. You look at Man City and a lot of their players do not play in conventional roles. Even Jesus is not a conventional centre forward and they have the likes of Foden and Sterling floating around. I think Gundogan is their top scorer. Aguero has been out so Pep adapted.

    I know they have better players but our players are not that bad and probably 7 or 8 would get into the Brighton side.

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  59. I reckon Sean Dyche would have us 9th or 10th at this point. He performs miracles with that squad at Burnley.

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  60. ERIC ime not sure on Dyche hes used to playing a defending game with two big strikers up front,how would he do at a bigger club with a better class of player he wouldnt get a top six club imo and thats what clubs are aiming for,ime just not sure,if you want to stay 15 to 10 in PL hes your man

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  61. Ice: I dont want Dyche. Just putting it out there for comparison with Bruce mate.

    I am going stir crazy as you might guess. Weather just broke but we had 400 straight hrs below freezing until yesterday. That is on top of covid restrictions. That is 17 fcn days straight below freezing!!!!

    I was going a bit nuts. I had planned to go to FL for a break and then didnt coz of Covid and then this is like a weather event that you get every 5 years in Chicago. A deep freeze for this long.

    Sorry if I bored people about NUFC. I have been stuck in the house for 2 months and not even wanting to go out because it was so cold 🙂

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  62. It is 2 weeks until the anniversary of the 1st lockdown here. Can you believe that? Chicago can open though. The positive test rate is now 3% which is well within the stated limit of 10% to open. 3% is also an inflated number because the people that get tested are those who think they have symptoms or want to travel.

    I think this is now ending with the vaccines available and people at least seeming to take it seriously. Not even Boris or the Orange Man Baby can mess this up. We are at an inflection point.

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  63. Jonny Dawson: I would not be too quick to blame Bruce on Sean Longstaff. I think he has been shyte and that is down to his injury and him being overrated based on 12 games . I think Bruce is a **** manager who blames everybody but himself and has no real tactics, but sometimes you have to take some personal responsibility.

    Sean Longstaff was totally overrated and that has been made worse by Bruce and the Steves. His head has been turned by his new agent so he thinks he is better than he really is.

    #DoneNowtFor18Months.

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  64. If you want to continue a thread/discussion then some of the writers on here should get on the discussion page. I think most are excellent so they should be expanding their points of view.

    Olly is always interesting. Jeff King and Jonny Dawson bring different perspectives. I forget which one does the stats stuff but that is worth a read. Andy the Magpie is good as well.

    Might just want to prod the discussion along.

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  65. With current injuries & what we have available to us at the moment I hate to say it but I’d revert back to 3 CBs while we have Wilson & Manquillo out. My starting 11 for a Wolves would be:

    —————-—- Dubravka ——————
    —– Lascelles-Fernandez-Clark —
    Fraser ——————————-—- Lewis
    ————- Hayden —- Willock ————
    —— Almiron —————-—— ASM ——
    ———————- Carroll ———————

    That doesn’t have to be a negative set up. I think Fraser & Lewis could be a threat out wide, while Hayden would provide cover for them & Willock would get forward with Almiron & ASM to support Carroll – who would be a far greater CF presence than Joelinton was on Sunday.
    I don’t think it necessarily Frasers best position, but I think he could be effective there & certainly effective on set piece duties.

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  66. Sharpy: any formation that keeps Krafth off the pitch is probably good. I would also have Dummett as the centre back in place of Lascelles. Wont happen, but I can wish.

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  67. To expand on Jonny Dawson’s article on Shelvey. In the last few years our recruitment has been of players that run with the ball – Almiron, St Max, Fraser, Lewis, even Wilson. That’s also the way the Brazilian Donkey played under Nagelsmann. Jonjo’s skillset is actually holding us back. We do not need the hollywood pass that hardly ever comes off. We certainly dont need the free kick that invariably ends in the stands or the worst corners (floaters) in the PL.

    The PL is now video game football and Shelvey is too slow for it.

    I am going to paraphrase Mourinho again when some journos were ooing and ahing about a crossfield 40 yard pass. He said he could do that under no pressure and he was 50 with a bad knee. It has got to that point with Jonjo. It got there with Rooney when he lost his pace. Even with Gerrard who was a better passer than Shelvey, when he lost his pace and work rate through age, he just couldnt keep up and became a liability (I think Gerrard was a great player BTW, just using this as illustration).

    Shelvey is now a liability.

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  68. And can someone explain to Mr. Bruce that Wolves like to play on the counter-attack.

    That means NUFC cannot have every single player in their box for corners and free kicks leaving no cover.

    It also means that a snail-slow midfielder will probably burn us on their counter. I think that rules out Shevley AND the Longstaffs.

    It may seem counterintuitive to worry about counters when we have so little possession, but I am thinking about the Leeds game. They like to press but killed us on counters.

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  69. ADDITION BY SUBTRACTION!!!!!!!!

    Our 3 worst players this season have been:

    Shelvey

    Donkey-Joe

    Krafth

    Whatever we can do to keep them off the field will benefit us. I dont care if it is tactics or formations or playing people out of position. Keeping these 3 off the pitch will help us win games.

    I dont care about money spent, reputation, seniority. We have seen them. We have also seen the stats. They are hurting us.

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