Aside from a brief run of form near the beginning of the season, 2014/15 has simply been a campaign to forget for the ever loyal St. James’ Park faithful.
Their side have completely failed to do the business out on the pitch at late, leaving everyone involved in the club increasingly more frustrated with every passing week.
In losing eight games on the bounce recently, Newcastle have truly let their supporters down and failed to provide any form of positivity whatsoever with their lack-lustre performances. John Carver – through no real fault of his own – has been left in the deep end by Mike Ashley this season, and the waters certainly haven’t been calm for the former coaching assistant since his appointment as manager.
It seems no-one behind the scenes at St. James’ really cares what happens to the club as long as they stay in the Premier League, yet as Newcastle’s last run of games has been so awful, an embarrassing relegation to the Championship may still await the Magpies come the end of the season.
Newcastle play QPR this weekend in a must win game and you can see our Premier League predictions for all the football.
So then, just what has gone so badly wrong for the Tynesiders this term? Has it been the tactics, has it been a lack of effort on the players part, or has it been because a certain forgotten man in the North East has so far failed to make any meaningful impact for his side this season?
When Siem de Jong first signed at St. James’ last summer, it seemed that Newcastle had finally found themselves a man worthy of replacing Yohan Cabaye in the heart of the midfield, and a player who would also turn out to be a strong captain and leader for the Magpies.
He had worn the skipper’s armband frequently during his time at Ajax – and as the likes of Thomas Vermaelen, Luis Suarez and Christian Eriksen had also held that role before plying their trade in the Premier League – the signs certainly looked promising for Newcastle’s new marquee man. It seemed the North East club had eventually landed a player who the rest of the team could be effectively built around to great success.
De Jong was known as a composed conductor of play throughout his time in the Eredivise. He had a range of passing and vision that would surpass many of his counterparts in the Premier League, a determined style on the ball that most managers crave for, and he has also shown himself to be pretty handy in front of goal whenever the chance has presented itself in seasons past.
The likes of Remy Cabella and Emmanuel Riviere would have likely made much more of an impact this season if Siem de Jong had been in place to hold the team together. Without the presence of the Dutchman throughout 2014/15 however, the chance for such flair players to affectively express themselves has been severely limited to say the least.
As life is very rarely straight forward for the consistently present Newcastle United faithful though, the chance to see the former Ajax man do his thing at St. James’ Park has all but disappeared through injury this term. Aside from a few brief cameo appearances here and there this season, the 26-year-old’s career has be halted by a long-term thigh complaint, followed by a more than frustratingly timed collapsed lung upon returning to full fitness.
Newcastle have subsequently been without their main man for most of this campaign, and their league form has certainly suffered greatly as a result.
Yes, the management has been a bit all over the place for the Magpies this season, yes, the players simply haven’t been giving their all out on the pitch of late, and obviously, Mike Ashley’s cost-cutting principals are only dragging the club further and further into the mud these days – but ultimately, with all things considered – Newcastle would not be sitting in their current position if Siem de Jong had been a main-stay member of the first team throughout 2014/15.
Perhaps if the Magpies avoid relegation and for once build on their squad throughout the summer instead of depleting it, the Tyneside club may finally start going places with their marquee Dutchman back among the action.
Thatsagoal.com Team
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