Newcastle United under Steve Bruce are like a boxer with a decent chin but no punch.
Throw what you want at them and they will resist for long enough to stay in the contest.
But when it comes to landing a blow of their own, they’ll take aim for your face and hit your cornerman. At least, that is, when they’re close enough to start swinging.
They have scored one goal in eight-and-a-half hours now and are without a win in seven matches.
Yet still Bruce emerged at the Emirates Stadium to talk of ‘progress’.