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With six defeats in their past seven Premier League games, Newcastle United sit perilously close to the Premier League relegation zone. Injury problems haven’t aided Alan Pardew’s cause, but can the Toon Army really blame their slump on bad luck alone? The Life’s a Pitch experts attempt to get to the bottom of their problems…

Ian Ridley of the Mail on Sunday reckons the club’s failure to reinvest in new players in the close season damaged their prospects. “The biggest problem was not strengthening in the summer,” he says. “I think they will do business in January, and I think they will go back in for Loïc Rémy from Marseille and the Lille full-back Mathieu Debuchy. Their problem is that they are seen by a lot of overseas players as a transition club. You come there, get a toehold in the Premier League, play in the shop window and you might get a move to a top-four club.”

“They’ve had a bad run,” says The Mirror’s Martin Lipton. “You sometimes need one lucky result or one fluke incident in a game to change the confidence. The incredible thing with Demba Ba and Papiss Cissé is that they’ve never both scored in a match they’ve both started. For two strikers who have scored so many between them that’s hard to imagine.”

Dave Kidd of the People is so concerned that Newcastle’s Senegalese front pairing will never gel that he feels it could be in the club’s best interests to cash in on their top scorer quickly. “Ba and Cissé have never quite knitted together. I think it would be better for Newcastle if Ba was moved on, as long as he was replaced by someone like Remy,” he says.

Looking ahead to Newcastle’s crucial clash against QPR on Saturday, he adds: “Newcastle have the talent, but they have to show they can cope with the pressure of what’s becoming a must-win fixture this weekend.”

Watch the full video discussion by clicking on the play button in the image above. 

Related articles:

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Laure James: English clubs eagerly eyeing the France market this winter 

Video: Pardew’s fortunes depend on Ashley’s generosity in January

Michael Cox: Pardew may never solve Newcastle’s Ba and Cissé puzzle

Fanzone: Time for a cheikh up: What’s wrong with Newcastle’s Tiote?

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Watch Newcastle live on BT Vision:
Arsenal v Newcastle, 4.30pm, 29 December, ESPN
Newcastle v Everton, 7.30pm, 2 January, Sky Sports 1

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