Newcastle United 0-2 Watford
Inept. Heartless. Pathetic. Hopeless.
Over and out!
Take you pick ladies and gentlemen. Another year under Ashely and another without making it to Round 5 - thats 12 years, with only 6 wins across all that time.
This one was yet another sorry affair, perhaps the worst of all in terms of a lacklustre display from a team depleted through years of neglect, with those few most crucial players given the day off. Rafa left with no bandwidth to test a competitive squad - as he just doesn’t have one!
It took more than an hour for Newcastle United to have their first shot, by that time they were already one nil down, and it could have been much worse.
Indeed the closest Newcastle would come to anything like a goal was an effort from Manquillo of all people, which was headed off the line during a period late on when the Magpies briefly rallied from their slumber. It was never going to be enough.
And that really tells you all you need know about this one. Joselu hopeless. Kenedy may well not have bothered turning up. Some others at least ran around a bit. I mean, really, that’s as good as it gets.
For Watford there was that bit of class. Hughes playing a loverly pass to the ever dangerous Gray for the first. And it would be Hughes again in injury time who should be instrumental in killing the tie. His ball setting Quina away before his low cross was finished by Success.
Again, this tells you a great deal about where the two sides are in the Premier League and just how weak the Newcastle squad is. For whilst Success, Gray and Hughes area all household names, Javi Garcia had actually made 11 changes for this game.
For most of the 34,604 who turned up there was nothing to cheer.
The clubs is bleeding out, and no one who is in a position to actually do anything about it cares!
STARTING XI: Woodman, Manquillo, Fernandez (Schar, 81), Lascelles, Clark, Ritchie (Atsu, 73), Murphy (Perez, 72), Hayden, Longstaff, Kenedy, Joselu