Alan Shearer has urged Newcastle United fans to 'be patient' with Matthias Jaissle's side after a difficult run of results since the last international break. The Magpies signed off for this international break with a 1-1 draw with Fulham, as Jacob Murphy's screamer was cancelled out by Rodrigo Muniz's equaliser.
It meant Newcastle only picked up four points from that block of five fixtures and they will now break for two weeks in 12th place with 12 points from 10 games - four points adrift of the top six and four points ahead of the bottom three.
Improvement at Craven Cottage
After a lot of criticism of Jaissle's setup and his team's performances across defeats to Coventry, Aston Villa and Everton, the draw at Craven Cottage has quietened a bit of the noise that had been building around his future. And while Shearer pointed out Newcastle's improvement in West London, he warned that this inconsistent, mid-table Newcastle is likely to stay this season.
"I have got to choose my words because it was an improvement from Newcastle," Shearer told the Rest is Football podcast. "He changed a couple of things around and brought in the young boy Steur who I was wanting him to bring in."
Shearer's Assessment
"I think Jacob Murphy was dropping back at right-wing-back to make it a 5-4-1 at times to try and make Newcastle tougher to break through and they were. Hornicek, I thought, played really well when they did get through."
"And then that brilliant goal from Murphy I thought 'here we go, that is just what Newcastle need' but then a minute later they got done. It was probably a fair result in the end."
"But small improvements for Newcastle and I think I said this on the first day of the season that we are going to have to be patient because that is what we are. As tough as it is, I think we will finish anywhere from 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th."
