Thought it was a fair result. I will say that this was the most professional the side has looked in years. McClaren and staff didn't celebrate after Toon goals per se, and didn't panic after Soton goals.
Yeah I'll take that. Got to be relatively happy with a point. LB looks a concern for me though, not convinced by Haidara and I think Dummet is better as a back up CB. We obviously have a plan to pass the ball around, with Sissoko getting at the opposition. It's nice to see after years of Pardew.
My post game thoughts: S'ton owned their right/Newcastle left side of the field. Both Haidara and Obertan looked overwhelmed. Playing Obertan on the left completely killed the attack. His inability and reluctance to use his left was both obvious and a hinderance. His one good play came when he made one run down the right on a counter. S'ton almost completely ignored attacking down their left. I don't know if it was because of their dominance on their right or because they didn't think the could succeed against the combo of Janmaat/Sissoko? Although both of S'ton's goals came with Janmaat marking or should be marking the target of a cross. On that note, the entire defense appears like it has still yet to grasp the concept of marking an opponent inside the 18. Team needs to go back to the drawing board on set pieces. This team needs a FK specialist in the worst way. Newcastle's ability in the final third was lacking to put it mildly. I was impressed with their possession and control of the flow of the game but the fact that they couldn't finish left me troubled. Was a little confused by subbing out Wijnaldum for SDJ. I would have thought bringing him in instead of Tiote and letting Colbeck sit further back so GW & SDJ could partner in the engine room would have been optimal to me; or taking off Colbeck instead of GW since Tiote was already subbed in to do the same.
Looked to me a new system engineered to produce the same results as before. Instead of waiting 60 minutes to give up a goal then race back for a tie, now we showed we have an attack but are less likely to defend and counter the whole time. Need a definite upgrade at centerback if we want to win these games instead of draw. In fact we'll need subs across the board for a leaky and injury-prone back four. The depth left off the 18 for today clearly shows we have an versatile (if unproven) attack. Thx, Jay!