Personally think every substitution today was wrong and at the wrong times. I like Quinn but frankly I just don't get it.
Bad decision on the second substitution Meyler on for Jelavic, leaving Aluko who has had hardly any game time as the sole forward, we invited Newcastle to come at us, when we were still looking comfortable, should have been Quinn or Livermore to come off, Ramirez or Meyler on and keep the same shape of the team.
I'm gutted right now. I really don't blame Bruce because Newcastle wasn't super threatening until Jelavic came off. However, subbing in Aluko vs Gaston doesn't make sense and leaving Quinn on didn't make sense either. My guess, because Bruce is a good man, I think he's trying to give guys he likes a chance to prove themselves but he's going to take some heat for today, and rightly so.
Newcastle weren't poor though, they were just a better team than us today. How many clear cut saves did Tim Krul have to make? Most of our efforts were long range; Newcastle marshalled us well enough, I think the reason we didn't win wasn't because we were necessarily poor, just that they were pretty good. Tiote was all over the place and I can only hope Ben Arfa influences us like Cissokho did for them today.
We need Chester back in. Playing as part of a back 3. It's great going forward but, we look frail as f** at the back. Also I think it was a bad decision by Brucie to bring both strikers off and go defensive. I know he was trying to close the game out but I think they were there for the taking. he doesn't often get it wrong, but i think Bruce blinked too early today. Greggsy has to look at his positioning for the first as well.
spot on with this ! Dawson plays to justify the price tag Davies un droppable as captain and we've won one game and had one clean sheet this season with Chester in defence !! If it ain't broke don't fix it
I thought Huddlestone played well today, but Livermore was awful. Aluko looked good when he came on as well, but the Meyler substitution was a mistake when you had Ramirez on the bench who could've replaced either Livermore or Quinn.
We gave the ball away to them, stood off them, they ran past us. West Ham was similar. We should be tighter than that.
The three changes were shocking today, all their threat was coming from out wide, so why he didn't bring on some cover for the full backs I'll never know. This diamond formation isn't working Brucey, abandon it for christ sake
I was annoyed with the Meyler substitution at the time, we just invited the pressure after that. But hey, for all we know Newcastle might've won 3-2 if that change hadn't been made. Easy to say it was wrong in hindsight. I would've preferred to keep Jelavic on though, he would've put more pressure on their defence rather than allowing them all to roam forward.
We need to get the balance of the team right - we look a threat with 4-4-2 but we look vulnerable at the back. We maybe need to revert to 3-5-2 bringing Chester back into the defence and maybe leaving Quinn or even Livermore on the bench.
Dawson was absolutely excellent today. If Quinn gives the ball away and McGregor leaves his near post unlocked, it's not Dawson's fault, and there's nothing Chester could have done about it.
We do seem to give the ball away a fair amount. I'm not convinced that the players are settled enough to play a 4-4-2, as they have no offside trap and no midfield presence. I think we need a bit of a reality check here, the fact that we've just come away from St James' Park with a point isn't good enough anymore? Some of the expectations on here are far too high. Yes Newcastle came from behind to draw, but on the face of it, do people not think they deserved to? On the balance of play alone, at least.
I personally thought we where awful today. Lost the ball too easily, passing was shocking, decision making was poor, defensively frail and all over the place. I have found us incredibly frustrating to watch this season because we can't seem to get the simple things right. Also. McGregor is slowly starting to grate on me. This started towards the end of last season and has carried on again. He is arguably losing us points and a wonder save here and there is covering up some massive frailties in his game. Can't defend set pieces well and he is woeful at the near post. Credit where credit is due. Amazing goals today.
I would agree. I think if Elmo and Robertson are going to be starting then they need to be wingbacks, not fullbacks. We have 3 brilliant centre half's at this club and we can accommodate them all in the 11.
