Yahoo News 'Should have been nine', The brutal Press coverage of Newcastle United's heavy defeat in Melbourne
Newcastle United were running on empty at the Marvel Stadium with an inexperienced second string no match for the Australian A-League All Stars.
The defeat was not a surprise after United's whirlwind visit down under and limited time on the training field for Eddie Howe on the players after a long hard domestic campaign. Local radio stations and the morning papers did not skim over the 8-0 drubbing with big AFL fixtures taking place and the A-League's Grand Final between Melbourne Victory and Central Coast Mariners taking place in New South Wales.
READ MORE: Newcastle United 0-8 A-League All Stars: Young Magpies suffer a stuffing Down Under
But while All Stars coach Patrick Kisnorbo and team showed no mercy on the field against Newcastle, the same can be said in the media. The Herald Sun described it as "men against boys" and a headline of: "It should have been nine".
That was in reference to Nicolas Milanovic's shot that was tipped on to both posts by skipper for the night Mark Gillespie. Without the ex-Carlisle stopper it may have been even more.
The Herald Sun reported: "In many respects it was a case of boys against men as the hosts’ high-intensity press put the young Newcastle team under huge pressure, forcing multiple skill errors, and the more seasoned and experienced All-Stars made sure they capitalised.
"The hosts dominated the first half and blitzed Newcastle for shots on goal (12-2) and shots on target (6-1), before ultimately winning both stats convincingly 23-5 and 13-1 respectively."
Fox Sports Australia were also majorly critical of the Magpies, saying: "Things fell apart dramatically for the visitors in the second half."
"The A-League Men’s All-Stars have sent Newcastle United back home with their tails between their legs after embarrassing the English Premier League club 8-0 at Marvel Stadium on Friday night."
News.com in Australia highlighted a tweet from San Marino's national team that read: "We want to play against you. We have similar levels." They also added: "With tickets costing between $59 and up to $700, fans were rightfully fuming when turning up to see an EPL side in action.
"And the world were lining up to take their shots."
Context is badly required for Newcastle though and Howe stated afterwards that many of his senior players were not in a fit state to feature give their draining affair against Tottenham Hotspur at the MCG on Wednesday night. Howe could have easily skipped the Press conference or even sent out one of his assistants but took the result firmly on the chin and said: "It's about next season for us."
The Magpies' trip to Australia was still deemed a success by fans based in Oz. Plenty of work has gone into setting up two massive fan zones across multiple city bars.
Two networking events with Newcastle supporters also took place with the 4,000 strong Aussie Mags able to liaise face to face with fan officers and even CCO Peter Silverstone himself.
