Neville Slates Newcastle for their Foreign Core of Players

Many of you might have seen Gary Neville on Sky Sports talking about why he thinks Newcastle have found themselves in simply dreadful form this season.

The ex-England right back thinks that Newcastle’s mainly foreign starting XI is affecting the team spirit, and their ability to work as a team. There have also been reports of several nationality-cliques forming in the dressing room, which has resulted in ex-skipper Kevin Nolan giving his view on the matter.

"I've been in relegation battles for a lot of my career and that's always the massive worry because people start going: 'it's his fault, not mine. I've done alright.'

"You don't want that. You want to be able to look the other lads in the eye and be able to say that no matter what happens today, this is us, this is what we're about and we're going to give it a good go.

"But it's about them now sticking together. They have got to make sure that when the little cliques come then they have to stick together as a team, as a whole, as a group."

Gary Neville described Newcastle’s notorious French signings as an “easy, quick fix” that in the long term will provide nothing of real benefit to Newcastle United. There are only four English players in the team who have made more than ten appearances this season.

However, Neville did mention that clubs do need to pay a premium for British players these days, and money could definitely be a factor for Newcastle, as club owner Mike Ashley is known for his unwillingness to hand the club sufficient funds.

So what is the solution? Do Newcastle continue to invest in the idea of cheap talented French players, or do they break out their wallets for the star British players currently out there? With the transfer window coming up, all will be revealed as to how Alan Pardew will operate, if he is still with the club at that point, of course.

The link to the video is here if you want to watch it http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-zJhXCkALlA#!

Leander Winden (@LeanderWinden)