Brighton 2-1 Newcastle

&c

Newcastle turned the dial from middling firmly back to concerning with defeat at bogey team Brighton on Saturday, despite another impudent Woltemade goal.

Fresh from travelling to East Asia (Big Joe and Bruno) and generally being run into the ground (Tonali) over yet another international break (when is this season going to get into full flow?), a very leggy midfield performance contributed to us conceding our first goals on the road in the league this season.

And naturally it was Danny Welbeck who came out of goalscoring retirement to net against Nick Pope towards the end of a very poor first half, during which Pope once again kept us firmly in the game.

A better second half performance looked on the verge of reaping rewards after a wonderful backheel flick, less instinctive and more deliberate than the one he scored against Union Saint-Gilloise, following a ball played square across the box from substitute Miley.

Miley was introduced at half time for Joelinton, and thankfully Ramsey was able to make an appearance for the last 20 minutes, which is welcome as Joelinton is looking like a candidate for a bit of a break.

So after eight games, the table is starting to take shape, and it's not making great reading.

Never mind seeing our friends down the road sitting in seventh (oh to have had their fixtures) - it's embarrassing seeing us below Man U.

Something isn't clicking, and it damn sure isn't our new and improved centre forward.

Saturday was the first of five games in 15 days, and while the schedule may be scary, none of the fixtures in isolation are.

Time to start picking up results before the table starts to get too stretched.