The best-laid plans of Mice and Men often… | OneFootball

I knew sometime Newcastle United would eventually get beaten, however, after seeing the team selection I was feeling confident we would be on the front foot at Craven Cottage and was looking forward to watching us ‘click’ and have an enjoyable afternoon with a few refreshments.

As Burns said, ‘the best-laid plans of mice and men, often go awry’… and so it came to pass on a sunny Saturday in west Lahndan.

We all know how it went, so no point going over the tepid first half, the relief at the half-time whistle, the below-par performances from several ‘stars’, whilst the less said about Fab’s miss the better.

I think what was more noticeable and more concerning was what to me looked like a lack of fire in our bellies.

Other Newcastle United fans have written about lethargy and some players being off the pace, it’s impossible for anyone to disagree.

If I had just landed from outer space (despite what my mates tell you, I haven’t, honestly), watching Newcastle United on Saturday made us look like a team made up of a collection of individuals who were playing as some sort of punishment, or at best, playing when they clearly weren’t enjoying it.

Flash showed glimpses of determination, but it looked like he was digging deep out of professional pride, but there were a few occasions when he just looked as if he couldn’t be bothered, that is definitely not the player we have got to know.

Whether his head is turned, or there is something going on behind the scenes, it is adding to the whispers and the conspiracy theories that the media and some of us on here are reading, discussing and now actually beginning to wonder about the validity of some of the claims, which I sorely wanted to dismiss before, but now…

Our two Samba kings were doing the equivalent of the two feet shuffle, – more akin to a bashful lad at the first school disco, giving the ball away, falling over, feigning outrage when free kicks weren’t given, – meanwhile the counter-attack is in full flow and they are lying on the ground gesticulating, whilst the rest of our team are frantically scrambling to deal with a couple of lethal attackers, which if I am honest, would begin to grate on me if I was playing in the same side, time after time.

Our keeper was the one we all had placed our trust in and despite a string of great saves, in the world of football you make one mistake between the posts and you get pelters.

All in all, the team looks disjointed and dare I say it, just not bothered, with the exception of BDB, Barnes, Kelly and Tripps who at least tried.

Isaak cut a lonely figure, trying desperately to make himself available, drifting all over the park to give an option, but alas, no supply was given, save for a few short interactions.

I’m a glass half full sort of soul, perhaps deluded, or overly optimistic, but I have seen our club in dark times, and we are presently at a juncture where we have a tremendous and unprecedented opportunity to realise our dreams and break through the protected and precious Premier League septic six and begin collecting trophies, but it will take time.

It was said before that our supporters didn’t insist on a team that had to win, we wanted at least, a team that tried.

On Saturday they fell well short of that, which is unacceptable for our unequalled support.

Eddie needs to instill that siege mentality once again in the dressing room, let’s get the embers lit up in time for Citeh next week and give the squad a rotation against Wimbledon and rest those who are clearly either still jet-lagged, or just knackered.

Yes, I am going to repeat what others have submitted, Sandro Tonali has to start and we need to get the spine of our team embedded and whatever system(s) we are adopting each week be understood and most of all, excite the players to play in.

Bottom line is that we need to start gelling, otherwise these experimental line-ups in the same formation are going to see us as one-dimensional to our opponents, staid and boring to our players.

I hope to see some stability in our line-ups, a change of formation from time to time, to accentuate the undoubted quality we have within our ranks.

We can muse over players in certain positions, but clearly, something has to change.

All is not lost, discard the lifeboats, set a new and exciting course for the top of the table.