As happened last season the players were dead on their feet. We don't have a big enough squad - particularly up front to make changes. I don't believe for a second the players didn't care today. Their reaction to the goal spoke volumes.
However, there is another important aspect to this. The target that really mattered was promotion. We all celebrated after Wigan like there was no tomorrow. For the Norwich game I don't believe the players heads were in the right place. For Bristol City the celebrations before the game must have affected the players. They were show-boating at times in the first half and were never at their best. Today they looked far more hungry and were winning the 50:50 balls. However, they were playing away in an imposing stadium against a good team. It was never going to be easy. At the end they played too deep and should have gone for the second goal. To be fair though, as I said above, several players looked really tired
The real truth is that the truly big club Newcastle didn't celebrate promotion at all. Their aim was the title- and fair play to them.
However, there is another important aspect to this. The target that really mattered was promotion. We all celebrated after Wigan like there was no tomorrow. For the Norwich game I don't believe the players heads were in the right place. For Bristol City the celebrations before the game must have affected the players. They were show-boating at times in the first half and were never at their best. Today they looked far more hungry and were winning the 50:50 balls. However, they were playing away in an imposing stadium against a good team. It was never going to be easy. At the end they played too deep and should have gone for the second goal. To be fair though, as I said above, several players looked really tired
The real truth is that the truly big club Newcastle didn't celebrate promotion at all. Their aim was the title- and fair play to them.
