The manager's debut form continues into his first league game in charge and we finally break the curse which has been Southampton away. That in itself is actually remarkable. However, while things may or may not have improved off the field, there is still the sense that things on it are far from well. The team selection was, to say the least, a strange one. With the selection crises seemingly at the back a team was picked which was almost guaranteed to leave us without width further forward. Apparently Kluivert's showing on Thursday was enough to state he couldn't be dropped, but it seems neither Shearer or Bellamy could be upset by being left out. Bellamy on the wing doesn't quite work out. His pace offers a great deal in that position but when it comes to the final moments he just can't cross like a winger (it is telling that when Milner finally got on quality suddenly began arriving in the box). Bellamy's most effective moments were in fact when he was wandering off into a more accustomed striker's role (and leaving worrying space on to be exploited down our right---something Southampton thankfully failed to capitalise upon). It also seemed to be that Shearer would have preferred the buzz of Bellamy as a partner rather than the more careful approach of Kluivert.
On the left wing things were little better. Jenas was made to look a worse player than he is by being played stuck out there (he willfully did his best, but still). Presumably it was felt we couldn't afford the flamboyance of Robert in the away game but one can't help wondering if the more naturally wide minded Milner or Ambrose would have been a better choice (my personal temptation may have been Ambrose right, Milner left and Bellamy with the choice of one of two). The centre at least was fairly solid with Butt and Bowyer (back in a sensible position---thankfully the temptation to put him wide was resisted).
Enough of team selection. Having discussed the forward line and midfield the overwhelming weakness is still evidently at the back. Make no mistake, this was a game we were fortunate to win. When the ball dropped anywhere near our box it was never a Newcastle player first to it. Tackles were never made until the last desperate moment. When a defender did find the ball they seemed to think the best thing to do was kick it low down the middle of the pitch with no finesse. It would almost literally bounce straight back. When Southampton equalised there were something like seven defenders around and the ball still failed to be cleared properly. When it was put back in the defensive line was coming out like the ragged breath of the dying man not a well disciplined and communicating machine.
The worrying thing was, given the state of the defence, we never actually looked like scoring (a strange thing to say having scored two but still true). There was little attacking flare. The goals game from a lucky deflection on a shot bound for wide of the goal and something of a fluke whack from a defender.
We'll take the win. If they keep coming then the worry will probably die down. But at the moment it looks a bit like it isn't just the back line needs fixing. We can only hope the disciplinarian has some tactics and intelligence to go with it.
(@23:09)
