Joe Nicholson and Phil Smith react after Sunderland's 3-0 defeat against Newcastle in the FA Cup
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00:00 So here at the Stadium of Light where Sunderland have been beaten 3-0 by Newcastle in the FA Cup third round.
00:06 The opening goal coming in the first half, Dan Ballard putting in his own net and then two goals from Alexander Isak in the second half.
00:12 The second one coming from the penalty spot and Phil in the end was it just a case of a Premier League side against a Championship side and the clash is over really?
00:19 To an extent. I think obviously for Sunderland to win Newcastle United would have to have been well short of their best and they weren't.
00:26 They were very good. Eddie Howe spoke afterwards in the press conference about how he felt that the midweek without a game benefited them.
00:33 Their energy levels were back to their best and you could see that pressing game was exceptional in their intensity and their physicality.
00:38 But I think there's a lot more Sunderland could have done. I thought their approach was way too passive.
00:43 You actually saw in the second half when they played a bit more direct and got forward and showed some intensity.
00:49 They actually caused Newcastle a few problems and got pretty hard into good areas.
00:52 I just felt there was an intensity lacking. I thought it was a passive display.
00:57 I thought it was way too easy for Newcastle to get down the flanks and Sunderland never really tried to change that at any point during the game.
01:03 So yeah, I think ultimately you're right, Newcastle's class-tooled.
01:07 But I thought there was a lot more they could have done in the game and I think they'll have a lot of regrets coming away about the level of their performance.
01:15 It was a shame for Dan Ballard because I thought him and O'Neill, particularly in that first half, were very excellent until the goal and were kind of marshalling.
01:21 Isaac, but as soon as the goal went in it felt like it was inevitable.
01:25 Yeah, I thought Ballard, I agree with you, was excellent. And to be fair, I don't know criticism for the own goal because Isaac's tapping it in the back of the net.
01:32 I thought in the second half, maybe the disappointment and the frustration when the defeat got to him and the penalty, it's a foul he doesn't have to make.
01:39 It's just pure frustration, isn't it? And I'm sure that's something for him to go away and reflect on.
01:43 But I agree with you. 09 I thought had a good game. I thought Dan Neill had a decent game.
01:47 And I thought Adil Elissaie was pretty good at left-back. Beyond that, I think a lot of players felt well short of their best level, albeit against a very strong opponent.
01:56 And you asked Bale about it afterwards, about his substitutions. He waited all the way until the 85th minute before bringing Abdoula Barre on.
02:02 And it just felt like someone let the game slip away from them in that second half.
02:06 Yeah, I thought they let it drift. I thought they let it drift. And I can understand Spurs' point, which is when you look behind him, you've only got more in experience on your bench.
02:12 That's obviously a difficult opponent and a difficult occasion to go into. So I kind of understand that.
02:17 But if that's the case, then it also tells you that depth in the squad isn't right.
02:20 So I think that absolutely shows that ultimately the team is a long way off where it needs to be to get to the level it wants to compete at in the long run.
02:30 We'll have more reaction to today's game over on the SFC section of the ECHO website and then we'll have build-ups on the next in action, their away Ipswich on Saturday.