‘We let ourselves down’ – Newcastle United coach issues stark warning to players following cup defeat

Newcastle United Under-23s lead player development coach Elliott Dickman felt his side paid the price for a slow start in the Northumberland Senior Cup final against Blyth Spartans.
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The young Magpies trailed 3-0 at half-time after goals from Sado Djalo, Robbie Dale and Nathan Buddle put Spartans in a commanding position.

Second half strikes from Jay Turner-Cooke and Santiago Munoz made the scoreline look more respectable, but it wasn’t enough to stop Dickman’s side falling to a 3-2 defeat at St James’s Park.

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“We were a little bit better in the second half but we let ourselves down today,” Dickman said after the match. “First half we were miles away from the standard that is expected for this football club and the players are fully aware of that, we’ve spoke to them about them about that and exactly what that entails.

St James's Park, Newcastle (Photo by LINDSEY PARNABY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)St James's Park, Newcastle (Photo by LINDSEY PARNABY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
St James's Park, Newcastle (Photo by LINDSEY PARNABY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

“It’s a cup final and we are really disappointed with our performance.”

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The defeat to National League North opposition also provided something of a reality check to the Newcastle youngsters, many of whom are facing uncertain futures at the club.

“The standards are high here and the group we’ve had here, they’ve got to be careful that they don’t get left behind because things change quickly in football,” Dickman added.

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“The players have got to start taking more responsibility for their own performance and way of doing things and we’ll definitely be on to them moving forward.

"We’re disappointed with how the season has ended and the players have got to take responsibility and ourselves as a staff will certainly be driving those standards and continue to drive those standards.

“We had a spell in the game that was good and there were things that were acceptable.

“I know [Blyth manager] Terry Mitchell quite well and I know how he wants his teams to play and I know he generally likes to play the formation that he played tonight.

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"There were no major surprises but the biggest surprise was how poor we were, that is the big thing that we are disappointed with.

"We’ve got to address it, we’ve got to work harder and do a lot more collectively. Going into pre-season, that will be the main message we will be saying to this group of players.”

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