A TOON OF BOOS
Bruce’s third winless home game puts him on par with McClaren
STEVE BRUCE became only the second Newcastle manager in the Premier League not to win any of his first three home games, and keeping company with Steve McClaren is never a good sign.
Brighton will wonder how they left here with a solitary point after bossing the contest from start to finish and there is a clear identity to Graham Potter’s side.
The same cannot be said of Newcastle, who turned to Andy Carroll late on as the striker appeared from the bench for the first time since rejoining his hometown club on deadline day. It said much of how uninspiring Bruce’s side were that the heartiest home roar of the evening was for a substitution.
They were booed off at halftime for what was the first time since the dark days of McClaren and, despite a belated late spell of pressure, they suffered the same ignominy at the end.
Going into the game, Bruce’s team had the lowest expected goals rating in t he Premier League at just 0.7 per match and the lowest possession figure of 33 per cent and neither of those numbers improved.
Another number — a crowd of 43,316 — was the lowest in nine years at St James’ Park.
As bad as Newcastle were in the first half, they actually enjoyed the two best chances. Miguel Almiron should have scored his first for the club when sent clear by Isaac Hayden but he fired straight at Mat Ryan.
There was an air of inevitability about the outcome, given how unconvincing Almiron has looked in front of goal since his £21million arrival in January.
The man who replaced him as the club’s record signing this summer, £40m striker Joelinton, was also guilty of spurning an opening, heading wide when unmarked 10 yards out from Jonjo Shelvey’s corner.
After half an hour Brighton had enjoyed 79 per cent possession and, save for those two chances, the hosts had struggled to emerge from their own half.
Bruce tore up his 3-4-2-1 system at that point and instructed his t eam t o adopt a previously untested 4-3-3. It did not make any difference.
The manager was soon barking at Shelvey when he lost the ball cheaply and the midfielder gave as good as he got.
As for Brighton, they teased passes all over the park and would have led had Neal Maupay squared for the unmarked Steven Alzate rather than shoot when free in the six-yard area.
Newcastle skipper Jamaal Lascelles then headed against his own bar from a corner and it was a mystery how half-time arrived without a visitors’ goal.
The subsequent jeers were entirely warranted. Newcastle had chosen to sit deep and invite Brighton on to them, only without fulfilling the other end of the tactic, which you presume was to counter-attack.
The only time the home crowd had reason to cheer in the opening 45 minutes was when Carroll was sent out to warm up. But they were booing again shortly after the restart when a passage of Brighton dominance ended with Pascal Gross whistling narrowly over from 20 yards.
There was another shift information but, whatever the intention, it failed to inspire the Magpies during the early exchanges of the second half.
A rare home break did see Almiron scamper away from Dan Burn but his finish, a low steer from 18 yards, was comfortable for Ryan to gather.
It must have been infuriating for Potter that his side just could not find a way to score and Maupay sliced over from 10 yards after yet another intricate approach.
Bruce still kept Carroll behind him in the dug- out and opted instead to send on Allan Saint-Maximin and Ki Sung-yueng, the latter replacing a clearly aggrieved Shelvey, not that he had reason to feel hard done by.
Saint-Maximin at least injected a little bit of energy but the lift he provided very nearly fell flat when, at the other end, Brighton substitute Aaron Connolly was denied a delicate lobbed goal by the recovering Fabian Schar, who acrobatically hooked the ball from right under the bar.
Finally, with eight minutes remaining, the home crowd got their wish and Carroll emerged for his second Newcastle debut, 13 years on from his first.
But there was to be no fairytale return. Indeed, there is very little