Newcastle went to West Brom on Sunday without their three best attackers. Rather than finding a way of succeeding without them, they simply settled for a point.
Had this been an away game against Manchester United or Chelsea, then fair enough – a point would have been a great result.
But this was a game at the Hawthorns against the second worst team in the league.
Steve Bruce picked a defensive XI that was unwilling to experiment.
It got him the point he craved, but Newcastle ended the day closer to the relegation zone. Despite moving up to 16th, the Magpies are just one point clear of the bottom three.
After the game, Bruce insisted that he couldn’t start Andy Carroll or Dwight Gayle because they didn’t have time to work on a new system.
But on Friday against Villa, the excuses need to stop. The manager needs to start a recognised striker. Settling for a point is not enough in our perilous position.
Dwight Gayle must start
Without Miguel Almiron, the diamond system clearly doesn’t work.
Joe Willock tried his best, but couldn’t match the energy of the Paraguayan. Meanwhile, Newcastle’s lack of a striker nullified any attack they had.
When Joelinton raced through on goal, he unselfishly tried to find Ryan Fraser. Any player with a goalscorer’s instinct would have taken the shot on himself.
That’s what Gayle is. He’s a goalscorer. Give him a chance in the penalty area, and the chances are he’ll take it.
Newcastle need to find a way of winning games. We can’t afford to just tread water while we wait for key players to return from injury.
Out of the players we’ve got fit, Gayle is our best shot at actually scoring goals.
Whether that means finding a way for the diamond to succeed with Gayle or changing the system completely, Bruce must accommodate the 31-year-old.
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