Gabby Agbonlahor ‘very worried’ Newcastle will need to pull off ‘Great Escape’ and warns January transfers could be difficult – despite new Saudi backers

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Gabby Agbonlahor insists he is ‘very worried’ Newcastle will get embroiled in a relegation battle and struggle to find new recruits in January.

The Magpies were beaten 3-0 by Chelsea at St James’ Park as the runaway Premier League leaders strenghthened their position at the top.

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It was a difficult afternoon for the Magpies and Agbonlahor fears they will have more this season

Defeat for manager-less Newcastle saw them equal their longest winless run at the beginning of a top-flight season of 10 games, which was set in 1898 and happened again in 2018.

It was not the way interim-boss Graeme Jones wanted to hand over the reins, with Newcastle expected to appoint a permanent replacement for Steve Bruce before next week’s trip to Brighton.

Jones’ side made life difficult for Thomas Tuchel’s European champions, but they ran out of gas as Chelsea extended their unbeaten league run on the road this season to five matches.

Despite the arrival of new owners from Saudi Arabia, it has not sparked a positive upturn in fortunes on the pitch.

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Chelsea romped to victory with relative ease

And Agbonlahor fears new arrivals are necessary, but may not be easy to come by.

“If I was a Newcastle fan, I would be very worried this season about them going down,” he said on talkSPORT. “I feel that Steve Bruce has left now, Jones has come in. Has anything changed? Not really.

“I still feel Palace battered them in the game, they still battered them. It’s just some of the players are not good enough.

“If I’m Newcastle now, as the owners, I’m thinking, ‘I need players signing on the first of January.’

Graeme Jones is unlikely to remain in temporary charge for much longer

“They haven’t got a game to spare. They’re going to need players in that changing room and it will sort of be like ‘The Great Escape’.

“You look at them now; they’re on four points, Burnley got the win when they needed one, Leeds beat Norwich and there is going to start being a gap.

“Crystal Palace have found wins, Brentford can get wins, Wolves can. You start looking at the table now, I’m looking and I can see Newcastle going down, I really can.

“I’m not saying that to wind up Newcastle fans, but I’m very worried for them. Even January, who are they going to get in?

“If they are ten points adrift in January, who is going to want to come?”

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October 31, 2021 at 10:44PM Premier League Football Fixtures and Results - talkSPORT https://ift.tt/3u9h8Xr