No matter how you dress it up, (yes, I know it’s only a pre-season friendly), but the ease in which Newcastle have fallen 3-0 behind should be a cause for concern.
Two of the three goals have been really soft defensively and they’ve lacked the cutting edge to make some pressure at the other end tell, where up until the decisive moment, they have looked pretty sharp.
Yes, they are missing some key players. Yes, the team at the start of the season will look very different. But very familiar complaints from last season have been on display this evening.