5 reasons were doomed?

Gloom is appearing over the Toon Army and not only because they have a clown as a manager. William Boyes picks five reasons why Newcastle may be doomed…

1) Injuries
The volume of injury woes Newcastle have suffered so far this season has left them ravaged. Arguably two of their most passionate players in Danny Guthrie and Joey Barton are wounded. Not to mention their skipper Michael Owen, and the rest of his striking partners - Alan Smith, Shola Ameobi, Obafemi Martins and Mark Viduka. With all these injuries and very little action in the transfer market, prepare for the weakest side ever to be fielded in a local derby.

2. The Manager
He certainly restored some fight (and we don’t mean in a Carroll-N’Zogbia fashion) into the Newcastle squad when first appointed on a temporary basis, but yesterday’s man is clearly way out of his depth in today’s Premier League. Perhaps Mike Ashley should have considered Joe Kinnear’s four wins in 23 matches in his time as permanent Nottingham Forest manager before putting a deal on the table. Then there are the rants (“Which one of you is Simon Bird? You’re a c***”) and the gaffes (Charles Insomnia). No wins in five and counting…

3. LeadershipWith Mike Ashley still in control of Newcastle (though without his ‘Smith’ shirt on his back these days), and Dennis Wise still sitting comfortably in his London office, the Newcastle fans are still waiting for the disappearance of the ‘Cockney mafia’. They might be waiting a long time though, because nobody wants to buy a club heading for the Championship. So until a fairy godmother comes along, mob rules.

4. Fixtures
With all those injuries and deteriorating numbers in first-team players, it would be nice if Newcastle had an easy run of fixtures. So, bad luck boys. They are yet to meet Everton, Manchester United, Arsenal, and Chelsea at St. James’ Park and also face trips to Anfield and Aston Villa. Good luck.

5. Team Spirit
This seems to be Newcastle’s biggest problem this season. Charles N’Zogbia and Andy Carroll think the training ground’s a boxing ring, the Frenchman wants out, and even Shay Given has had enough - and he put up with playing behind Jean-Alain Boumsong. They’d better hope the arrival of Kevin Nolan can cheer them up a little…

William Boye (Football 365)