Never change a winning team? | OneFootball

I have never been an advocate of the ‘Never change a winning team’ mantra.

I wanted Eddie Howe to mix things up a little bit before the kick-off against West Ham.

So when I saw the line-up, I didn’t agree with the only change being Lloyd Kelly for the suspended Dan Burn.

Although hindsight has always been a wonderful thing, on their way back from St James’ Park, Wor Neale and Graeme also both agreed that changes should have been made.

None of us want Eddie to go anywhere but the term “Loyalty only gets you one thing, the sack” was mentioned.

You have got to keep the opposition thinking and on their toes and Julen Lopetegui and his Hammers staff will have watched and scrutinised our fine recent wins against Arsenal and Forest.

In my after match reaction, I stated that Bruno Guimaraes is probably playing out the end game of his career on Tyneside. Due to PSR constraints I believe he will be a sacrificial lamb come next summer.

Bruno also isn’t having the impact he used to, is taking too many touches and is frequently getting caught whilst in possession.

Let’s hope he can get back to near his best so that we can enjoy what we have left of him in the Black and White stripes.

The result against West Ham has brought it home to me, that we may well not be good enough this season for European qualification through our league position.

I’m not anticipating much happening in the upcoming January window. Our main business is going to be done in the summer, in what I believe will be a new phase in the development of the project that was started in October 2021.

After my initial disappointment as the Hammers deservedly took the spoils, my thoughts turned to our upcoming games, starting with a tricky fixture against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

We have also got the home Carabao Cup quarter-final against Brentford in December to look forward to.

For an old tippler like myself, this latest setback at St James’ Park was pretty sobering to say the least.

However, my glass is always half full and I still believe that by Christmas time, all things could still be merry at Gallowgate and we can look forward to a happy new year on Tyneside.