If that’s the way you feel just hand in your Carabao Cup final tickets here

The Mag

·15 February 2025

If that’s the way you feel just hand in your Carabao Cup final tickets here

Look, I know it is just a very vocal attention seeking minority of Newcastle United fans, but honestly, if that’s the way you feel just hand in your Carabao Cup final tickets here.

When your team/players are second best in any match, it is only fair and reasonable that supporters can critique the team, individuals, the manager etc etc.

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However…

What isn’t acceptable, at least for me, is when things are taken too far.

Over the top criticism/abuse of those who we ‘support’ when representing our football club. Where there is no perspective, no balance.

Just in case you haven’t heard, Saturday afternoon ended Manchester City 4 Newcastle 0.

When I am talking about Newcastle United fans handing in their Carabao Cup final tickets, I am not meaning somebody who says this player/team didn’t perform and must do better, or with hindsight Eddie Howe could/should have done this or that instead.

Instead, I am meaning those NUFC supporters who are slaughtering the Newcastle United players and Eddie Howe.

The manager useless, this player or that player pathetic, or the very worst for me, when these people start claiming Newcastle players aren’t trying.

Totally unacceptable in my opinion. At times in the past we have all seen it definitely happen, certain players in NUFC history who were half-hearted, often on a regular basis. This lot though? Why would you say that??

This is the same group of players who had delivered 12 wins in the last 14 games, including the fact that we can all now look forward to a game at Wembley.

To sum up the stupidity of these people, today’s starting eleven were the exact same team who started against Arsenal ten days ago, apart from Joe Willock instead of the injured Sven Botman.

The same Joe Willock incidentally who got kicked all round the pitch on Saturday at Birmingham but kept going back for more, who scored twice and was man of the match, a player who almost certainly made the difference between going into the FA Cup fifth round or not. I only single Willock out because he was the only change from that Arsenal match which took us to Wembley.

I think some of these Newcastle United fans have blown a fuse somewhere, their brains short circuited.

Rational people were saying before today’s match that if Newcastle United played well, they stood a chance of getting a draw or potentially even maybe winning, against a Manchester City side who are having an up and down season. Clearly not as good or consistent as they were when strolling to the title every season, but still dangerous and capable of turning it on.

For the Newcastle United fans I am talking about, it appears their thinking was that Man City are absolutely useless now, that today this was going to be certain walkover unless Eddie Howe and/or his players messed it up.

Yes, Man City aren’t as consistently good as they were, but reality is that they WERE one of the form teams in the Premier League, scored 18 goals in their last six PL matches, winning four, drawing at Brentford having led 2-0 and throwing it away late on, whilst in midweek, Man City were winning 2-1 against Real Madrid and then defensive errors in the 86th minute and in added time saw them throw it away.

This wasn’t Newcastle United playing Bromley or AFC Wimbledon at home.

There is also the small matter of Man City deciding to spend £180m in January, bring in a handful of new first team contenders, including spending around £70m (more than NUFC’s club record signing) on the bloke who scored the ha-trick today. Meanwhile, Eddie Howe and the club reluctantly agreeing to sell two squad players from a small squad, because they were offered deals totalling £30m (at least twice as much as would have been banked if let go this coming summer) for the pair that will hopefully help us sign some new first team contenders in the summer!

The bottom line is that Newcastle United don’t have an entire first eleven of superstars.

Sorry if that comes as a shock to you.

We have a good group of players with great character and togetherness BUT they all pretty much need to play well if Newcastle United are to win against decent, or especially, very decent opposition. If one or more of cogs aren’t operating as they should, the whole machine can grind to a halt, or at very least, be making worrying noises as things aren’t smoothly working together.

Newcastle United actually started alright today and seemed to have a good set-up, gradually growing into the game. Then Ederson boots it long and everything that could go wrong, did go wrong.

Trippier coming across to deal with Marmoush as they were the two furthest up the pitch, the Newcastle player misjudges the ball and then stage right, sadly a massive inherent weakness of Dubravka is that he refuses to sweep behind his defence. Pope would have covered Trippier’s mistake for sure as he would have been primed just outside his box ready to help if necessary, whereas it just isn’t something Dubravka is good at or prepared to do. So in the whole episode he never left his box and went back and forwards from between eight and fifteen yards from his goal before getting lobbed.

I am not blaming any one (or two) player(s) for today’s defeat as mistakes do happen and weaknesses are there at times, it is just fact that this was how the first crucial goal happened and everything then flowed from there. United never got their proper focus back before then another soft goal gifted Marmoush and Man City their second only five minutes later, before an even worse goal was conceded. A third in 15 minutes as Marmoush somehow ended up unmarked in front of goal ten yards out.

These things happen, you concede a soft goal and a quick second one can completely take the game away from you, especially against the likes of Man City who are so good at keeping the ball. Completely different to when they aren’t leading and having to try and force a goal.

With an hour left it was game over at 3-0 and I wouldn’t slag the players off for that final hour. It would be sheer stupidity to go reckless and run around like headless chickens risking injury and/or red cards, when we have such massive other matches quickly coming up.

If your brain can’t accept that Newcastle can win three times in a season against Arsenal without conceding a goal, then come and lose 4-0 to Man City, who less than two weeks ago lost 5-1 to Arsenal, then maybe you are just watching the wrong sport and should just hand in those Carabao Cup final tickets.

As fans we should stand with this great manager and players who have given us so much, in the good times and the bad, when winning and losing, in sickness and in health.

Manchester City 4 Newcastle 0 – Saturday 15 February 2025 3pm

(Stats via BBC Sport)

Goals:

Newcastle United:

Man City:

Marmoush 19, 24, 33 McAtee 84

Possession was Newcastle 39% Man City 61%

Total shots were Newcastle 3 Man City 11

Shots on target were Newcastle 1 Man City 7

Corners were Newcastle 4 Man City 7

Touches in the box Newcastle 10 Man City 24

Newcastle team v Man City: