This way to oblivion

Steve Bruce said:

"We simply didn’t do enough. We didn’t show enough resilience or fighting spirit... to put up some sort of reaction. The way we went about it was simply nowhere near what’s required.

"It’s not enough to feel sorry for yourself; they have to find a bit more and do a bit more than today. We can’t hide behind that, and they can’t keep hiding behind myself. We’re in it together.

"At ten men and three-nil down, you have to show a bit more. We were just so passive; we just accepted everything.

”After that (red card), we needed to regroup and show more effort, endeavour, fight, spirit and that is the hugely disappointing thing from the group I have worked with for the last eight weeks. That was not good to see.

"It (effort) is a big, big part of the game and we have not done enough. The nitty gritty is that we have not laid a glove on Leicester in the second half and the white flag came out too early.

"It was not anywhere near good enough. We have made it difficult all afternoon and at 10 men you have to get 20, 30 minutes but we gave an awful goal away for the second and a deflection for the third. We have to show more than what we did and roll our sleeves up more in difficult circumstances.

"The mistakes, the way we went about he game, as son as the third went in the heads went down. 

"We did not do enough to stop the Leicester charge. We need to do more. That is the difficult thing to take. We made mistakes and were badly punished.

"The one thing I pride myself on is begin honest. I have only been here a few weeks but you learn on performances and games like today. We have not done enough. 

"We have to go back to the training ground and do the basics better. We were OK defensively but were all over the place in the second half.

"We made too many mistakes, gave bad goals away and the lack of effort towards the end was nowhere near enough for the magnificent support we brought down. We have to put a shift in and we have not done enough.

"It is difficult but we have to go back to basics. There are four or five who are itching to play and I will look at that. I will analyse myself too. I have heard lots of nonsense about tactics but the big thing is about showing pride and having a go. We have let everybody down today.

"I always knew it was a challenge, I was delighted to take the challenge but let us hope we can turn it around. I have the appetite to do that."

On Hayden's dismissal:

"I’ve got no complaints - it was a poor challenge. 

"I’m all for people competing because we’re talking about something now where I want my team to compete properly; but we all know it was reckless - and high with the follow through.”

Brendan Rodgers said:

"I thought we performed very, very well We showed real appetite in the game, with our defending and our pressing, which was very, very good.

"I thought we were exciting going forward. What was also good I felt, that especially in the second half, how we managed to play against 10 men, because it’s never easy.

“The players had real concentration and real focus in the game. The speed of the game was good, and we kept that intensity in the game and then scored some wonderful goals.

"It was a very good performance in lots of aspects. You've got to defend well, our pressing was good, there was a hunger in our game.

"We showed all elements today. We had possession, we moved it quick, we were a threat on the counter. It was a good demonstration of how to play against 10 men.

"Sometimes you can give away too much space but the payers managed it well. Overall we scored fantastic goals and we kept a clean sheet which is important for us. Overall it's a great day for us.

"Against Newcastle, the last time we played, we felt that getting the first goal was very important and we didn’t get that. Today, it was going to be about how much we learnt from that game and his (Ricardo Pereira) goal was absolutely brilliant.

“His touch and the lay-off from Ayo (Ayoze Perez) and he’s away. He brings that real attacking intent into the game and it gave us a great start.”

Steve Bruce's latest attempt at finding a winning blend of players proved to be a recipe for disaster on Sunday, as Newcastle suffered their heaviest defeat since 2015. 

A goal behind and very much second best at a rain-soaked King Power Stadium, United were left a man short when Isaac Hayden received a straight red following a 43rd minute lunge at Dennis Praet. 

The Magpies were already trailing to a goal of almost embarrassing simplicity; Ricardo Perreira given the freedom of the East Midlands to reach our box and fire home stylishly on 16 minutes.

The Foxes were quick to put the outcome beyond doubt after the break; Jamie Vardy beating Martin Dubravka at his near post on 54 minutes. And City's next attack saw them take a three goal advantage, a goalbound effort from Praet flying off Paul Dummett's foot and into the net.

Three soon became four - Vardy with a routine header from close range - and with over a quarter of the game left, a further deluge of goals to match the driving rain seemed very much on the cards.  

However the hosts managed just one more goal, Wilfrid Ndidi allowed to turn and shoot home right at the end of normal time.  

Bruce said afterwards that he still had the appetite for the task in hand - sadly, many of his players were lacking any stomach for the fight today.

This was absolutely dire: by no measure is it getting better. There are too many basic issues to even hope that this team can avoid relegation in its current guise.

It's an obvious line to say that the wheels have come off, but it's debatable whether they've actually ever been in place since the club's change of coach in July. 

Goalscoring isn't even an aspiration let alone a reality; a bright opening spell brought some mild optimism as we looked to attack - but we were never in danger of making Foxes custodian Kasper Schmeichel actually work for his wages. Quite frankly, his dad could have kept goal today.

City by contrast took time to get going, but were then sharper and more incisive; having deduced that having shots on target was a decent way to try and score - something we're yet to realise.   

Our lack of organisation and preparation was exemplified by Sean Longstaff's first half free kick from a central position outside the City box. Obviously unsure as to what he was meant to do and looking in vain for guidance, it ended up being booted forward and harmlessly straight to the 'keeper. 

A complete waste of time - much like attending this game - and a pertinent reminder of how much we achieved in the last two seasons by careful planning.

All long gone.

Despite a winless start to last season that ultimately extended to 11 games, confidence remained that things would improve when Salomon Rondon got to his fighting weight.

Rafa Benitez was criticised for taking too few risks during that barren run, but at least he and his staff were drilling his players to play in a certain style and there was a semblance of a plan. There's a reason we never lost a game by this margin under him.... 

Question marks over the motivation of the side became more pressing today, as evidence that we're ill-prepared for the task in hand mounts. Given the form of the two sides, it was unreasonable to travel with any expectation of a third successive victory here - but there simply had to be more of a contribution across the field from the first whistle to the last. 

Sunday sees the visit of Manchester United to Tyneside; Bruce desperate for a win against his old side to convince his supporters, players and perhaps even himself that this is salvageable. 

The odds are starting to be stacked against him though; ongoing uncertainty as to what his best squad and formation is added a brittleness that harks back to our last relegation season.

Time is a commodity that we just don't have. 

Today was a dreadful mess, the season an unfolding calamity and a football-free zone to date.

We expressed our belief that Bruce wasn't the right man for the job when he came; an appointment that reeked of utter desperation. To dump him now - at a reputedly huge cost - would put us in the same place, looking to persuade someone with a shred of credibility to take the job on. And failing. 
Again.

The real lack of confidence is in the person making that managerial appointment - everything else comes from that, and falls apart accordingly. Leadership is lacking.

Whether it will take a third relegation under the current ownership for there to be real change remains to be seen, but we seem to be firmly set on a course for the Championship at present.

Looking back on today, this game was strongly reminiscent of the 0-3 loss here under John Carver in May 2015, a team unmanaged, a club at war with itself once more.

Following that defeat we wrote that "The discontent of our fanbase is manifested in both silent dismay and vocal hostility among those attending, but the indifference of many thousands more is a larger issue. Relegation will only deepen that sense of alienation..."

Fast forward four and a half years and we're back at that point, only worse. The bedsheets are out and the clocks haven't even gone back yet. This doesn't end well for anyone.


Biffa