The Newcastle United player was poor against Fulham but it was the usual suspects who got the blame.
When Newcastle United lose, the usual suspects are blamed.
After the Magpies’ shock 3-1 defeat at home to Fulham on Saturday, the proverbial knives were sharpened for Mo Diame, Paul Dummett and Jack Colback, but there is another member of Rafa Benitez’s squad who deserves plenty of criticism of his own.
Jonjo Shelvey has been one of Newcastle’s most important players this season. However against the Cottagers he was well below his best, and when the 25-year-old is out of sorts, his side invariably struggle.
For the most part this season Shelvey has been a model of consistency for Newcastle, so on the rare occasions he does fall short of his own high expectations, it is easy to dismiss it as a blip and point the finger at one of his much-maligned teammates.
But on this occasion the Newcastle talisman will surely hold his hands up and admit that he was the under-performing star whose lack of impact played a sizeable role in their latest defeat.
He will turn things round sooner rather than later, but as disappointing as Colback and Diame have been this season, they do not always deserved to be singled out while others are ignored.
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