1. Remy Cabella looks to be the biggest beneficiary of John Carver’s new tenure
Every time a club appoints a new manager there will be a couple of players who improve because of that and Cabella is certainly one of those for Newcastle under Carver. The new boss highly rates the midfielder’s talent and potential.
Carver is trying to ensure that his tactics get the best out of his flair player and that seems to be working well as Cabella starred at Stamford Bridge and was clearly the man-of-the-match here.
He still needs to rediscover the goalscoring form which saw him net 14 goals in Ligue 1 for Montpellier but there are good signs of progress from the way he started this season.
2. Ahmed Elmohamady’s hand of God signalled desperation in the Tigers’ camp
Hull City remain stuck in the relegation zone and they have lost four on the spin, mainly because they are without a goal in six hours. That trend continued in this contest -despite a strong start for the Tigers – because they rarely tested Tim Krul.
Elmohamady’s blatant handball when his side were 0-1 down and his antics afterwards aimed at convincing the officials that he had scored a legitimate goal clearly indicated the desperate desire for goals in their camp.
3. Carver almost has every ingredient he needs for his push for a permanent role
Carver has always been clear that he wants the permanent role of Newcastle manager and his current permanent but short-term deal gives him the chance to prove his worth.
Prior to this game things were not going to plan after four winless games and he had to publicly reassure fans that he would not allow the Magpies’ season to peter-out. Privately, he obviously needed this win as it gave him the platform to build some momentum.
Now he has a convincing win and Papiss Cisse – who is among the best strikers in the league in terms of goals-per-minute ratio – is back from the Africa Cup of Nations and had some minutes. All Carver needs to bolster his chances is for some players to return from their injuries and for Cheick Tiote to come back from international duty, too.
4. Nikica Jelavic and Abel Hernandez should play a key role in hauling the Tigers out of trouble
Steve Bruce’s gamble of starting these strikers while they were both returning from injuries backfired because their hold up play was poor, Jelavic committed a couple of needless fouls and Hernandez barely affected the game.
Bruce cannot be faulted though for starting these strikers as they offered the best chance of Hull breaking their goal drought. Jelavic is the club’s top goalscorer despite missing a couple of games, while Hernandez is their record summer purchase.
Given that Hull have dominated the first-halves of their recent games only to capitulate and lose after half-time because they fail to score while on top, Jelavic and Hernandez offer them the best chance of ending that bad run so they should start again in their next league game.
5. At least Hull City fans had plenty to laugh at
Bruce’s side were booed off by their own fans at the end of the game and rightly so because the home fans had to endure another disappointing performance and mistakes in dangerous areas. At least those who made it to the game had enough comical moments to distract them from their teams’ struggles.
It all started with Cabella attempting a double step-over only to trip on the ball and watch as it rolled to team-mate Sammy Ameobi – it was his first completed pass of the afternoon. Fabricio Coloccini’s blushes were spared when his horribly sliced clearance was headed from the line by Vurnon Anita.
Then it was Hull City’s turn as Jelavic, unmarked in front of an open goal, failed to adjust his feet in time to turn home Ramirez’s cross.
