Newcastle United: Fans slam Matt Ritchie’s display vs Southampton

Loads of Newcastle fans have been reacting to their win over Southampton, and the Toon Army are not happy with the performance of Matt Ritchie.

Ritchie was handed a new contract this week, leading plenty of supporters to criticise the decision and even call him a ‘Championship player’. Needless to say, his display against the Saints on Saturday has only added fuel to that fire, missing a penalty and completing just eight passes in the entire match at a success rate of 57%, via Sofascore.

It was a huge result for Steve Bruce’s side as Allan Saint-Maximin’s goal lifted the Magpies above Southampton and also eight points clear of the bottom three, but considering the hosts at St. Mary’s had ten men for most of the match, it’s no surprise to see fans aren’t all that pleased with the display.

You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below, where one fan said Ritchie should never start again, while another called the Scotland international ‘utter garbage’…

Thanks, never start him again.

— lucas (@30kglucas) March 7, 2020

Ritchie most overrated Newcastle player, don’t see what people see in him. Offers like one decent cross in 1/5 games. Always looks to go backwards, hasn’t got the pace to beat a man.

— Michael Pattison (@Pattison_17) March 7, 2020