Perhaps the most damaging defeat yet in Newcastle United’s season, as a game dubbed by many as a ‘must win’ ended in a disastrous defeat to Brentford.
That’s now three losses in a row, 10 goals conceded in that time, and a defeat to leave us 12th in the table; 10 points off the top five and 10 points off relegation.
There were audible boos from many at the full time whistle (the first time we’ve seen that after a league defeat in the Eddie Howe era?) and they were justified. It was a total mess, as we looked a side so low on confidence, lacking in energy, too easy to score (again) and equally easy to defend against.
Howe made five changes from the midweek cup exit at Man City, switching back to a 4-3-3 as Pope, Bruno, Murphy, Barnes and Wissa came in, seeing Ramsdale, Burn, Ramsey, Gordon and Woltemade drop to the bench.
It wasn’t a pretty start, as looked like a side struggling for confidence and lacking cohesion, giving away the ball too easily and allowing Brentford to settle early.
Willock and Hall, to their credit, were bright and making things happen in flashes down our left, then came our goal against the run of play. Another wicked Bruno corner and a rare Botman header to send us 1-0 up at the Gallowgate on 25 minutes.
A brilliant burst from Hall and scramble in the box ended with Wissa having an instinctive effort cleared off the line – then came the collapse in the final 10 minutes of a poor first half. Trippier couldn’t stop the cross which Janelt headed home, then Murphy’s handball from Jensen’s goal-bound shot allowed Thiago to step up and score his 17th of the season.
Wissa had been anonymous against his former club, Murphy was giving the ball away far too cheaply, Bruno looked rusty after missing our last four and Barnes wasn’t getting much joy out of Kayode. There were some boos as the half-time whistle sounded, showing the shift in mood at St James’ Park after chants of ‘Eddie Howe’s black and white army’ from the Strawberry corner moments earlier.
Something had to change and Howe didn’t waste any time in doing so, bringing on Elanga, who I was shocked to see on the bench after that confidence-boosting solo goal at City. Joining him was Woltemade, who went in just behind Wissa in a 4-2–3-1 formation, leaving Willock unfortunate to come off after his decent first half display.
The switch saw us get more of the ball, but we rarely threatened and moved it too slowly. Aside from Thiaw’s strike and the Bruno penalty to draw us level on 79 minutes, we didn’t have another shot on goal in a thoroughly miserable second half that ended in disaster.
The ball wasn’t cleared, Brentford moved it quickly to target Trippier’s side once again and Ouattara fired under Pope. 3-2, another collapse just after we’d scored and zero sign of any fight back as we wilted to a deserved defeat. Boos at the full time whistle and a sinking defeat that leaves us 12th and with a mountain to climb (given the fixtures ahead) to get back in the mix for those European spots.
Newcastle XI: Pope – Trippier, Thiaw, Botman, Hall – Bruno, Tonali, Willock – Murphy, Wissa, Barnes
Substitutes: Ramsdale, Osula, Elanga, Woltemade, Burn, A.Murphy, Ramsay, Shahar, Neave
Brentford XI: Kelleher – Kayode, Van den Berg, Ajer, Henry – Janelt, Henderson, Jensen – Outtara, Thiago, Lewis Potter
Next up, Spurs away on Tuesday, before an FA Cup trip to Aston Villa next Saturday.
Keep the faith. HWTL.
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