Pundit savages Newcastle star who has already ‘downed tools’
Trevor Sinclair has ripped into Newcastle United winger Ryan Fraser and feels his attitude is symptomatic of the club’s demise.
Fraser, 27, played the full 90 minutes as the Magpies were beaten 3-0 by fellow strugglers Brighton on Saturday. It was a woeful display by the Tynesiders and one that leaves them just two points above the relegation zone. They do have a game in hand on 18th-placed Fulham but the Cottagers have momentum heading into the run-in.
The North-East outfit have won only two of their last 18 top-flight games and picked up just nine points this year. Storm clouds are once again gathering over St James’ Park and Fraser was downbeat following the Amex reverse.
“It’s horrible,” he told NUFC TV. “No one’s going to be happy about it. Everyone is down, no one is speaking in there. We’ve obviously spoken to each other as well and got stuff off our chests.
“We can’t be too down. We’re still not in the bottom three. We don’t want to be in there. We’ve still got games to save it and I know we keep saying our next game is massive but it really is.”
Former England winger Sinclair feels Fraser is part of the problem, however. The Scotland international refused the chance to extend his deal with Bournemouth to help battle relegation after last summer’s restart.
He then left the south coast to move to Newcastle. It was suggested that the wide man did not look interested after the Brighton loss.
And Sinclair feels the writing was already on the wall.
Steve Bruce: We were beaten by a far better team
Steve Bruce was disappointed with Newcastle’s performance against Brighton and said they were beaten by a team that were better than his in every department.
“Why are we surprised that Ryan Fraser didn’t look bothered?” he told talkSPORT’s GameDay podcast. “Come on, think of last season when he was at Bournemouth. He had the opportunity to play after the restart and back his troops, his team-mates, his brothers in arms and he downed tools.”
Time for Fraser and co to dig deep
Newcastle could still get out of trouble. They had picked up three straight draws prior to the south-coast debacle. But it is far from an easy run-in.
A clash with Tottenham is next while they must also play Liverpool, Arsenal, Leicester and Manchester City. The final game of the season is at Fulham and may well be a straight battle for survival.
Sinclair feels Steve Bruce’s men need to work hard before then and not follow the example of the Scot.
“Players need to roll their socks off, roll their sleeves up and have a right go, and you need someone with a bit of integrity and that doesn’t radiate from the squad at the moment and especially from Ryan Fraser,” he added.
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