Off Day Or Symptomatic One?

Newcastle's display against Manchester United was, undoubtedly, not a good one.

A terrible opening 20 minutes against Sir Alex Ferguson's mob meant we had way too much to do. And although we did create chances, we tested David De Gea way too little before Tom Cleverley wrapped things up and ended the game as a conteet.

This was a thoroughly underwhelming display, espicially in defence, with the centre back pairing of Mike Williamson and James Perch struggling and goalkeeper Steve Harper also looking decidedly suspect.

Some pundits felt the Toon could do some damage to their opponents - after all, we beat them 3-0 at St. James' Park in January and still had our attacking options - not least Demba Ba, the Premier League's top scorer.

But neither him, Cisse or others could unlock a defence some pundits had called the worst in Sir Alex Ferguson's long and distinguished tenure at Old Trafford.

Fergie's lot are not unbeatable but it is dispiriting that we didn't try and test this, with one point blank De Gea save that may have crossed the line from Cisse the nearest we really came to scoring.

It is one possibility to dismiss the result as an off day. After all, every team has them and teams can't win every game. But despite this, there's a nagging feeling that there's something more than this underfoot at the Toon.

This summer, our targets were simple - cover at both defence and attack. We got youngsters and an extra midfielder that plays better as a full back, but our first choice targets were not signed as we seemed unwilling - petulant, almost - in refusing to pay one or two extra million for these players.

It looks like the ownership was hedging their bets that we mantain luck with injuries - with the exception of a defensive collapse against Norwich due to having a quarter of full backs as defenders, we got lucky with injuries in that area last season.

No such luck with Danny Simpson, Fabricio Coloccini and Steven Taylor all suffering injuries, along with goalkeeper Tim Krul.

Obviously luck with injuries is something you can never factor in when the transfer recruitment policy but it pays to be aware problems like this may occur and our policy failed to take account of this. Steve Harper and Mike Williamson were great options in the Championship and on our return to the Premier League but if we have aspirations of being top 4/5 regulars we need to upgrade our options, while James Perch seems better as a full back/holding midfielder than as a centre option.

Having just three senior centre backs is a worrying problem, with only up top the other area where bodies look light - the surprise drafting in of misfit Xisco shows the problems in these areas.

However, until January, there is nothing to be done for this. But that's not the only problem facing us right now.

Tactically, things have not been right. The run that steamrolled us into the top 5 at the end of last season saw Pardew put his men into a 4-3-3 formation, with Ben Arfa and Ba operating as wide forwards either side of Cisse. This season has seen a shift back to a 4-4-2, with the manager trying to incorporate Ba back into our system after he seemed on the fringes last season.

But although Ba has been been scoring, 4-4-2 looks like an uneasy fit for us. We perform poorer in the 4-4-2 formation than we do when we change to a 4-3-3 tactic, which has been a situation that has repeated itself more than once so far this campaign.

This leads to sluggish starts from the team. The first 15 minutes today were horrible viewing - the last time we started so poorly at home was the immortal game against Arsenal in February 2011, where a Robin van Persie-led attack bagged four in 26 minutes, and at one point it looked like his new mob were set to replicate that approach.

Not the only time we have started sluggishly this season - poor opening displays against Chelsea, Aston Villa, Everton and Reading cost us the chance to win the games. But this was a genuinely horrible opening display that could well have seen us buried before the half hour point.

False hope was generated when we came back into it but we had to test De Gea to have any remote aspiration of scoring, and by the time Tom Cleverley put the game beyond doubt it remained that Cisse's was-it-or-wasn't-it-over header was the only real time the Spaniard was tested.

It is certainly food for thought for Pardew and his backroom staff. They may have 8 year deals to try and take us towards the highest honours, but we won't get there with displays like the ones so far this season.

This makes the Derby post-internationals an intriguing proposition - both sides are coming off the back of deflating three goal thumpings by Manchester sides and will be hungry to show what they are capable of.

All we need now is a display that keeps the doubters quiet, and victory in the Derby is certainly the right way to do this. With any luck, it could help bury the memories of a day when nothing went right for the black and whites.