Awful 3/10s and one 5 - Newcastle player ratings from Coventry

Another Monday night horror show from Newcastle United, who fell to a 4-1 defeat to newly promoted Coventry last night.

Here are our marks out of 10 from a disappointing evening at the CBS Arena, where serious problems at both ends of the pitch became abundantly clear.

Starting 11

Hornicek (3.5) - Conceded an early penalty after making a mess of things and looked shaky throughout. Is an improvement on Pope with his feet but doesn’t command his area well enough yet.

Miley (5) - Was unlucky to be subbed off as he was from the poorest performer on the evening. Should resume his role in central midfield with Dedic returning to fitness.

Thiaw (4) - Poor clearance led to the second goal and never looked comfortable all evening. Looks much more assured with a more dominant voice (Burn) beside him.

Botman (3) - Don’t let the stunning goal fool you. He was abysmal. After a poor preseason, he had started the season reasonably well, but turned in a horror show here. Slicing clearances, missing tackles, being shrugged off the ball easily and giving away possession. Goal was a cracker though.

Hall (4) - Was robbed of possession too easily by Sakamoto which led to the backbreaking third goal. Needed to handle the situation better. Wasn’t his usual effective self in attack either. Off day for Hall.

Nico (4.5) - Dropped way too deep and there was far too big a gap between him and Willock in midfield. Looks tidy in possession but the midfield is a real area of concern as we’re being torn apart far too easily. 

Willock (3.5) - Ineffective and seemed unsure of what was being asked of him. Found himself too high up the pitch when we were playing out from the back which made it easier for Coventry to defend. Could find himself back on the bench.

Murphy (3.5) - Has to come out of the starting eleven for the Villa game. Provided one decent cross but was otherwise poor once again. Looks lost when receiving the ball under pressure. 

Barnes (4) - Very wasteful. He’s shouldering a lot of the attacking burden but was some way off last night. Showed his frustration on more than one occasion with MFP when he was in a great position.

Wissa (3.5) - Quickly reverting back to last season Wissa, unfortunately. Showed a lack of awareness and goal-scoring instinct to be nowhere near the box when MFP dummied it. You’d expect Wissa to have been occupying that very space. 

MFP (4) - On the upside, he’s getting into positions to miss chances. On the flip side, he’s almost trying too hard and his decision making is questionable. Had a glorious opportunity to open his account as he rounded the keeper but was unable to tuck it away. There’s a player in there but he needs to come out quickly!

Substitutes

Joelinton (4) - Welcome return for big Joe whose physicality has been sorely missed. Claimed a customary yellow card whilst meekly surrendering possession on the edge of his own box for the third goal. 

Toure (4) - Is going to be the source of a lot of frustration with his erratic end product coming to the fore in the 30 minutes he was on the pitch. Pace to burn but poor end product. Went off late with what was hopefully not a serious injury.

Osula (NR) - Good to see him back, but barely touched the ball. 

Burn (NR) - Replaced the injured Toure late on. 

The manager

Jaissle (3) - Scoreline was harsh but there’s no doubt Coventry were well worth the three points. The warning signs have been there all season as we are far too easy to play through and toothless in attack. The result against Hull masked what was a concerning second half and the worrying sign is that we don’t seem to be able to adjust tactically.

We understand that they’re a young team learning a new way of playing, however, the inability to reinforce the midfield when we’re clearly being overrun is concerning amongst many other tactical deficiencies on display.

The sooner Burn and Joelinton are injected into the starting line up the better. It was noticeable that there was a clear lack of leadership on the pitch last night with players just flailing their arms about instead. 

Big personnel changes need to be made and I hope Jaissle has the courage to make them and to deviate from his preferred formation when needed.

We don’t need a German Amorim…