Paul Merson: “A working class place Newcastle, people spend all their money to go and watch the club. Not like a little bit, they spend every penny following this team around…”
Doumbia with his little cameo showed what the running into channels and dragging the defence along with him can do by opening the middle spaces for a cutting winger to shoot, like the Townsend goal.
Steven Taylor “It is a sickening feeling coming off the pitch and the long wait doesn’t help – it is going to play on our minds and it has hurt the boys.”
When you do look at four of Newcastle’s midfield five on Saturday, with Wijnaldum, Townsend, Sissoko and Shelvey (if Robbie Savage is to be believed), there is barely a tackle amongst them.
Chelsea fans comment on Saturday’s events: “Only CB I can remember all season who is slower than Coloccinni is Steven Taylor… at just 30 he looks like an ageing Steve Perryman now. Should be on the terraces looking that heavy.”
A player who is developing like Rolando Aarons will always make mistakes, especially playing out of position, and fans can deal with that, if there is nothing to lose…
On Saturday, despite the Chelsea 5 Newcastle 1 scoreline, Shelvey impressed me. He was always wanting the ball, even under pressure, and still trying to produce positive play despite the increasingly disastrous nature of the scoreline.