Three huge concerns from Newcastle 0-1 Everton

Newcastle United slumped to a second defeat to Everton in the space of five days, going down 1-0 to the Toffees at St James’ Park on Monday night.

United’s performance was worse than abject and, against the backdrop of swirling wind and lashing rain, elements of the crowd (at least those who were left at the end) turned on the team and the manager after the final whistle.

The only goal of the game came via Thierno Barry after a horrible mistake by Lukas Hornicek, although he wasn't the only one to blame as others switched off.

Here are my three huge concerns from last night's game:

The performance (again) 

This version of Newcastle United is a poor side, and that’s an understated way of saying it. There’s hardly anything resembling a goal threat, the defence is old, slow and easily exploited, and the midfield is non-existent to the point of being a caricature of a Premier League midfield.

Everton didn’t have to be any more than decent to beat us. They just sat in, kept their shape and exploited the fact (as pretty much everyone else has this season) that our midfield has gaping holes all over the place and is already a man outmatched before the game has even kicked off.

Two shots on target out of 17 tells the story of our misfiring attack, and what’s abundantly clear is that Jaissle has a huge job on his hands to turn this around.

Regression

Considering the concerns some had around appointing an unknown manager in the summer, and given all the caveats he was afforded (only appointed three weeks before the season started, young squad etc.), the start to the season was almost unprecedented.

We looked sharp against Liverpool, probably carried by the emotion of Isak’s first return, and followed it up with a decent win against a poor Spurs side. But ever since the almost car-crash performance against Bournemouth, this side has regressed badly.

It almost seems like the more Jaissle coaches them, the worse they get, which is a damning statement, but all the evidence in front of our eyes seems to confirm it.

There was a picture doing the rounds of a note Fabian Schar read and quickly discarded, supposedly showing the formation we were trying to play following the late changes, and it just looked a mess.

Barnes and Joelinton both playing in the “10” role behind Osula and Wissa, with Murphy and Toure out wide and only Sean Steur in the middle of the park – it looked like an accident waiting to happen and the formation of a desperate man.

Widening out the regression point: for my money, of our supposed key players, only Lewis Hall would get into any other Premier League side playing like they are at the moment, and that’s more than likely based on potential.

Elanga, Wissa, Willock, Joelinton, Murphy et al wouldn’t get near another side in this division, yet we’re having to rely on them week after week when they are patently not up to the job.

It’s a sound argument to make that this regression was to be expected given the shedding of all the world-class talent in the squad across the last two windows, but we were told in the summer that the likes of Toure and Bamba were ready to go.

Yet Toure only gets a handful of minutes from game to game, and Bamba has played so little that I’m not even sure he exists. And when you’re hanging your hopes on an 18-year-old from Ajax, who may be the next big thing, it just screams that the squad building in the summer wasn’t the right fit for what we need.

Can Jaissle survive the crowd turning?

The scenes at the end of the match were ugly, make no bones about it. The boos and jeers were clear and thoroughly deserved after another shocking performance, but can Jaissle really come back from losing the crowd, as he apparently already has?

It’s a huge question. The atmosphere at SJP on Monday was basically nothing, as we had to settle in and watch the same mistakes and the almost pig-headed tactics (that clearly don’t work) be repeated yet again.

Fans can see it, the players can certainly see it, and a handful of them appear to have downed tools already (Jacob Ramsey especially, after his unprofessional late red card, but he must be thinking to himself: how am I not in this team ahead of the clueless and clumsy Joelinton?). I don’t mean to pick Ramsey out exclusively, as there were plenty of others who looked like they didn’t want to be out there playing in this way.

Jaissle has always had the talent advantage at his other sides, and this formation and playing style clearly work when you have the strongest squad in the division or one filled with elite talent, as his record proves. But with what we have at our disposal, it clearly isn’t working.

He also doesn’t appear to be learning from his mistakes from game to game, but I feel that he’d be getting a lot more leeway if he was playing the young lads. He just isn’t, which is damning considering they are meant to be the future of the side.

I want Jaissle to succeed, but he must make changes for Fulham. We must see Steur come in, get all the young lads in and just see how they get on because, honestly, it cannot get much worse than it is right now.

Try to keep the faith. HWTL.