Reasons to be Optimistic Despite Palace Horror Show

Last night provided a sobering reminder of how fickle football can be — but Dom Kureen (DxK) thinks there are reasons to be Optimistic in the face of defeat.

Newcastle United’s players put in one of their most inept displays of the season last night, losing 2-0 to an effervescent Crystal Palace side at Selhurst Park.

In truth, the scoreline flattered the listless visitors, who never got out of first gear in an appallingly lacklustre display bereft of any ingenuity and leaning heavily on the creative talents of Bruno Guimarães – a player increasingly shouldering the burden of carrying the Magpies’ debilitated midfield.

But should it have caused such shockwaves among sections of the Toon fanbase?

Away form has proved perplexing for Eddie Howe and his troops, who have been unable to crack the code other than to soak up pressure and hope the opposition waste possession.

A glance at the Premier League away table shows Newcastle in 15th position, having secured a single point more than struggling Burnley.

Diving deeper into the analysis, of the four wins (alongside two draws and a frankly obscene 10 defeats) only victories over Aston Villa (3-1) and the lamentable Sheffield United (8-0) have been thoroughbred displays.

The 3-2 success against Nottingham Forest at The City Ground descended into a glorified basketball match, with neither team bothered about defence – that man Bruno grabbing his team by the scruff of the neck to drag them over the line for three points.

It was a match that could have gone either way, decided by one moment of Brazilian brilliance among a sea of sewage and Longstaff-itis.

Meanwhile, the 1-0 victory at Fulham’s Craven Cottage was bowling shoe ugly – a match spent predominantly on the backfoot, decided by the south Londoners’ profligacy in front of goal.

A 2-0 FA Cup triumph against the same opponents at the same patch of SW6 was equally forgettable, with the result masking another uninventive showing.

The 3-0 League Cup win against Manchester United was well earned but something of an anomaly when contrasted with the rest of the campaign – a glimpse into the potential Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento possess, and one final dazzling display from the subsequently dismal Miguel Almiron.

The PSG away fixture was another grind, with the near victory earned off the back of a stubborn rear-guard action, awful finishing from the French side and Nick Pope’s myriad of wonder saves.

This was not the tour de force often cited by those with black and white-tinted spectacles, albeit the destination of the points was eventually decided by spineless officiating.

Make no mistake, the bus was parked for 100 minutes, hand break fixed, wheels clamped in place.

As for the penalty shoot-out win against Blackburn… We were fortunate to squeak through against a side not far from the foot of the Championship.

So, what does it all mean?

Simply put, Newcastle have been a shambles away from St James’ Park this season, something which doesn’t bode well with three of our remaining five fixtures away from the ‘Cathedral on the Hill’.

That conceded, there may be cause for optimism on the horizon.

Last season’s defeats often served as galvanising software updates.

The unjust 2-1 defeat at Anfield, where the referee was seemingly intent on continuing play until the Scousers scored a winner (it arrived in the 99th minute <Ed: see Mighty Wyn>) and abruptly blew the final whistle, was a match followed by an unbeaten run of 14 matches.

A shock FA Cup exit at the hands of Sheffield Wednesday (1-2) then saw another seven-match unbeaten sequence, while the 0-3 battering at Villa Park came right before the 6-1 destruction of Spurs, 4-1 humbling of Everton on their own patch and a comfortable 3-1 home win against Southampton which all but secured Champions League qualification.

This season the template has shifted a smidge, but three consecutive early season defeats were followed by eight unbeaten (six wins and two draws).

Another horrendous sequence, which included defeats to Luton and hattrick hero Chris Wood’s Nottingham Forest, was halted by a barely feasible run of FOUR successive away wins – half of our wins on the road this season in the space of a few weeks.

It all suggests there are reasons to invoke the spirit of Uncle Wyn, to be optimistic in the face of another nadir during this most fluctuating of campaigns.

Next up is Sheffield United on Tyneside, the perfect opportunity to rapidly erase memories of the mid-week malaise while facing the very worst team in the entire league, and one of the poorest Premier League sides ever.

Do that and Eddie can cite a run of four wins in six, identifying Palace as a blip rather than blueprint for the run-in, while maintaining the lofty target of going beyond last season’s 19 Premier League wins, Another bizarre possibility in an emotionally draining season considering the esteem the relative campaigns are held in.

You can follow Dom on Twitter/X @WriteOnDom.