Newcastle's Guimarães Compounds Postecoglou's Deepening Crisis at Forest

Forest's manager strode for the tunnel scratching his head, his eyes downcast. After seven matches in charge with zero wins, his immediate future looked as unclear as thick mist over the river.

While Newcastle were far from their dominant form, second-half goals from Bruno Guimarães and the German striker—Woltemade's a spot-kick—eventually secured them a restorative another Premier League victory of the season.

From the start, Postecoglou's padded anorak swaddled him similar to a duvet, but the Australian's restless body language suggested it offered little comfort.

No jacket could shield him from the anxiety that his winless start by the Trent—taking over as the first coach in 100 years without a win in his opening six fixtures—would extend ahead of a possible dismissal during the upcoming pause.

And yet, his team performed reasonably well during a tight at the back opening period.

Although Elliot Anderson on occasion outshone even the Italian star in midfield, showing everyone why Eddie Howe was so reluctant to let go of the academy product, the defender contained the striker out of the game, and Nicolò Savona caused Dan Burn difficulties down the home left.

Credit to the forward, who got little supply to his feet or head, his team's attacking play was not quite clicking.

True, it took a fine fingertip save from Matt Sels—ex- Magpies shot-stopper—to keep out the Brazilian's effort, and the midfielder failed to convert a couple other chances, but overall, the visitors' defense was significantly better.

Given it is only a few weeks since Postecoglou replaced Nuno Espírito Santo and games have come thick and fast, leaving minimal time to put into practice his theories on the practice field, all the talk of an looming sack seemed somewhat ridiculous.

That was until the midfielder lifted a right-foot shot over the keeper and into the top corner from just outside the area.

That saw the manager shaking his head in clear despair, wearing the pained look of a man who had misplaced his house keys.

The Forest squad complained about a possible infraction on their playmaker by Guimarães in the lead-up, but their protests were ignored by the referee.

With the Italian now dominant in the middle, Anderson was not the only away player being put in his place.

At this point, Postecoglou had removed his anorak and rolled up the arms of his sweater. With his team seldom appearing capable of finding the net and Newcastle threatening to break down their earlier much-enhanced defensive organisation, he was obviously feeling the heat.

There was a further excellent save from the goalkeeper to deny the midfielder's volleyed attempt, before the following corner led to Woltemade's shot hitting the bottom of the crossbar.

The keeper then made an excellent double save from Malick Thiaw and Harvey Barnes before finally being beaten by a penalty by the German.

That spot-kick was given when the midfielder's poorly timed challenge sent Guimarães tumbling to the ground.

Stepping up, the German striker to beat Sels by chipping a rather bold penalty into the upper left side.

It was Woltemade's 4th goal for the club since his seventy-million-pound transfer from Stuttgart in the summer, contradicting claims from officials at Bayern Munich that the Magpies were “idiots” to spend so much for the striker.

This may not have been Woltemade's finest game in black and white, but his ability to retain possession and use his sticky control to link play is already well on the way to a fan favorite on Tyneside.

George Smith
George Smith

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