TIME FOR PARDEW, AND EVERYONE, TO LOOSEN UP

As a former sports reporter and lifelong Cubs fan, I've seen a thousand down streaks, and Newcastle United's current edition is classic: team encounters adversity, presses, makes it worse, repeat cycle. Bad clubs often lack urgency, but this is a good club in a bad run, and if anything, Newcastle United had too much urgency in Wednesday's loss to West Brom - not enough patience, not enough belief. "We've got to get this win, and that was probably playing on our minds a bit tonight - the fact that we wanted it so much," Alan Pardew said post-match. "We looked a little bit desperate at times, and you cannot do that in the Premier League."

The manager gets it. The question is, what's he going to do about it? Especially as the type of detail-obsessed, perfection-mongering leader who may be prone to over-tightening a team in the first place? I winced to see him quoted, "We lost a bit of discipline in our shape." Really? Who, exactly, was freelancing? Who was switching? Shola's out there trying to be a winger. If that 4-4-2 was moving up and down the field in much stricter formation it'd be a marching band.

To our eyes it looked yesterday like, if anything, Newcastle could use a little less discipline and a little more variety in its play. Our co-blogger Matt wrote Tom and me after the match, "High line made sense against Norwich, when you were up against two big slow strikers with no actual center backs. Tonight? No way. You've got a world-class (but slow) defender paired with...well, James Perch, and your opposition has two quick forwards, so yeah, let's work that offside trap. Ugh." Tom pointed out that if you're absolutely wedded to the high line, you have to at least go after the ball with aggression, which Newcastle didn't seem either permitted or motivated to do, much less equipped to do without Yohan Cabaye in middle tandem with a struggling Cheick Tiote. Instead the club was reduced to a spectator role in relentless counterattacks from an opposition that otherwise was outmatched. 

The tightness may not be limited to the players. While Tom and I were watching the match in one of the many Wisconsin bars that have been polluted by satellite jukeboxes, Matt reported from Boston that the crowd on TV sounded as nerve-ridden as the team looked, cheering mainly at the goals, as if in relief. That's the curse of a club that hasn't won and wants it too much, having gotten a taste - again, a Cubs fan would know. 

As Newcastle United prepares for an ill-timed choke-inducing match at relegation-ripe Bolton, everyone associated with Newcastle - manager, players, fans - must loosen up. Just saying that won't help, of course. What makes people more nervous than telling them not to be nervous? So let me close by recommending one of my favorite recent articles about sport, from Wired of all places, entitled "The Tight Collar: The New Science of Choking Under Pressure." The article talks about "explicit monitoring," which is basically the act of thinking too much about what you're doing, and "useful distraction," which is something to do to stop you from thinking. One proven remedy for explicit monitoring, interestingly, is singing. It's worth a try. If ever a club needed less prose and more melody, from manager and fans, it's this one, right now.

Comments

[Ryan]

I am not panicking yet, despite another 3 points that should have been had. The team is definitely pressing. A good team has someone step up and relieve the pressure. Everyone exhales, and relaxes. We are definitely a good team, and have the personnel to put in a splendid performance to relieve the pressure.

My worry is the transfer window. If we fail to get in that CB yet again, as well as a striker (which rumors now have us waiting until the summer- surprise, surprise), I fear that a true panic mode may start. Demba Ba certainly is capable of scoring, but we can't rely on just one player either. Especially when they leave for the ACN for a bit. We need to go out, get 3 vs. Bolton, get a body or two in, and regain our confidence.

I am confident this is just a bump in the road. It's up to Pardew, the players, and the fans to make sure it stays a bump and doesn't turn into a long rut.

[M]

One thing being overlooked by many is the fact that WBA are a decent team who on every occasion they've been in opposition to us over the last 2 years or so have looked the better side. I'd say the 3-3 draw last May was the only exception to this.

To be out-passed and outplayed by this team is no longer a surprise to me. I do agree though - that to play a high-line was a huge misjudgement and a concerning one at that

Huge amount of pressure on us to get something at Bolton with Liverpool at Anfield (uh-oh) and an in-form ManU to come. If things don't go our way we could be easily be looking at a run of 9 games without a win to follow our 11 without loss

Having said that, I fancy us to get 3 points on Mon