Newcastle United were delivered some brutal home truths in their defeat to Sunderland at St James' Park on Sunday
Brian Brobbey of Sunderland is challenged by Sven Botman of Newcastle United
Sunderland's Brian Brobbey is challenged by Sven Botman of Newcastle United(Image: Getty Images)
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As Brian Brobbey crashed home the winning goal in the Tyne-Wear derby on Sunday, even the most fervent Newcastle United fan would concede it was what his performance deserved.
The Sunderland forward put in a player of the match display at St James' Park, with his hold up play and ability to stretch the Newcastle defenders causing all three of Sven Botman, Dan Burn and Malick Thiaw all sorts of problems.
It always felt as if he would have a decisive say on the game and he did just that when he stabbed the ball past Aaron Ramsdale at the second attempt to put the seal on a 2-1 win for the Black Cats on Tyneside.
His performance even drew reluctant praise from Newcastle legend Alan Shearer who believes Brobbey's display at St James' Park should hold a mirror up to Newcastle's own recruitment in the forward position.
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"Brian Brobbey was the best player for Sunderland," Shearer told the Rest is Football podcast.
"£17million he cost and you compare that to Newcastle's recruitment in the summer and what they paid on forwards and there lies the problem.
"That's been a huge problem for Newcastle, the inconsistency."
Shearer was right. It was hard not to feel a tinge of envy looking across to the opposition and seeing a proper centre-forward decide the outcome of a game while Newcastle continue to have problems with their own forward line.
Brobbey was signed by Sunderland from Ajax on transfer deadline day as a replacement for Marc Guiu who was recalled from his loan spell by Chelsea.
The 24-year-old has six goals to his name in the Premier League this season and while that is less than the 10 goals Nick Woltemade has scored for Newcastle in all competitions, it is clear which forward is currently on the trajectory to becoming a successful Premier League forward.
Woltemade was signed for almost three times the price of Brobbey yet Eddie Howe doesn't trust him to play up front in his system. The club's £69million record signing, brought in to replace the goals of Alexander Isak, instead spent a fourth successive weekend playing in an unnatural midfield role.
Yoane Wissa, Newcastle's other summer signing up front, cost Newcastle £55million and missed his first three months at the club through injury. Four months on from his return in December and he still doesn't look remotely ready to impact Newcastle's season.
The 29-year-old scored 20 goals for Brentford last season. He has scored three for Newcastle this term and needs a big end to the season to salvage any kind of credit for what has been an almighty failure of a transfer so far.
A second defeat to Sunderland this season delivered several home truths but the mess they have made of their striker situation in the wake of Isak's summer move was perhaps the harshest of them all.