christ Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 1 minute ago, KaKa said: I wouldn't be too concerned about the struggles we are currently seeing this season. It was somewhat inevitable and is absolutely necessary. I think it will mean we are more ruthless with letting some players go this summer, and also that we will be more ambitious strengthening the squad going forward. I does feel like it’s a learning opportunity for the club. Everything they’ve touched has turned to gold so far. But periods of adversity are inevitable and we need to have these issues to grow. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiresias Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 I do wonder about Howe needing to spend some time on a lower intensity plan b for these stretches. Clearly players aren't in form and we aren't creating chances. When the intensity drops so hard to create goal opportunities Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyc35i Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 11 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said: It's funny isn't it. When we're winning it's unbelievable what Howe has done with largely the same players we had under Bruce, when we're losing the players are talented and should be beating Luton even with 9 or 10 men. Not saying it's the same people but it's funny how quickly things turn on a sixpence. I actually thought we were playing with 10 men given how unfit Isak was. He looked leggy and almost lazy to me because he just can’t seem to run. Clear to me that a striker is needed as we can’t rely on the fitness of the two we have right now Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LionOfGosforth Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 Maybe i'm being a bit too positive and optimistic but it's surprising to me that a few people seem to think the trajectory we're on will be linear and upwards only. Adversity is inevitable and will only make the growth and good times sweeter. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smal Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 We need to be better in possession. It can’t all be about fast football, set-pieces and winning second balls all the time. That will only take us so far and we live seen that it suffers badly when the players are tired/injured. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 16 minutes ago, Wullie said: When players are playing shite, game by game, or just on one day, you drop them/take them off. But we can't. It's not just about fatigue, we're not in a position to do anything different in terms of personnel. This is not normal for so long with so many big games. If we leave out Almiron or Gordon who plays in their stead? Matt Ritchie, an out of position full back or a 16 year old from the academy that everyone agrees is still a bit rubbish? Not sure Hall would agree about being an out of position full back, he considers himself a midfielder according to some circles. I understand Howe is very reliant on Gordon whose had a great season, but he really has looked knackered for a few weeks now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PauloGeordio Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 2 minutes ago, LionOfGosforth said: Maybe i'm being a bit too positive and optimistic but it's surprising to me that a few people seem to think the trajectory we're on will be linear and upwards only. Adversity is inevitable and will only make the growth and good times sweeter. Bumps in the road. Only way is up over time. Patience, trust, belief in the journey. Predict a happier Boxing Day result for folk to give them a lift Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaKa Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 6 minutes ago, christ said: I does feel like it’s a learning opportunity for the club. Everything they’ve touched has turned to gold so far. But periods of adversity are inevitable and we need to have these issues to grow. Absolutely, particularly because of how far behind our starting point was. If we had already pretty much built a healthy squad that was supposed to compete on all fronts, and this was happening, then the alarm bells would be ringing. Relative small step backwards this season it looks like. Before going again with a much bigger step forward. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 I mean, the summers business was exactly about creating a squad able to compete on all fronts. Howe was talking about having 2 pretty equal teams IIRC. The amount of (and severity of) injuries has been the big problem, and the inability to deal with such a crisis. Lewis Hall, signed in the summer, is sat there unused for example. What is to blame for the injuries is up for debate. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erikse Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 (edited) There was a time earlier in the season when some of us got told that we were looking too much into the away form. I wonder if that still applies. Edited December 23, 2023 by Erikse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanj Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 I’m pretty chill over all this because I’m backing the club to learn from every win, every draw and every loss. Hope they prioritize cash flow on the playing squad over anything else at this point, and I expect they will. We’ve had fuck-all luck this season — which sport has a heavy reliance on in addition to the actual execution part. Long journey ahead of us, and yes, remember where we used to be. Think long term. The force that we were last season was a taste of just what we will be LONG term. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronson333 Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 31 minutes ago, NUFC91 said: Newcastle really miss Joe willock or anothed player like him. Crying out for someone to pick up ball in midfield and drive on. Joe willock is the most underrated nufc player Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palestoon Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 Reality is, we are victims of our own over-acheivement. We have to remember this squad and staff are new to this kind of grueling schedule. And we simply don't have the squad to cope. Elite teams would have seen out luton today Regarldess of the game midweek. They would have absorbed thier fast start, settled the game down, kept the ball with their quality, and picked their spots to go full pelt and won 2-0 comfortably. We used to be victims to these kind of results regularly against the "big clubs". Unfortunately we just don't have the quality on the pitch or know how to deal with these situations yet. But it will come in time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 When you look at the historical stats away against Luton you had to expect the worst. Ignoring stats can leave you wideopen to criticism Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaKa Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 11 minutes ago, Sean said: I mean, the summers business was exactly about creating a squad able to compete on all fronts. Howe was talking about having 2 pretty equal teams IIRC. The amount of (and severity of) injuries has been the big problem, and the inability to deal with such a crisis. Lewis Hall, signed in the summer, is sat there unused for example. What is to blame for the injuries is up for debate. When everyone is fit we will have numbers, but really, we would still lack quality in key areas. When we're short we don't just suffer from fatigue, but also a significant drop off in quality. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Five o Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 14 minutes ago, Erikse said: There was a time earlier in the season when some of us got told that we were looking too much into the away form. I wonder if that still applies. You want a trophy? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dokko Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 Remember when people were laughing at the mackems getting beat off Luton? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Prophet Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 15 minutes ago, Erikse said: There was a time earlier in the season when some of us got told that we were looking too much into the away form. I wonder if that still applies. Earlier on the season, people were reading into it too much, but performances have continued to decline since then. Bournemouth onward has been really poor. Well done though, you must be buzzing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nemtizz Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 Thankfully the fatigue isn’t affecting us at home. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 4 minutes ago, KaKa said: When everyone is fit we will have numbers, but really, we would still lack quality in key areas. When we're short we don't just suffer from fatigue, but also a significant drop off in quality. I do agree we definitely lack quality in key areas and that needs addressing over the next 2 windows. But any club would be in trouble with so many injuries, and we also need to find a way of ensuring that is not repeated next season. Whether that's adjusting the intensity we play at, improving the medical department, getting less injury-prone players in the squad, or simply hoping for better luck. I'd hope it's not the last option tbh Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Prophet Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 18 minutes ago, nemtizz said: Thankfully the fatigue isn’t affecting us at home. Still not convinced we'd have beaten Fulham without the man advantage. Dortmund and Milan have beaten us at SJP in recent weeks too. I know you were being facetious and while our away form is much worse than it should be, our home form doesn't have any right to be as good as it is considering the circumstances. Clearly confidence or a lack of is feeding into both too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanj Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 Still trying to wrap my head around that phantom offside call on Isak Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andybiotics Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 13 minutes ago, Kanji said: Still trying to wrap my head around that phantom offside call on Isak Wilson free header and the Isak "offside" get us a couple goals and it's a completely different story. However, still can't excuse what we saw today. Truly awful. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Butcher Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 Playing a fresh Hall, Diallo or that other lad over Almiron and/or Gordon would be the sensible thing to do. At least the bairns can run. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now