'They look knackered': Alan Shearer delivers damning verdict on what he's seen from Newcastle this season

It doesn't matter whether you're on the doom and gloom or the happy clapper end of the Newcastle United fan spectrum, you have to admit that the team have looked way off their best so far this season.

We've been getting pelters for suggesting that a change of system is required, we'd hate to think what the #HoweOut brigade are getting.

We don't think it's at the point where a change of personnel is required, far from it, but something has to change because this no longer looks like an Eddie Howe side.

That determination that saw our lads chasing the ball around the park like an over-excited dog seems like a thing of the past.

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Alan Shearer has questioned what's happened to Newcastle's intensity

We wonder how much of it is down to James Bunce telling Eddie Howe to lower the intensity in training. We absolutely understand why he's said to do that. You only have to look at last year's injury problems to see why it's a good move, but in doing so, has our team now lost the thing that made us so dangerous?

Alan Shearer has spoken about it on The Rest Is Football podcast and has claimed that the lads look 'knackered'.

“Well, if you remember last season and the season before, what Newcastle did really, really well was they overpowered teams, they pressed teams, they went after teams. And we kept on saying about their energy and their fitness and all of that. Well, I haven’t really seen that yet this season.

“They looked knackered yesterday. They looked really tired. They looked heavy-legged, too many players below par."

Alan Shearer feels the lack of intensity is concerning

Shearer then went on to say how he feels it's a cause for concern and frankly, we don't disagree with him.

“And that would be a worrying thing for me this season is that we saw lots of it two seasons ago and lots of it last season. But in terms of this season up to now, the high intensity, the pressing and the aggression and everything that they were doing, I haven’t seen that yet. And that for me would be a concern.”

Hopefully, Eddie Howe and James Bunce can work out a happy medium to help the team get their stamina and edge back while still reducing the likelihood of injury, or, as we said yesterday, Howe needs to abandon his current style and switch to something new.