Betrayed By Football

Last week, everything looked rosy in the Newcastle United world.

Yes, the Europa League was looking a tough ask at 3-1 down to Benfica, but we had signs of possibly being able to topple the team, and with a 1-0 win over Fulham a giant stride towards Premier League survival had been made.

One week later, a 1-1 draw with Benfica meant it was close but no cigar. However it was the visit of Sunderland where everything has duly fallen to bits.

Many fans came into the Tyne-Wear Derby thinking that the Paolo di Canio factor had unsettled the Wearsiders. But the visitors circumvented this expectation with some style.

What went wrong this time?

As this season has gone on, we've all picked up a few things. The obvious one was that our squad is not large enough and despite the French influx in January, that remains true.

Obviously very few squads can cope with a massive injury problem and, with the previously reported figure of 70 injuries over the course of the season rapidly turning into 80, that was never going to help.

But that is little excuse for a team that was virtually first-choice getting floored by their counterparts today. Di Canio had been making noise in the week and that passion, clearly evident in three celebrations that Mourinho would've been proud of, rubbed off an accomplished display. You can debate all day long about how much he follows fascist beliefs but as a manager, he did exceptionally well.

Saying that, his team's ambition of victory were aided by a Newcastle performance so useless and inept it's a wonder that the squad have not been collectively dismissed.

Few players can argue with such a decision if they were.

Chief in the useless stakes were Jonas Gutierrez and Cheick Tiote. These two have been a hindrance virtually all season long. But here, they outdid themselves. Tiote was invisible in midfield with even his more combative attributes nowhere to be seen. This was despite Sunderland's central midfield being equally weak and often bypassed in favour of direct balls.

Helping this was Gutierrez, who after a few solid outings has sadly reverted to the waste of a shirt he spent the bulk of the season being. His assist for Sunderland's first was an impeccale example of uselessness and things hardly improved from there.

With Massadio Haidara returning significantly earlier than expected from McManaman-related injuries, it is imperative he gets game time as Gutierrez just isn't the full back he shows signs of being.

Beyond them and there was trouble everywhere. Yohan Cabaye was off-colour, Moussa Sissoko was invisible, Steven Taylor was overrun everytime he was challenged, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa struggled with Danny Graham and Mathieu Debuchy was underwhelming.

While the other players had reasonable attempts of playing football, the presence of so many passengers meant Sunderland were bound to cause problems. Yes, an energetic display against Benfica was going to cause problems, but why not play more of the players who started that one on the bench?

We may have a thin squad but we do have a squad, and more of it should have been used. Plus, with five changes, surely we had enough players in reserve not fatigued enough to at least attempt getting a result.

Along with a tired team, there was also no tactical answer to a Sunderland side that acted like it had been inhaling pure caffeine in the dressing room pre-game. It defies belief that we had a system to counteract the high-tempo game Southampton bought to St. James' a few days after an energy-sapping Europa League contest, but then failed to bring it in for this one.

Some people can argue this is a "once in a blue moon" display - the kind that happens once in a generation at the end of a perfect storm. In one respect, that's true.

Things could well have gone differently had Papiss Cisse not had a goal incorrectly ruled offside by a linesman who seemed to be out-flummoxed by white paint.

Also not helping was a season-ending injury for Tim Krul. The Dutchman fell awkwardly on his shoulder and back into the treatment room a few weeks after leaving Ukraine on crutches with an ankle injury.

Sunderland's three goals were also pretty special. Aided by crap defending, perhaps, but the finishes from their players were equally impressive.

Their fans will be pleased to get a once in a blue moon result. Like we did with the impeccable 5-1 victory back in 2010, they had a performance and a result to saviour. As for us, we can also reflect this as a once in a blue moon when a perfect storm has conspired to give Sunderland a victory unprecedented in modern times.

But there's been plenty of "once in a blue moon" displays we've been on the wrong end of this season. The 7 goals at Arsenal. The shambolic ineptitude of the Brighton defeat. The unmitigated disaster at home to Reading. Assorted defeats to the likes of Swansea (twice), West Ham, Southampton, Stoke and Fulham - all teams we should be beating, and all teams who instead sussed us out and got the points.

Plus, with a few early decisions going their way, Sunderland could well have had more. We can have no complaints from a truly depressing game that puts serious questions on everything to do with the club.

At some point, all of this piles up and leads to questions being asked. It points to someone in the chain of command doing their job poorly, and leaving us up shit creek without a paddle.

Last season's 5th place finish was a majestic turn of events when the stars, for once, all lined up in the pattern we wanted to. This time around, chaos has ruled.

What of last season's LMA Manager of the Year, who was rightly heralded for that season?

The tipping point for Alan Pardew was the defeat by Reading in January. Had he been fired then, there would have been no argument. To do so now would be rash in the extreme, not least given he was since backed to the tune of £25million in January and has a squad that should be more than capable of keeping us in the Premier League, probably more.

Beyond then, a question has to be asked - is he good enough?

Tactically, things have been wrong virtually all season, from trying to please cry-baby Demba Ba, to leaving Papiss Cisse in a hold-it-up role he doesn't look suited for, to the continued selections of Tiote and Jonas.

Any other manager could have managed more than one away win, and certainly a better performance than this atrocity. They also could have fired up the players better, but instead both management and team looked flat thoroughout.

There is no question Pardew should keep the club in the league. He has the squad and should have the knowhow to at least do that. But we need to ask ourselves "Is he the right man for the future?"

He has five games to convince us that is the case, or a seemingly unthinkable change will have to be reality. His time starts now...