Newcastle’s priorities should change now
After another gut wrenching defeat over the weekend, the situation for Newcastle United became even more precarious after 3 out of the 4 sides below us in the table got positive results and increased their points tally. This leaves the club now just 2 points above the dreaded relegation zone, with the spectre of relegation a very real possibility.
Surely it’s time for the management at Newcastle to review where their priorities lie. I have always believed, regardless of the teams that have been put out, that Europa League was high on our priority list. After the way we fared in the FA Cup and the Capital One Cup, that belief has only grown stronger.
Surely, with the situation so perilous for the club and the confidence lower than a snake’s belly, it is time for the management to make a stand and get their priorities right. The first and foremost of that has to be Premier League survival. Nobody wants Newcastle to be getting into the latter stages of the Europa League and ending the season getting relegated.
I say, treat Europa League as more of a tournament where you give squad players a go, especially in the away legs, and take things from there. I say we should not even let our first team players make those long and arduous journeys to Eastern Europe, to the likes of Ukraine and possibly Russia if both sides manage to get through.
Given the run that we have had, with 2 wins in the Premier League out of the last 14 played, no wins in Europa League in last 3 and getting dumped out of the FA Cup, it is easy to get overly critical and panic, but the good news is that the treatment room is now emptying and all of Newcastle’s blue chippers should be back in contention in the next 10 days or so. Along with, hopefully (fingers crossed), some new faces. That should provide some freshness to a squad that had the look of a stale one.
Another spanner in the works is the situation of club captain and best center half, Fabricio Coloccini. He wants his contract annulled and wants to go back home and play for San Lorenzo. This is causing a lot of uncertainty in and around the club, and no matter how hard one tries, the uncertainty is evident in the back four. This is one situation which the club needs to get a grip of as soon as possible. This, coupled with the recent transfer window shenanigans with Loic Remy choosing Queens Park Rangers, has affected the club in one way or the other. It all needs to be nipped in the bud.
There are still 15 league games left for Newcastle between now and 19th of May, and I think a tally of about 38-40 points should ensure survival for another season at least and then we can take it from there. My suggestion to Pardew and his staff is to forget everything and put all their eggs in one basket, and that basket is called ‘Premier League survival’.