Newcastle United suffered a humiliating FA Cup loss to Oxford United on Saturday with Aleksandar Mitrovic underperforming yet again.
Trevor Sinclair has criticised Newcastle United’s fringe players in the wake of their humiliating FA Cup fourth round defeat against Oxford United, The Chronicle reports, and few fans would disagree with his verdict.
A much changed Newcastle side were hammered 3-0 at the Kassam Stadium with striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, who fluffed his lines from the penalty spot with his side just one goal down, suffering the brunt of the criticism.
Rafa Benitez also gave an opportunity to unproven youngsters Curtis Good, Dan Barlaser and Yasin Ben El-Mhanni, although they endured something of a baptism of fire in one of the most remarkable FA Cup results of recent seasons.
And Sinclair did not hold back in his criticism of the Championship side’s second string.
“For me that result tells Rafa that his players on the fringes are probably not quite as good as he thinks they are,” Sinclair said in quotes reported by The Chronicle.
“They competed, but they weren’t good enough to beat Oxford.”
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However, while the performance proved beyond doubt that the academy graduates need time to grow, doubts continue to increase surrounding Serbian striker Mitrovic.
His rip-roaring passion and commitment to the cause means he rapidly became a bona fide fan favourite, aided by his refusal to exit the action despite suffering a head injury in a local derby with Sunderland last season and his public desire to remain on Tyneside until retirement age.
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However, many fans are becoming increasingly frustrated with his minimal impact on the pitch, especially as he has only mustered three goals in 14 Championship appearances.
Therefore, he could not afford to waste his opportunity against the League One hosts.
The fact that he did exactly that does not bode well for his Newcastle career.
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