Matthias Jaissle and Newcastle United suffer another 4-1 defeat away from home and, once again, the only positive was the referee blowing the final whistle.
Chaos in transitions, toothless up front and an overall performance that resembled a disjointed team who haven’t yet got to grips with what they should be doing. The question is how long can that continue before the German comes under some pressure?
Anyway, player ratings from the game are below, if you want to put yourself through more torture after that of course…
Lukas Hornicek - 3
I have sung his praises on numerous occasions so far this season, so it only feels right that I do the same in the other direction here… that penalty man.
I’m not entirely sure it’s fair to suggest he definitely should have collected the first one, but rushing out in the manner he did afterwards felt like it was going to end in disaster from the moment he started.
He did most things right after that but did ultimately concede four goals and even that can’t justify anything higher than a three.
Lewis Miley - 6
Miley didn’t really put a foot wrong in the game, despite once again playing out of position. In fact, I’m not even sure it constitutes ‘out of position’ anymore given how comfortable he looks.
Miley didn’t do anything flashy, but put in a solid performance before being brought off for Dedic and Coventry never felt like a threat down his side.
Sven Botman - 6
Someone has clearly been learning from Fabian Schar on the training ground; where did that strike come from??
Botman did look a little shaky at times in the defensive areas , but I felt he conducted himself well for the most part.
Malick Thiaw - 4
Not aggressive enough, as evidenced for Coventry’s third goal where Ellis Simms had about three years to get his shot away.
It’s difficult for both him and Botman because they are being left so unbelievably exposed by the midfield, but the German wasn’t exactly blame-free on multiple occasions today.
Lewis Hall - 5
Probably Hall’s worst performance this season all things considered and he wasn’t even that bad.
He lost the ball which ultimately led to Coventry’s third goal after dallying on the touchline, but I don’t really remember any glaring problems with his game apart from that.
Hall is one of the few who is probably wondering where on earth his help is and, I must admit, I do feel a little bit sorry for him considering he was recently convinced to sign a brand new contract…
Nico Gonzalez - 4
Did Nico actually play today? I didn’t notice if so.
It’s not entirely his fault because those in front of him offered little protection, but the midfield was so easily bypassed on so many occasions that the Spaniard might as well have been waving traffic through with a big hi-vis on.
I still have the utmost faith he will come good, but I could really do with seeing a bit more from the 24-year-old pretty soon.
Joe Willock - 3
Willock gets a worse rating than Gonzalez because I do think the Spaniard was hung out to dry on a good few occasions By his teammate.
Willock in the number eight is fine, but not with a single pivot behind him and Yoane Wissa, who we’ll get to in a minute, in the 10.
Willock didn’t really provide much help defensively, went walkabout more than once, and didn’t show anything like the discipline needed to shore up that midfield.
Jacob Murphy - 3
WHY IS HE STILL PLAYING FOOTBALL MATCHES FOR NEWCASTLE UNITED.
Yoane Wissa - 3
That is by far the laziest Wissa has been this season and I can only think he must have some sort of international break hangover because that is not the player who left us three weeks ago.
He didn’t really create anything, didn’t offer much help defensively, and there were multiple occasions where I saw Fernandez-Pardo run back past him out of possession.
Harvey Barnes - 4
I’m in the minority of Newcastle fans who really likes Harvey Barnes, but today certainly wasn’t anything close to his best performance.
Usually, what saves him when he is playing poorly is his ability to nick a goal or create something from nowhere, he didn’t look remotely close to doing that at any point today.
Matias Fernandez-Pardo - 5
Fernandez-Pardo worked hard again and should have had at least one goal.
I dont want to be too harsh on him because he is trying, but I actually think he’s trying too hard right now.
He strikes me as a bit of a confidence player and hopefully, when he finally gets his first goal, that should give him a bit of an impetus to get some more.
Either way, he certainly wasn’t our worst player today despite the missed chances.
Substitutes
Bazoumana Toure - 5
Toure actually looked lively, but some poor decisions in the final third stopped it from being an impactful cameo.
Joelinton - 3
Way to announce you’re back from injury, Joey. Lost the ball for the third goal, was flying into challenges as he does. Pretty normal Joelinton performance all things considered.
Amar Dedic - 3
Looked like a player with a bit of rust after an injury and barely even moved as Mfuni danced past him for the 4th.
Will Osula - N/A
Dan Burn - N/A
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