Newcastle United are up against it this weekend.
While elements of their performance at home to Brighton last week were reasonably promising in the opening 35 minutes or so, Newcastle just couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net.
Eddie Howe’s side squandered a number of presentable opportunities but failed to take their chances and were hit with a sucker-punch when Danny Welbeck scored.
Still, the Seagulls would go on to improve and largely held Howe’s side at bay for the rest of the game.
Though attention will soon turn to Sunday’s trip to Chelsea, fresh insight into what happened during the Brighton game has emerged.
Not only was Howe unhappy with the way his team chased the game, Jason Tindall and Joelinton were also said to have been annoyed by goings on.
Why Jason Tindall and Joelinton were unhappy during Newcastle’s loss to Brighton
According to the Daily Mail, people at Newcastle were frustrated about how long Brighton took to emerge from the dressing room after the interval.
Head of performance Dan Hodges was reportedly furious with having to wait for two minutes, while Tindall was said to have been equally as annoyed and Joelinton sought answers.
Newcastle have to get back to their dark arts
Branded “annoying” by Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag during the glorious 2022-23 campaign, Newcastle could do with indulging in the dark arts in a similar way again.
Indeed, they’re in danger of becoming too nice to play against. They don’t take their chances and some soft defending gives the opposition a chance to score. That is hardly the mark of a team ready to compete for Champions League qualification.
Whether or not like little tricks like Brighton pulled makes any material difference remains to be seen but it is surely worth a go at this stage…
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