INSTANT REACTION: Newcastle United 1 - 2 Watford

Newcastle United once again conceded in the opening 10 minutes.  They once again went down multiple goals.  By that point, any new-found interest in the match by the players on the pitch was moot.  Daryl Janmaat did end up pulling a goal back for Newcastle but with very little end result from the players meant to attack the Watford goal nothing he did would ultimately matter as Steve McClaren's men are still without a Premier League victory in the 2015-16 season.

It really shouldn't come as any sort of surprise that the players are not really exhibiting any cohesive attacking strategy.  Sure we're passing the ball and controlling possession, but the "then what" is lacking.  McClaren set us up for as much with his complaints about the summer tour and amount of preparation time he had with his entire squad together.  In spite of early encouraging signs in the first couple of games, it feels that the team have actually regressed.  The international break saw many influential players missing to sit the bench for their national teams so the time was essentially wasted.

Wherever the blame lays, the product on the field has clearly not been good enough and McClaren needs to figure out how to fix it sooner than later.  With matches against Chelsea and Manchester United looming, it's not likely to get better soon.  Fasten your seatbelts, the relegation rhetoric machine is going to fire up early this season and it's hard to see any way to argue against it.