Teddeer

Wonder if Southgate is questioning his decision not to give Grealish much game time at the Euros. Needs answering really as it's a mystery to most.

In a nutshell.

Agree with him being a ball watcher. Unfortunately for Jack he does not have that awareness, that instinct for danger that make for decent centre backs. When forwards are seeking that bit of space in the box you will often see him ball watching with no awareness that a forward has pulled off into a dangerous area. Unless and until he can rectify that glaring weakness he will always be below the levels required which is a pity because the rest of his game is fairly tidy other than some poor decision making when he carries the ball upfield.

Looking on the bright side those 3 fixtures yielded us zero points last season so we're in credit.

Largely because, apart from Romeu, we have players in the middle of the park who can't tackle so these type of opponents are allowed to get up a head of steam which is when they are dangerous. Also, we constantly give the ball away cheaply when high up the pitch leaving us exposed to the long punt over the top.

We paid the price for not being clinical when we were so on top we were embarrassing them. Not sure why we can't get through the first ten or so minutes after half time without conceding a goal - that needs to be addressed. We have to take more care of the ball when attacking because we are so easy to break against when we give away soft possession. McCarthy did nothing wrong today so no blame on him. Positives were that we played some super football in the first half although the killer ball was largely lacking, plus the fact that heads didn't drop after we went 2-1 down and credit to Redmond for a slide rule pass to get Armstrong through leading to the penalty. Salisu is getting better and better and, if Lyanco is any good, they might make a very good partnership at the heart of the defence and the latter will certainly give us more options with his skill on the ball and passing range.

Unfortunately Djenepo sunk back to his bad old habits today not least of which is the persistent diving. Ralph quite rightly hooked him after he got booked. He needs to be told in to uncertain terms to cut this aspect of his game out because he will get the reputation of being a diver and won't even get free kicks when he's genuinely been fouled.

No complaints about that performance from McCarthy. Giving the ball away carelessly twice high up the pitch leading to two break away goals let us down.

We have to cut out giving the ball away so cheaply when we are attacking. Both Newcastle goals came from breaks after we had been attacking and then needlessly given away possession.

So why didn't he also tell the ref it was a pen?

Mike Dean fucking cheat against us as usual. He called that a fair attempt to get the ball so no penalty. Good job the ref wasn't a cheat as well. High time Dean was asked to explain his bias against us.

Didn't see that coming said nobody.

Please tell me this is not going to be another shit show at St James Park where we hand them 3 points on a plate. We should be pissing this. Too many long range shots early on when a pass would have been a better choice. Let's not throw this away because Newcastle are absolutely dire.

Think Ralph will stick with Walcott. He seems to have a blind spot where he's concerned and will probably include him based on the fact that we led at half time in both our games so why change it. Hope he drops him but I don't expect him to.

You'd think those in charge of the purse strings would learn a few harsh lessons and stop handing out huge contracts to players who clearly offer us very little value. Money is clearly tight so why are we paying Theo, who has been past his best for years, £75,000 a week.

Who in their right mind would pay Walcott £75,000 a week!

Hope Ralph puts Broja on the bench on Saturday as I think he's a useful player to bring on and mix things up. Sadly, I expect he'll prefer Shane Long who is well past his best and no longer capable of producing game changing moments.

Sounds like one of those where he knows something he's not supposed to reveal but, in the heat of the commentary, he lets it half slip because he's trying to make a point about Elyounoussi - bit of a Freudian slip moment.

Not so sure they manage any scintillating football against us - think it's more a case of we just hand it to them on a plate.

Two goals in the one game he's played is a good start. Be great if he can maintain that scoring ratio.

Nice to get some shooting practice in - fish in a barrel.

Brilliant for the lad.

Broja starts!

McCarthy must be laughing all the way to the bank. Why not just give him a one year contract?