'It's ******* embarrassing': Read one Newcastle United player's blunt verdict

Sean Longstaff has labelled Newcastle United's 5-0 defeat to Leicester City as “embarrassing”.
Sean Longstaff.Sean Longstaff.
Sean Longstaff.

Steve Bruce’s disorganised and ill-disciplined side was convincingly beaten at the King Power Stadium on Sunday.

And the defeat has left the club 19th in the Premier League ahead of Sunday’s home game against Manchester United.

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Longstaff, one of the few players to stop in the post-game mixed zone, was blunt in his assessment of the result.

“It’s embarrassing,” said the midfielder, who had made his comeback from injury in the game. “It’s ******* embarrassing. Sorry for swearing, but it is. There’s nothing really much else to say other than it’s embarrassing.”

The performance had relegation written all over it, and Bruce, United’s head coach, labelled it a “complete surrender”. Yet Newcastle’s 2,650-strong travelling support didn’t stop singing, something the players acknowledged after the final whistle.

“The away fans travelled again,” said Longstaff. “We should never put them in the position where they’re in a stadium cheering just for the sake of it.

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“It’s a Sunday night, late game, miles away from home. They were singing at the end. We can’t thank them enough for what they bring.”

Longstaff felt that the dismissal of Isaac Hayden, his midfield partner, late in the first half with Leicester leading 1-0 was the turning point in the game.

“Obviously, it’s a tough one,” said the 21-year-old, who had returned from an ankle injury. “The first half, we go a goal behind, but we’re still getting into some all right positions.

“The sending off kills the game, but still, the second half is embarrassing. We’ve got to be much, much better than that. It’s a massive wake-up call, if there hadn’t been already.

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“We’ve got to forget it as quick as we can and move on from it. Hopefully, there’s no more days like that to come.

“As a team, that’s not good enough. You can talk about tactics, the way we were set up or how we didn’t set up. As I said, we’ve got to be much, much better and put it behind us and move on from it as quick as we can.”