That was probably the first time you saw Eddie knowing his time is turning. He truly looked stressed out in the second half .

dubravka deserves massive credit not just the pens. thank u martin

Disjointed - It's looked like 10 lads who've never played together. It's not a question of passion, or effort, or energy, they just couldn't string a pass or see a player offering an alternative play, so it was over-heavy passes, missed passes or back passes. It's the first time in awhile I've gotten to watch a full match and I was shocked. Thank god for Dubravka, he saved us from embarrassment, but we really need to get that spirit back, get some of those linkups going again and take the blinkers off so the players see whats going on around them rather than panic.

If the fans expected a response from the Arsenal game, that was most certainly not it. 75% of the team looked like they couldn't even be bothered. Isak looked weak, Murphy meek, Willock looked exhausted after 5 minutes, Longstaff constantly whinging, Barnes not interested in getting stuck in etc. etc.

Craig I do not usually watch the pre match show in its entirety but I enjoyed hearing Alan Shearer talking about his time at Blackburn and the story of Jack Walker's Blackburn, but I found that interesting how he emphasised one ambitious British man getting his local Football Club a Premier League Title, and the contrast to the current era is very stark at the upper echelon of the game, this could be worth a story one day if you have nothing else to inform your readers about. Thanks for all of your excellent updates, the 15min mark is a great length for this type of youtube content.

So Hall's just never gonna play then.

The players we have in midfield don't match the system we play currently. Without joelinton setting the tone, carrying the ball, winning headers and duels, Pressing every player and commiting them. Without this we have absolutely no intensity from midfield in this system, the system needs to change as it just doesn't fit these players anymore. Once again, a couple of passes from the opposition gets around or through our midfield who are so static and don't have the pace or ability to get back in and win the ball back. It's so painful knowing that weakness is there for everyone to see and yet we do nothing about it. Then when we have the ball, we rely on schar to be our playmaker and hope for a pinpoint long pass to create any sort of attacking threat otherwise it goes sideways to Dan burn more than not or lascelles or Trippier. And 90% of the time, they pass sideways and backwards since the midfield isn't capable enough of receiving the ball and turning, or breaking through the lines to create space (Bruno can do this, but he is man marked and can't do it by himself) Wolves will smash newcastle if we do not change something. They have pace and ball carrying ability throughout their midfield and front line. We néed to get a grip of the ball and actually commit players going forward rather than passing along our back line in hope that a space will open up.

I think you really have to give a lot of credit to Blackburn. Yes we should have substantially more quality, but Blackburn were so organised, disciplined and worked so hard. We dodged a bullet here…and kudos to Blackburn for making a real game of it.

Stubborn manager that won’t alter the formation as it will affect him playing his mates

If Hall can’t get a chance tonight when can he???? Feel for the lad.

We look absolutely awful at the minute. We are to predictable

Always passing to feet, hesitating, misplacing the pass or cross, not moving to space or missing the man who is, losing fluidity, slow in defence, slow in attack, predictable, looking for fouls and not getting them, not putting away championship level sides and being brushed aside by PL clubs of all descriptions. We’re a big mess.

Sean Longstaff looked like a Sunday league player throughout the 120 minutes, too slow in possession and mental game, not sure what's wrong with him

Our lads played as if they'd never played together before. As in previous matches it was far too easy to bypass our midfield and get at our defence. Dubravka played fantastic - he's a great shot stopper when he's on form. Respect to Martin. The in-form Wolves will possibly test him even more on Saturday. Unfortunately we will have to improve substantially to go any further in this competition - no matter who we get in the quarter final.

“Alexander Isak was isolated” an all too common story

FA cup is always full of games like this, every team that wins it generally has some struggles, but you’re spot on Craig we are consistently inconsistent at the moment. Great pod 👏

Not sure why top professional football players make so many mistakes and now look disjointed as a team more than halfway through the season. A lucky win really, Blackburn will be wondering how they didn’t win.

I feel like I’ve lost a bit of faith in Howe with that game. Yeah, we might have gone through, but everything I loved about this squad seems to have faded and died. Where is the intensity that was apparently our identity? Where is the drive, the dynamism, the passion? Intensity isn’t our identity anymore. Instead, our identity is being ponderous on the ball and porous off it. Bad results I can accept, the loss of that intensity I can't.

Lacalles was awful, some players are being found out now, this team needs a complete overhaul if I'm honest.

That was a hard watch. Look a shadow of last seasons team. Pleased we won for eddies sake we have big problems atm.

Serious question,have I missed something regarding Hall?Granted he hasn’t played much but when I have seen him he doesn’t exactly pull up any trees,Or is it once again Your a much better player when you’re not playing?

very fortunate to get through... for that we can thank anthony gordon & bruno in the outfield, & dubravka in the goals... gordon closing down for 120mins was a credit to his application & fitness... bruno desperate for someone to win the ball & feed him to make that killer pass, which he so often does... blackburn will feel hard done to, but a premiership gk at the top of his game kept them out... not sure what lascelles was thinking for the equaliser? only he will know what or why? despite a disjointed & still under strength newcastle performance, we are in the hat... but not for much longer if we play like that again.

Big joe understands and fits intensity and pressing better than anyone. I believe players feed off him. Now he's gone, no one can set the tone and Howe is still asking for this standard despite change of personel and a few players back but not match fit. He's ability to adapt to what we have is what is killing us

In the end I had a respect for Blackburn and wish them well, they did not roll over and let the superior team annihilate them, so they come out of the tie with nothing to be ashamed of.

did you ask howe why hall didnt get a kick and burn stayed on for 125 mins??

Wolves on the weekend is gonna be tough, we’ve got zero confidence at the minute it’s like we’re mentally just burnt out for this season. Still, least we’ve got the fa cup shootout monkey off our backs now!

Craig, Willock was never gonna give the back 4 protection...he wanders everywhere and can't tackle ..his strength is going forward .

Where has the "league best press", that was talked about so much last season, gone?

Absolutely horrendous every player looked like they’d barely kicked a ball or just got off a stag weekend dawdling about aimlessly with a couple of exceptions

totally agree craig just got back....thank u

Not sure what everybody is twisting about. It was a typical cup tie & we won it! We're in the quarter finals for the first time in how long? Some of our fans are developing frustratingly short memories about where we were just 2 years ago. *WE ARE AHEAD OF SCHEDULE.* Arsenal putting 4 goals past us is happening to EVERYONE who plays Arsenal at the minute. Few good results & we're top 6/7 again. Calm down folks.

Fair play to you for trying to do a positive report after that absolutely dire display. Dubravka was the only shining light.

For Anthony Gordon’s goal Miggy did something he rarely does, he actually looked up rather than concentrating on his boot laces. Why can’t he do that more for goodness sake. Anthony Gordon did miss 2 gettable chances but late in the game he tracked back from outside the TV picture to right MF & stifled a Blackburn attack which was very threatening. His work rate is brilliant. I also noticed Isak moved to the left wing, probably for a rest, and AG dutifully moved into the CF position from where he got his goal.

Howe is beginning to lose me. Not just the poor games which are a complete struggle to watch but the interviews are becoming deluded and not accurate. Not bruce bad but heading that way. Shame we've lost our identity...the intensity

Hall not used again. He deleted his social media goodbyes to Chelsea months ago; come on either Ashworth had a howler in the deal when it comes to appearance fees or he's being sent back.

Dubvaka was magnificent nevertheless his performance against Liverpool was even better

First half was really poor but we had plenty chances after that, just didn't take them. Totally agree that Almiron made a difference when he came on.

Newcastle looked like a pub team and thats being generous, absolutely horrendous performance.

Wolves will destroy us

1:06 been like that for years. We big them up when at times they don't deserve it. But a rousing song can rile up everyone needing riled up in the right way.

I think we need to address this at some point, the football lately have been really bad. It's not bad in the sense that you could argue that the players are just not doing what they are told - I think they are. It's just not working and it's clear that Howe and Co have a problem coming up with a plan B or even a plan A that works. Maybe we just have to write off this season and prepare for next season. The important thing is what are Howe and Co taking with them going forward. Something have to change.

Thought everybody was sub-par yesterday with the exception of Dubz & BDB who were both solid for 120 mins. It's clear that confidence is low & I put it down to a combination of the Ashworth Saga, the transfer speculation & the injury crisis... We have players returning from injury which is great but it will still take time for them to get up to full speed & for the team to settle around all of the changes & find form.

A team performance that can only be described at best as ordinary.

Hi, can you ask Eddie if the players might be holding on to baggage against each other (or even against Eddie) from some of the bad defeats this season? It doesn’t look like they’re playing for each other relative to last season. Cheers.

I agree Craig that was Martin's best game. Thank you Dubs for saving our arse!

Hi Craig, What's happened to the pre match report on Wolves?

Haha, Eddie Howe looked like he was going to cry last night.

Blackburn played the better football last night. Why are Newcastle so insistent on slowly knocking it around the back 4 and then one of the centre halves playing long balls into channels? We really struggle to string a sequence of good passes together in midfield, they get bypassed. Really odd - especially as it looks like it's a deliberate ploy?

Phew, a huge sigh of relief after that one. As we all know cup games are all about the result so i'm obviously happy to have got through to the next round. However, in a season as disjointed as this where we as fans are looking for any opportunity for games to reignite our best form this feels like another one that passed us by. It's another lacklustre performance that aside from dubravka lacked any real quality & it's hard to take many positives out of tonight other than the result. We go into the game against wolves on saturday with hope more than expectation & i think that says it all about newcastle this season. Cheers as always criag. P.S: Didn't hear you get a question at the press conference? Are you on the naughty list? Ha haaa.

Not sure where to begin with all that, i suppose i will start with great video Craig, summed up nicely. But yeah they seemed to play a mid block and were very disciplined and we didn't really have any answers to that. I think when we were riding high lastv season the likes of murphy and longstaff got their level pulled up so to speak. However with the team playing poorly they just look bottom half prem players at best. Missing our better midfield players something chronic, tonali and joelington. Without an effective midfield everything else falls to bits and Bruno needs the legs of the better midfielders to be more effective. I do wonder about Barnes as a player. Yes he has an eye for goal but that's about it. I hope we get a decent draw but can't help feel the fa campaign eventually will crash upon the rocks that is man city of Liverpool.

How on earth can you analyse that game, like Melbournes weather I experienced every single emotion available to a human twice over in 120 mins. Dubs was immense 🔥🍺🍻🔥🇦🇺

Craig - I've asked many times what Dubravka has to do to get a positive mention in your summing up of the matches. I guess we now know. Whereas Gordon can run around booting the ball at the keeper and falling over and get a rave review, our keeper has make 4 or 5 critical saves and stop 2 penalties to get a mention. This is blatant anti-keeperism!

I’m willing to give Howe a long leash based on what he’s accomplished but boy their play is starting to look predictable and defense has holes. Players just don’t look as fit and energetic as before too. C’mon magpies turn up the performances

Can't really say anymore than well said Craig. They looked more of a Prem team than us on too many occasions. I almost feel sorry for Bruno.

Unfortunately i do think Eddy is damaged from that game. He needed a big response after the battering at the weekend and he didn't get one. If a Steve Bruce side delivered a performance like that they would have been rightly criticised. I want Eddy to succeed but he seems reluctant to change things that aren't working. Unless the league performances improve (which they probably won't) then i think he needs to get us to Wembley this season, otherwise it's been a pretty underwhelming season. I think he deserves another season since this one has been plagued with misfortune, but I won't be surprised if the Saudis are thinking about replacing him if things don't improve between now and the summer.

Dubravka made some great saves throughout the match but outstanding in the penalty shootout well done .. but we still need to do some work on the field, we could of had a few goals to finish the game off

Call me biased as a Rovers fan, both played well yet Rovers were incredible Tuesday night. It’s feels just as big as a win for us. Both keepers were class, yet you were really lucky. Where you are in the league, you probably should’ve got a 3/4-1 win over us. It’s could’ve very easily gone both ways. Proud of our squad (especially Pears) and hope Jarred Gillett likes his Newcastle shirt cause it was 1000% a handball

Almiron changed the game to be be honest. Much better than Barnes and Gordon

Obviously it wasn’t a “great” performance but if I’m not wrong Newcastle missed 5 clear goal scoring chances which isn’t Eddie Howes fault - the harder they tried the more the composure disappeared and it’s an age old problem of almost trying too hard. Confidence is a huge thing in football and is very fragile. Even more reason now to get behind the team as the next game against an in form wolves team will be hard particularly their right winger who is one of the best players in the league.

Glad Dubravka came back so many saying keep Karius ,glad Howe didn't. No cohesion with the players who last season gelled,Barnes poor, Longstaff same .The defence recently parts quicker than the Red Sea,hopefully the returnees are just rusty and it will click soon otherwise the only Europe they'll be going to is IKEA

We were slow and sluggish and out played most of the time. Barnes a complete waste of space god only knows why we got stuck with him.

One very frustrating thing that comes up over and over (especially when the whole front line being unwilling to take a crack and just passing it around ) is trippier’s reluctance to shoot in open play. Time and again he has a open shot and goes for the set up instead. Sure he offers great assist record but the amount of times I’ve shouted shoot! When he has a gap and he doesn’t

Got away with one is spot on, however it’s a cup tie where anything can happen. I love Howe & what he’s done for us in a short space of time but I feel that his choice to ignore the gap between our midfield & defence could ultimately cost him dearly, 6 times last night they had a man in the hole that just wasn’t picked up, it’s happening week in week out. I know Howe plays Burn to tuck in as that back 3 but I would love us to play Schar as a holding midfielder that just drops in which would allow whoever LB to get forward like Tripps on the right side.

Longy needs to stay on his feet, he goes down way too easy & refs never seem to buy it. He's a big strong lad & doesn't need to do it. Fair play he did take a blow to the face but he had rolled around so much at that stage that everybody was sick of him and just thought it was more theatrics.

Can you ask Eddie about the FA’s plan if NUFC get passed City to let the 1999 Man Utd team into the semi’s or the Arsenal invincibles for the final.

I’ve seen enough from Eddie even this season (Man Ux 2, Villa away, City home, PSG, home, Arsenal home etc.) to keep the faith that he’s the man. He’s had some awful luck and he has made some errors but he still hasn’t got ‘his squad’, still too many pre-takeover players that aren’t at the quality required. Summer is huge, would be massive error to not back him.

How does Longstaff stay on the pitch ? Bruno is doing two bloody jobs because of the poor midfield around him

🎵 Abra abra Dubravka! 🧤 He’s gonna reach out & grab ya! 🎵 *HOWAY THE LADS!* 🖤🤍

That was a truly appalling performance. Bruno was only player who seemed to care for most of the game. Credit to Gordon for going all the way, and Almiron and Tino for injecting some quality in extra time. * I've staunchly supported Trippier but I did think he was awful last night. It's hard to know if he's gone, his mental space isn't right and/or if the lack of midfield and pressing cover is exposing him slightly. * Longstaff was terrible. Never offered a pass for the defenders when they were on the ball. * Was Barnes alright? He looked off as soon as he was on. Did he forget to have his pre-match red bull? My biggest concern is that we seem to have turned into Southgate's England. Slow, ponderous possession at the back. Cente-back to centre-back.

Thats as far as we get in this competition

Hi Craig, I think you have been a bit hard on Dubravka over the last few weeks he is not as good as Pope. However, he has always been a great shot stopper, which we saw last night. Glad he got 3 stars at last. Roll on your talk around Jesmond. All the best John and Jean

I like the star ratings better. It’s just a nice quirk. There are plenty of statisticians out there to be precise.

It is more a fundamental problem. Go through all the matches we played since the beginning of the year. Our strikers have been so isolated and starved of service. I think Isak at Liverpool was the one time he had a genuine chance in the box and he stuck it away. Callum did not have a shot on goal at Forest. Isak had one sniff against City outside the box and that is it, and that chance from Miggy against Sunderland where he scored. We are not creating chances for our strikers from open play where we advance to the opposition goal and play the ball into the box. It is very worrying. We are one good team away from being eliminated from the FA cup.

Shocking stuff last night, where was the urgency from Newcastle after Saturday's debacle? Howe just keeps making the same comments along the lines of "That Wasn't Us", well you could have fooled me Eddie because that is the same side that has been poor for the majority of the season! I cannot understand Howe escaping criticism after some of the naivety shown by him this campaign. He has been stepped up in class and his one trick pony style of management has caught up with him exposing Howe's lack of ability at the top level. It is shame because everyone wanted him to succeed but it does seem it is beyond his pay grade with a new direction required in the summer as I don't think another season of Howe's football will do us any good.

Dear Craig, Canny video as always 👍😎 The Dream lives on ✊👏👍😎😁 Regards,

I thought we were very poor. Howe’s stubbornness with the formation and tactics will be his downfall. More worryingly though, many players did not seem happy with really poor body language. We are unrecognisable from last season - something seems very wrong

Another horror show only thing we can say is we are in the hat. Dubs brilliant tonight! He had a good right to be shaking his head after saving the last minute deflection! Who would want to be a keeper with this lot in front of you! We dodged a bullet especially Eddie you could see it written all over his face. He may have won this battle by slimmest of margins but we are still a long long way away from winning the war! Another must win game on Saturday or pressure is going to get even greater.

The team is disjointed aswell as very young and inexperienced. Just cos we've got a few big players back doesn't mean it all fixes itself straight away no matter how much we'd hope for that. Saying that, I bet it's fixed sooner than they're given credit for. The arsenal game really depleted our confidence. To have a similar start of the game against Blackburn and still go and create many chances and win the game. I think that deserves some credit. A couple years ago theyd get boo'd off the pitch for not getting back into it. Context.

A lot of negatives for sure but keep the faith , I still have confidence in Eddie .. We've been here before with Bobby Robson ...fans constantly whinging then regretting it when he left . Eddie will sort it ,yes he's made mistakes but deserves time to sort it ...hopefully majority of fans agree.

The press is very lethargic these days Craig

people would do well to remember how his time at bournemouth ended, we stuck 4 past them when cabbage heed was manager. i can see nothing in that team that was there last season, very poor and getting worse every week

I feel like 5-3-2 might be worth a go and match Wolves as there's so many things wrong. Some of the players didn't seem to know where they were meant to be playing. Started to get Bruceball flashbacks.

Rallying cry to keep the merit marks Craig. Long drive from Edinburgh and although it was a win, it was a terrible performance and we would struggle against Gateshead at the moment.

People need to be realistic. Ewood Park is a tough place to go on a Tuesday night in those conditions against a team playing 5 at the back in their biggest game for years/of the season. Yes we should still have had enough to win but how can Eddie be blamed for the Longstaff, Gordon, Barnes, Bruno and Lascelles misses? Thats on the players not the manager. What could Eddie have done to make them score in that situation? On another day those go in and we’re talking about a comfortable 4-1 win. Also not sure what Eddie can do about the Lascelles mistake so could have even been a 4-0 win. If we didn’t create those chances then I’d be questioning Howe more. Non the less the performance could have been better and it’s obvious we have too many players that despite Howe improving them 10 fold, are still not good enough. Longstaff is miles off it and would struggle to get into most championship midfields. Murphy out his depth too. Big summer of recruitment ahead. Stick with the boys we’re on the right track. HWTL

Amazing how much we paid for some of those players! Were taken as mugs last Summer.

It would appear that every successive game Mr. Howe has to win or get on the next plane to Saudi Arabia.

I'm thrilled we are through but Jesus wept, that was dire. It's not the players, they are following orders and carrying out tactics formed by Eddie and the coaching staff. Not one single Blackburn player would get anywhere near our first team but they outplayed us. Howe has either lost the dressing room or lost the plot. We are setting up like Bournemouth, expecting to get battered and hoping for a quick break. If we'd have got beat last night, which we bloody should have done, at least it would have forced the owners hand a little.

Really enjoying the WhatsApp channel Craig

It sure was a disjointed effort but I think we need to remember that we have only recently been able to expand our bench with midfield and attacking options for the first time in many months. A 'squad' of around 11 players has played every match for months. They are jaded (yeah, I know, all you professional sportsmen will tell me that running several miles full pelt twice a week while controllling a football is easy). While we have Willock, Barnes and Isak back they have each played less than a game (or so) so they are not match sharp. For a good example of it taking a couple of games to get match sharp just look at Dubravka - now back to his best and saving us games. It'll take a couple of games for the returning players to get back to match sharpness. Judge us then. Arsenal - yes, we were toothless, but they have scored 4 or more in their last half dozen matches - context! We weren't firing on all cylanders last night but, except for a mistake by Lascelles, we'd have won in 90 mins. We found a way to win. Still in a cup and still in with a shout of Europe. Considering where we were 2 years ago, that's not bad. One more win in the league and we're safe from relegation 😁. We're a work in progress. HWTL

You have to start asking Eddie about longstaff. It took him 70 min to get started , his performance is shocking over the last few games, and he needs to be dropped,we were lucky to get through to night it shouldn't have taken penalties for us to beat Blackburn. But hwtl

Happy daby do,great to see him back.pope aint gettin back in at this rate

They looked very low on confidence, hopefully we can grind out a few more results as that will help, we need somebody who can take the game by the scruff and lead us through it, Bruno tries to but sometimes it seems like the harder he tries the worse he plays. Isak, Willock & Barnes all looked rusty so hopefully wont take too long for them & Anderson to get up to speed. But i have to give them credit as poor as the performance was at times they didnt give up and kept at it, lets hope they can gain a bit of confidence from it.

Dubravka is our all time best keeper. The board will sack Eddie Howe when we get knocked out of the cup.

Seeing as Burn played two hours, should be Hall start with Tino on the right for Wolves. Yeah? I wouldn’t count on it.

It was a disjointed performance but away cup ties are tricky, confidence is low, pace around the middle is lacking, the squad is light, Joelinton is a big loss, he has physical power and he uses it,Bruno is spikey but Miley and Longstaff don't frighten opponents and Isak has class but he spends a fair but of time on the ground. All good teams have a solid defense as a base to work from and until that is got right Newcastle are playing catch up.

Dubravka save newcastle bacon last night i was just nervous watching on my tv at home as an newcastle utd fan🖤🤍

it felt like the days Pardew & Bruce used to put scratch teams out - I'd barely give 6 out of 10 to anyone except Gordon & Dubravka

Nothing to celebrate. Glad and relieved to go through but that was so worrying. I know the cup produces upsets but it was the manner of the performance which was alarming. Goes to show how much of a huge miss Joelinton is because of the defensive cover he gives, his reading of play, and his attacking presence too. That being said we should have had more than enough to comfortably win but we shot ourselves in the foot, wasted several huge chances and Dubravka stopping Blackburn going through. Huge improvements needed against Wolves or we'll get turned over

NUFC showed a 'bit' more desire in the game. However, Their confidence looks shot.Their passing was awful. They were 2nd best to the ball, which I've noticed is a worrying theme now. It could be argued, could being the opretiive word, the start of Eddie losing his job, if we'd been beaten ? We need an overhaul in the summer, get rid of the Longstaffs, Almiron's, and Lascelles. & "buy, better ", to quote 👑 K.K.... Thank God for M.Dubravka. For me, he's easily now sealed his place as our No1 keeper, even when Pope comes back. Dubravka's shot stopping is just as good, & his distribution is better. What do you think about that, Graig ?? Great analysis, by the way Graig, as always....

This playing out from the back at all costs is really starting to annoy me as that is the cause of a lot of our issues