Alarm bells are ringing after Newcastle United’s 1-0 defeat to Everton. Matthias Jaissle is coming under criticism, but so should the club’s hierarchy.

The Magpies have now lost five of their last seven matches in all competitions. Jaissle’s side managed to grind out results earlier in the season, but the underlying data was concerning. Now the chickens are coming home to roost.

Here are five key takeaways from a second defeat in four days against the Toffees.

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Vertical Football? Just Call It Hoof Ball

Newcastle were toothless in attack for the most part, but the opening 35 minutes featured some of the most clueless football I've witnessed since... well, earlier this season.

Jaissle calls it "vertical football", but from what I've seen so far, that's just a posher term for hoof ball. The number of aimless long balls forward understandably left the St James' Park crowd losing their marbles.

Jaissle insisted after the game that this wasn't the intention and suggested his players hadn't followed the game plan. That's a pretty concerning admission, right?

I sympathised with Jaissle after last Thursday's defeat on Merseyside and believed it was down to individual errors rather than a systemic problem. I can't make that argument this time, even if it was Lukas Hornicek's mistake that led to Thierno Barry's winner.

The problems stretched far beyond that one error. Everton became the latest team to bypass Newcastle's midfield with ease and should have taken the lead long before they did. United, meanwhile, had to wait until the 85th minute to register their first shot on target.

Something needs to change because it's just not working. Some have already lost faith - the boos at half-time and full-time tell you that.

The jury is out on Newcastle United’s summer transfer business

You can criticise the manager – I just did – but he hasn't been helped by the recruitment, not just this year but last year, too. The drop-off in quality has been monumental.

Newcastle have lost top-class footballers over the past year or so. Alexander Isak started the domino effect, with Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes following. But as painful and damaging as those exits were, the £370million generated handed the club an opportunity to properly build what CEO David Hopkinson has coined 'Newcastle 2.0'.

The Magpies have spent close to £500million in the last two summers, only to get considerably worse. OK, so neither Hopkinson nor sporting director Ross Wilson was here last summer, but it all feeds into the current gloomy picture.

Not one of the players signed last summer, with the possible exception of Malick Thiaw, has been an outright success. Anthony Elanga has shown glimpses, but hasn't come close to justifying his £55million price tag.

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Yoane Wissa was bought for the same amount and is on course to go down as one of the worst signings in the club's history. Jacob Ramsey, after his late sending-off on Monday night, now has the same number of red cards as he does goals in black and white.

These players weren't the answer last season, so why should things suddenly be any different now?

As for the summer when Hopkinson and Wilson were in charge, the jury is well and truly out.

The quality Newcastle once had has been replaced by youth, but it hasn't taken long for Jaissle to turn back to the old guard of Fabian Schar, Dan Burn, Joelinton, Joe Willock and Jacob Murphy.

In a football world increasingly dictated by financial rules, I understand Newcastle's shift in recruitment policy, but the execution is questionable. The club hasn't just signed young players; it has also spent big, with £73million going on Aladji Bamba and Bazoumana Toure alone, yet the pair can barely make it off the bench.

A pre-takeover feel to Newcastle United

This current version of Newcastle feels pre-takeover, and we all know what path the club was walking then. On current form, they're heading in the same direction. Expectation has been replaced with hope, and even that is fading. So too is the belief.

Five years into PIF's ownership and it feels like the club is back to square one. Commercially, Newcastle have grown astronomically and a new training ground is on the way, but all of that counts for little when things are going so badly on the pitch, sadly.

Tougher fixtures to come

Newcastle have had a favourable run up until this point, which is why 11 points from the opening nine games probably doesn't look bad to an outsider. But after Fulham on Saturday, the fixtures only get tougher.

Liverpool are the only team the Magpies have faced from the current top six, but after the international break, Arsenal visit St James' Park before a trip to Brighton & Hove Albion follows.

Then come back-to-back home games against Manchester United and Tyne-Wear rivals Sunderland.

Jaissle’s side are just four points above the relegation zone, and that gap could disappear quickly if the current slide continues.

Sean Steur has to start v Fulham

That's all the negative stuff out of the way. Now let's end on a positive, and that is Sean Steur.

Jaissle demands courage and bravery from his players, and the 18-year-old Dutchman has shown he possesses both in abundance. It was no coincidence that when he came on against Everton, Newcastle looked better.

It's a travesty that Steur hasn't started a Premier League match since leaving the field against Hull City before the international break as man of the match. After his cameo on Monday, Jaissle has no excuses not to play him this weekend.

My preference would be to play Nico Gonzalez and Steur together, but the manager appears reluctant to do so, given it was the Spaniard who made way for the teenager against Everton. So, if it's one or the other, I pick Steur.