The writing is on the wall for Newcastle United. Fail to sack Steve Bruce, and relegation will surely be on the cards.
This Magpies team looks like a torrid group; they look defeated, bullied to within an inch of their lives.
Their style of football is shoddy and there are very few signs of fight from those in the St James’ Park camp. Their 3-0 defeat to fellow relegation candidates Brighton on Saturday evening just about summed things up.
They were toothless in attack and filled with mistakes in defence. Once again, the prime candidate was Joelinton.
The big Brazilian set the tone just 21 minutes in. Martin Dubravaka launched the ball forward in the direction of Joelinton. The striker got his head to the ball but planted it straight out of play for a throw-in.
If anything summed up his time in the north-east that was it. To be completely blunt, the attacker has been one of the worst signings in Premier League history.
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Signed from Hoffenheim for £40m, he penned a six-year deal with Newcastle. It was not only a club-record deal, but also Bruce’s record deal. Unfortunately, he is costing the manager his job.
The forward has found the net on just seven occasions and has three top-flight goals to his name since the summer of 2019. To suggest his time in England has been poor, therefore, would be putting it lightly.
Perhaps one of his worst performances in a black and white shirt came on Saturday. Joelinton was utterly anonymous in attack and made fewer passes (16) and fewer touches (34) than Dubravka in the Magpies goal. The Slovakian had 45 touches and made 24 passes in comparison.
He endured a torrid evening on the south coast, losing possession of the ball on 15 occasions and taking just one touch in the opposition penalty area. Joelinton also failed to have a single shot at goal.
For a normal footballer that makes for pretty grim reading. However, when you cost £40m, it only looks even worse.
He hasn’t scored since the back end of November and worryingly, his performances are getting worse.
In a relegation six-pointer, he should be one of the players standing up and taking the game by the scruff of the neck. Unfortunately, that’s very rarely happened during his feeble stay at Newcastle.
Judging by his attitude and form, it would be an almighty surprise to watch him see out the six years he signed on for. Joelinton epitomises the sinking ship of Newcastle right now.
AND in other news, “It’s the Graeme Jones way” – Exclusive: Rob Lee baffled by what Bruce assistant has done at NUFC…