A day when Newcastle were second best should end the fanciful notion they could finish second. And not merely because they had a second in command at the helm.
“We can’t lose sight of where we are, third in the Premier League,” said Jason Tindall after the 4-1 shellacking at Aston Villa. “Everyone in the club at the start of the season would be happy with that.”
The man nicknamed ‘Mad Dog’ sounded a distinctly sane dog as he tried to apply some perspective. “A bit of a reality check, maybe,” said Kieran Trippier. Villa and Newcastle had been sides surging with similar momentum. Newcastle, seventh two months earlier, seemed to have timed their surge to perfection. Now, the danger is the eventual verdict will be that they peaked too soon.
Newcastle have proof they can beat virtually anyone at their best. Yet so, they can now testify, can Villa. On Saturday, a team with a manager doing a brilliant job beat a side lacking their manager who has done a brilliant job.
“You always want your leader there to lead,” said Tindall. Eddie Howe’s absence is a reminder that, despite the importance placed on Champions League qualification, there are greater considerations. Tindall expects to be in charge until told otherwise. Perhaps Howe can return to provide a fillip.
The understandable uncertainty adds a further element of the unknown to the run-in. For the previous two games, the demolitions of Manchester United and Crystal Palace, there had been the sense that Newcastle were galvanised, their missing manager giving them a cause, or operating on muscle memory, the good habits already instilled bringing six successive victories.
That run came to an abrupt end. Not in a completely uncharacteristic way: Newcastle had conceded four goals in three other games this season and, on each occasion, recovered to win their next match. But each was with Howe to guide them.
Yet it illustrates an aspect of this Newcastle side: their best is brilliant but they can plumb depths. They have won seven games by at least three goals, all in the last five months. They have won 19 of their last 25 matches, drawing none of the other six, the six defeats including 4-1, 4-0 and 4-1.
If the context of the form since December bodes well for their chances of securing Champions League football, the fact is they have five games left, three at home, three against top-half teams. It is guesswork but three wins, perhaps with a draw, may suffice from encounters with Ipswich, Brighton, Chelsea, Arsenal and Everton. It is doable but not a formality.
If so much, not least the transfer budget, hinges on where they finish, Villa underlined a couple of fault-lines in their bench. Newcastle have a terrific starting 11 when they are all at their sharpest and best, which they weren’t on Saturday. They don’t have the bench strength Emery boasts. And if one reason for that is the injuries to Sven Botman and Lewis Hall, the reality is Villa have a greater depth of attacking talent. They brought on Jacob Ramsey, Amadou Onana, Donyell Malen, Marcus Rashford and Ross Barkley. Only Anthony Gordon of the Newcastle substitutes felt a potential game-changer. They have taken contrasting paths in the transfer market, Villa with a revolving door, Newcastle with continuity, hampered by PSR but refusing to sell their fine buys.
Yet Saturday offered a warning sign for the future. Howe has footballing defenders, respected characters, overachievers. But the defensive line was too high to function against Villa. The defence looked their age, the right-sided pair of Trippier and Fabian Schar targeted and traumatised. Schar’s recent contract extension was a reward for a fine season, but Villa highlighted the case for summer defensive reinforcements, particularly a quicker, younger, right-sided centre-back.
In the short term, Newcastle believe their experience of getting the right side of the dotted line the last time Champions League qualification was at stake is an advantage. They can count on the characters of senior figures. With no more midweek games, they may be able to power on through with the same 11. It was understandable that, after six straight wins with an unchanged team, Tindall sent them out for a seventh time. It may also have been a mistake.
All of which puts him in the position of many an assistant or caretaker plunged into the top job. Maintaining momentum is easier than regaining it; carrying on is a tactic when winning. Losing means there is a greater logic to changing.
Gordon looks the likeliest to break into this 11 but, given the stellar form of Harvey Barnes and Jacob Murphy before they reached Villa, no one deserves to drop out. But perhaps Ollie Watkins deserved to start for Emery’s side against Paris Saint-Germain, did not, and returned fuming to fire Villa to victory on Saturday.
Tindall may have remote support from Howe. He may even find his usual boss back to take charge. But if not, such similarly pivotal decisions beckon for a man unaccustomed to taking them. And, over the next few weeks, Tindall may have to outperform Emery or Pep Guardiola if Newcastle are to end up in the Champions League.
A day when Newcastle were second best should end the fanciful notion they could finish second. And not merely because they had a second in command at the helm.
“We can’t lose sight of where we are, third in the Premier League,” said Jason Tindall after the 4-1 shellacking at Aston Villa. “Everyone in the club at the start of the season would be happy with that.”
The man nicknamed ‘Mad Dog’ sounded a distinctly sane dog as he tried to apply some perspective. “A bit of a reality check, maybe,” said Kieran Trippier. Villa and Newcastle had been sides surging with similar momentum. Newcastle, seventh two months earlier, seemed to have timed their surge to perfection. Now, the danger is the eventual verdict will be that they peaked too soon.
Newcastle have proof they can beat virtually anyone at their best. Yet so, they can now testify, can Villa. On Saturday, a team with a manager doing a brilliant job beat a side lacking their manager who has done a brilliant job.
“You always want your leader there to lead,” said Tindall. Eddie Howe’s absence is a reminder that, despite the importance placed on Champions League qualification, there are greater considerations. Tindall expects to be in charge until told otherwise. Perhaps Howe can return to provide a fillip.
The understandable uncertainty adds a further element of the unknown to the run-in. For the previous two games, the demolitions of Manchester United and Crystal Palace, there had been the sense that Newcastle were galvanised, their missing manager giving them a cause, or operating on muscle memory, the good habits already instilled bringing six successive victories.
That run came to an abrupt end. Not in a completely uncharacteristic way: Newcastle had conceded four goals in three other games this season and, on each occasion, recovered to win their next match. But each was with Howe to guide them.
Yet it illustrates an aspect of this Newcastle side: their best is brilliant but they can plumb depths. They have won seven games by at least three goals, all in the last five months. They have won 19 of their last 25 matches, drawing none of the other six, the six defeats including 4-1, 4-0 and 4-1.
If the context of the form since December bodes well for their chances of securing Champions League football, the fact is they have five games left, three at home, three against top-half teams. It is guesswork but three wins, perhaps with a draw, may suffice from encounters with Ipswich, Brighton, Chelsea, Arsenal and Everton. It is doable but not a formality.
If so much, not least the transfer budget, hinges on where they finish, Villa underlined a couple of fault-lines in their bench. Newcastle have a terrific starting 11 when they are all at their sharpest and best, which they weren’t on Saturday. They don’t have the bench strength Emery boasts. And if one reason for that is the injuries to Sven Botman and Lewis Hall, the reality is Villa have a greater depth of attacking talent. They brought on Jacob Ramsey, Amadou Onana, Donyell Malen, Marcus Rashford and Ross Barkley. Only Anthony Gordon of the Newcastle substitutes felt a potential game-changer. They have taken contrasting paths in the transfer market, Villa with a revolving door, Newcastle with continuity, hampered by PSR but refusing to sell their fine buys.
Yet Saturday offered a warning sign for the future. Howe has footballing defenders, respected characters, overachievers. But the defensive line was too high to function against Villa. The defence looked their age, the right-sided pair of Trippier and Fabian Schar targeted and traumatised. Schar’s recent contract extension was a reward for a fine season, but Villa highlighted the case for summer defensive reinforcements, particularly a quicker, younger, right-sided centre-back.
In the short term, Newcastle believe their experience of getting the right side of the dotted line the last time Champions League qualification was at stake is an advantage. They can count on the characters of senior figures. With no more midweek games, they may be able to power on through with the same 11. It was understandable that, after six straight wins with an unchanged team, Tindall sent them out for a seventh time. It may also have been a mistake.
All of which puts him in the position of many an assistant or caretaker plunged into the top job. Maintaining momentum is easier than regaining it; carrying on is a tactic when winning. Losing means there is a greater logic to changing.
Gordon looks the likeliest to break into this 11 but, given the stellar form of Harvey Barnes and Jacob Murphy before they reached Villa, no one deserves to drop out. But perhaps Ollie Watkins deserved to start for Emery’s side against Paris Saint-Germain, did not, and returned fuming to fire Villa to victory on Saturday.
Tindall may have remote support from Howe. He may even find his usual boss back to take charge. But if not, such similarly pivotal decisions beckon for a man unaccustomed to taking them. And, over the next few weeks, Tindall may have to outperform Emery or Pep Guardiola if Newcastle are to end up in the Champions League.
