Tottenham Hotspur go into tonight's clash with a third manager in the dugout within just one month.
Ryan Mason will undergo yet another spell as caretaker manager, as a further damning indication of Daniel Levy's failures to take the club into a brighter future. However, when asked about it, the 31-year-old remained confident in his ability to progress this team forward.
"I am ready. I don't doubt that," he told his press conference yesterday, with Manchester United on the Premier League horizon.
With such a big game in the offing, and such an embarrassing result in their last fixture, the former Spurs midfielder has a few interesting decisions to make regarding who retains a spot after such a performance.
Shipping six goals to a close rival instantly puts the whole back four in jeopardy, but perhaps the English boss will seek to take his frustrations out on one man who was particularly culpable against Newcastle United.
Therefore, Cristian Romero is expected to be the main casualty from the St James' Park fallout.
Will Cristian Romero start vs Manchester United?
Earning a 5.7 rating in their last match – the lowest of any outfield player on the entire pitch – the Argentine was clearly a standout dud in that massacre.
Winning just one of his five duels (20%), the centre-back was left wanting for many of the goals that Eddie Howe's men fired past them. He looked sluggish and lost, leading to Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville to brand him "shocking" on Twitter.
After being run ragged, at the heart of such embarrassment, the £165k-per-week liability deserves to be benched.
It would mark a huge statement of intent from Mason and perhaps might be exactly what this lacklustre squad of losers need to see. Romero would be the unfortunate scapegoat to be made an example of, although it is deserving given recent form, to potentially ignite the dressing room into action.
The former Atalanta stopper has been ever-present for Antonio Conte and later Cristian Stellini, yet this actually works against him given the lack of quality in defence this campaign. Spurs have shipped 51 goals in the league, of which only five other teams have conceded more.
To be associated with such mediocrity is made even more frustrating given the mouth-watering £42m spent to bring him to north London back in 2021.
Whether it was Mason or his Italian predecessor in the dugout for tonight's match, they should both have come to the same conclusion: if anyone deserves dropping on current form, it is Romero.