Newcastle United continue to confuse this season.
Indeed, Newcastle have won games in which they’ve played poorly, while they lost a game they largely dominated against Brighton on Saturday.
Still, to suggest the Seagulls weren’t totally worthy of their win would perhaps be too much.
While it’s true that they seemed there for the taking in the opening 35 minutes at St James’ Park, some pretty toothless finishing slammed by Alan Shearer let them off the hook.
After that, Newcastle didn’t even look like scoring – even when pressing for a leveller following Danny Welbeck’s opener. Nothing about them looked convincing, with Alexander Isak way off the pace.
They’ve yet to click this season, despite some good results.
It’s hard to know what to make of Eddie Howe’s side thus far and pundit Don Hutchison has now admitted a major concern.
Don Hutchison now shares why he’s really worried about Newcastle
Reflecting on the defeat to Brighton, Hutchison told ESPN: “I am just a little bit worried what the trajectory is for Newcastle.
“It’s still a European spot, but I think going home, I think Newcastle fans going home from St. James’ Park will be asking a lot of questions where the team’s going. I am still very much an Eddie Howe fan, I am still pro Eddie Howe, but still I think that that loss at home to Brighton today at home to St. James’ is a little bit worrying.”
PIF may not be getting what they want at Newcastle this season
Newcastle’s owners are believed to view this season as a great chance to challenge the Premier League’s top five all while making deep runs in both domestic cups, given the reduced schedule after failing to qualify for Europe.
Still, results like the one against Brighton do suggest that the club are a long way off realising those ambitions.
Sloppy defending, so bad Howe was said to have visibly been fuming, and a worrying lack of goals hardly point to a team able to challenge at the very top of the table.
While it was promising to see Newcastle slightly more coherent as a team on Saturday, the fact remains that they are struggling to string a consistent performance together over 90 minutes.
Hutchison has every right to be concerned.
Receive a digest of our best Newcastle content each week direct to your mailbox
