When
footballers surrender the habit of doing even the basics right, you know
a team is in trouble. By that rationale, Newcastle United and manager
Alan Pardew would appear to be in very deep trouble indeed.
This
was not a performance to place alongside the capitulation at
Southampton just over a fortnight ago. It may be a while before we see
the like of that again.
At
times last night Newcastle kept the ball and spent time in Stoke City’s
half. They created half-chances. Right at the death, they could even
have equalised. How Jack Colback lifted the ball on to the crossbar from
only six yards perhaps even he doesn’t know.
Stoke striker Peter Crouch rises above the Newcastle defence to direct a header into the net
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Peter Crouch celebrates his early strike against Newcastle on Monday night
Peter
Crouch’s winning goal in the first half was a fine header. It happened
because Newcastle made weak challenges and showed a lack of commitment
in the air.
Subsequently,
Stoke capitalised on careless Newcastle passing to break regularly on
Tim Krul’s goal. At times forward Victor Moses must have felt he was
participating in some kind of training drill.
Speaking on the BBC, pundit Phil Neville summed it up beautifully.
‘Every time Newcastle have a set piece, you feel that Stoke are going to break away and score,’ said Neville.
Had
Stoke been more ruthless they would have buried Newcastle, but the
fall-out is the same — the visitors stay joint bottom and poor Pardew
slips closer to the unemployment line.
How much longer the Newcastle manager’s misery will go on, only owner Mike Ashley can be aware.
What
is beyond doubt is that Pardew’s travails are painful to watch. His
employer seems not to care for him, his players have forgotten how to
play for him and his club’s supporters — or at least a huge portion of
them — have had enough of him.
Last
night, this result had an air of inevitably about it. So bad had
Newcastle been at Southampton that nobody blinked when Crouch headed
Stoke into the lead after quarter of an hour.
Newcastle fans vent their anger at the club's owner Mike Ashley during Monday's game at Stoke
Newcastle fans hold up placards calling for manager Alan Pardew to be sacked
Newcastle supporters display a banner calling for the removal of manager Alan Pardew
Newcastle United fans hold up a banner portraying Alan Pardew as Pinocchio with the word Hopeless underneath
Newcastle
had actually been marginally the better team until then. In an instant,
though, Stoke broke to score and the tone of the game was set.
It
was a fine goal from Stoke’s point of view. The cross from the left by
the lively Moses was a good one and Crouch’s leap was impressive as he
headed the ball past Krul from ten yards.
From a Newcastle point of view, though, there was culpability everywhere.
Right
back Daryl Janmaat had two opportunities to tackle Moses before the
cross arrived but was simply too weak or perhaps lacking in zeal.
Fans young and old called for the head of Pardew during defeat at Stoke City on Monday night
Newcastle manager Pardew acknowledges the travelling fans after the final whistle
Newcastle owner Mike Ashley was at the Britannia Stadium to watch side lose to Stoke
Ashley had told a reporter that he
would sack Pardew if Newcastle lost at Stoke but later claimed the jibe
was a 'tongue in cheek'
When Moses did deliver, Newcastle captain Fabricio Coloccini utterly failed to compete in the air with Crouch.
The Stoke player was able to rise a good six inches above his marker and that made scoring the goal much simpler.
It
was a dreadful moment for Newcastle and one wondered how bad it would
get from that point. Indeed, had referee Craig Pawson spotted Yoan
Gouffran’s foul on Moses in the penalty area soon after, the contest may
have been over by the time the first-half rain had stopped.
Pardew’s
team lacks discipline and suffers from lapses in concentration. It is a
deadly combination and almost undid them on two or three more occasions
before the interval.
Had
Stoke made some better decisions of their own they would have profited
but the closest they came was when Crouch applied a poor touch to a
Moses pass and shot wide. Substitute Marko Arnautovic then drove a low
effort against Newcastle defender Paul Dummett.
At
the other end, Stoke goalkeeper Asmir Begovic saved low from Janmaat as
half time approached but the other side of the interval brought little
change in the overall pattern.
Arnautovic
was unfortunate to see a right-foot shot cannon off the far post in the
48th minute while Moses should have done better than allow Krul to
block when two Newcastle defenders fell over each other to gift him a
chance on the hour.
Stoke’s
profligacy subsequently kept Newcastle in the game and Colback could
have snatched something when Gabriel Obertan’s cross reached him at the
death.
All he could manage, though, was to snatch at the chance and it was typical of Newcastle’s night.
As he left the field, Pardew applauded the Newcastle fans. They did not respond in kind.
Victor Moses' heat map shows how he was threat wide on the left - click here for more heat maps and stats in matchzone
Yoan Gouffran of Newcastle United battles for the ball with Peter Crouch of Stoke City
Stoke midfielder Charlie Adam goes down under the challenge of Cheick Tiote
Newcastle defender Paul Dummett heads the ball under pressure from Marko Arnautovic of Stoke City See
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