3. Too Many French Players At Once
Hatem Ben Arfa and Yohan Cabaye are without doubt special talents, on their day. Although you could be forgiven for not knowing this if you'd only just started to follow Newcastle this year. In the main their lack of form was down to missing out on game time, while also being affected by the team under performing as a whole. As I mentioned previously Newcastle 'missed the boat' by not making significant signings in the Summer which by January was plain to see. Five French players arrived and had it been six months earlier I would not of been overly concerned. Now stuck in a dog fight for survival the club needed players to stand up to the plate and battle (dare I mention a Joey Barton) type of performer. Sisssoko, Mbiwa and Haidara will all develop into good first team players and have shown as much, although French flair was not what was required. Hard working English players that knew Premier league football is what would of dragged the club away from the bottom three much sooner. It's one thing them watching on TV from France, to actually having to play within a struggling side while 52,000 fans are screaming at you and your team.