Two Newcastle players find their way into Garth Crooks' Team of the Week after Sheffield United win

Saturday's 5-1 win over now-relegated Sheffield United was frankly, a flattering scoreline for Newcastle United and didn't really reflect the duality of the performance on the pitch.

In the first-half Newcastle were terrible as they let Sheffield United come at them over and over again. If it weren't for Dan Burn and a couple of massive last-ditch blocks, the Magpies could have found themselves going in at half-time 3-0 down.

Fortunately, Newcastle have Alexander Isak who only needs a half chance to find the back of the net and thanks to a brilliant through-ball by Jacob Murphy, that chance came and Eddie Howe was able to address his team's poor performance in the dressing room without them having to chase a deficit.

The second half was vastly improved with the Magpies going on to score four goals in the second 45. Bruno Guimaraes put the Magpies into the lead with a beautiful diving header, Alexander Isak scored from the spot before Ben Osborn back-heeled into his own net to make it 4-1. Fresh off the bench, Callum Wilson rounded things off with a fierce half-volley into the top corner.

Crooks picked the right Newcastle players for his Team of the Week

Over the entirety of the game, only two players really coated themselves in glory and those were Dan Burn for his amazing first-half performance and Alexander Isak for being a standout throughout the entire game.

Everyone else was able to bring their rating up in the second half, but if we were to do half-time ratings, it would have been a grim read.

It's no shock then, that Burn and Isak are the two Newcastle players who Garth Crooks has chosen for his Team of the Week for the BBC. After his selections from the game against Tottenham when he failed to actually say why he chose them, instead focusing on how poor Spurs were, this time Crooks has actually justified his selections.

"Dan Burn (Newcastle): Two very important tackles from Dan Burn kept Newcastle in the game in the first half against a Sheffield United side that for 20 minutes had the bit between their teeth.
"Had the Blades taken their chances at St James' Park they might still have a chance to stay in the division.
"However, they lost their nerve as opportunities went begging and with it their faith in their ability to win this match. Once Newcastle took the lead the game was over.
"Next season will be a pivotal moment for Eddie Howe and the Magpies. Newcastle will not be in the Champions League but they have proved themselves worthy of playing against the very best.
"However, should England not win the Euros with one of the best squads in recent years then Howe must be one of the very few English managers who could take over from Gareth Southgate. Watch this space."

"Alexander Isak (Newcastle): Newcastle United fans expect something a little bit special from their centre-forwards.
"After all they have had the likes of Malcolm McDonald, Kevin Keegan, Alan Shearer and Andy Cole and all have graced St James' Park with goals - and plenty of them.
"Alexander Isak may not go down as one of Newcastle's greats but with 23 goals in all competitions to his name this season, he has certainly played his part in making sure the Magpies have recovered sufficiently from a very punishing season, and one where their exploits in the Champions League took its toll.
"The Sweden international scored two goals in the 5-1 romp over Sheffield United that finally relegated the Yorkshire club with three games left to play.
"One of those games is against Nottingham Forest, who are one point above Luton Town and fighting for their lives - and I will be expecting the Blades to do the decent thing and have a go."

Crooks was almost complimentary about our players

Okay, he tried. His Dan Burn praise falling off into the tired old "Eddie For England" stance and then saying that Alexander Isak may not go down as one of Newcastle's greats ... Mate, he's got 23 goals this season and he's missed a quarter of it through injury. How much more great do you want him to be?

I'm guessing the suggestion there is that Isak may not stick around long enough to become a legend, but at this rate, another season or two would see him placed in that list, he's that good.

We can't help but get the feeling that Garth Crooks doesn't like us very much and it almost pains him to have to pick our players.