Newcastle ‘clutching at straws’ after ‘baffling’ development – pundit
Alan Hutton has insisted Newcastle should be focusing on improving defensively rather than contentious refereeing decisions.
The former Scotland defender, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, claimed the Magpies are “clutching at straws” with their complaints about officiating in the top flight.
As per BBC Sport (20 December), Newcastle have written to the Premier League to request an explanation after a number of recent refereeing decisions have gone against Eddie Howe’s side.
Howe told the BBC on Sunday (19 December) that the decision not to award his side a penalty after Man City goalkeeper Ederson brought down Ryan Fraser was “baffling”.
Newcastle have lost each of their last three Premier League games after recording their first win of the season against Burnley earlier this month.
Asked if the Magpies’ complaint is likely to be worthwhile, Hutton told Football Insider‘s Ewan Kingsbury: “No, I wouldn’t have thought so.
“I do understand. They’re down at the bottom and can’t keep clean sheets or seem to get a break. But these things tend to even themselves up over the course of a season.
“I just don’t really think it’s the right thing to be doing at this point in the campaign. It just looks like they are clutching at straws.
“The facts are that they aren’t good enough defensively – they just can’t keep the ball out of the net, it’s been awful.
“They need to work on that going forward instead of worrying about refereeing performances.”
Relegation-threatened Newcastle sit 19th in the Premier League after 18 games.
The Magpies are currently three points from safety.
In other news, a pundit has claimed ‘there’s no justification’ for what he saw at Newcastle as controversial footage emerges.