Aston Villa took an absolute thrashing at St James' Park yesterday in a 4-0 defeat that proves Unai Emery certainly has his work cut out when he finally joins the squad at Villa Park next week.

Aaron Danks will be disappointed with the result that has led the side into 16th in the Premier League, just one point away from the relegation zone ahead of their clash with Manchester United, something that will be a huge concern for the new manager, supporters and the team.

The visitors failed to show any dominance over the clash with less possession (40%), fewer shots on goal (3 v 20), no big chances created and fewer passes completed (410 v 263).

In the first half, Aston Villa managed to convincingly hold off Newcastle's advances but a handball committed by Ashley Young in the box handed the Magpies their first goal of the game when Callum Wilson converted.

Unfortunately, it only got worse for the Villans in the second half with the Toon striker scoring his second in the 56th minute which was quickly followed up by another strike from Joelinton with the fourth and final blow delivered by Miguel Almiron to make it 4-0.

Although Leon Bailey was by far the worst player on the pitch with the lowest rating (5.9) on the entire pitch, there was another player who was the real villain in the North East yesterday.

Ollie Watkins put in an uninspiring and lacklustre display that showed little fight in order to help Villa comeback after Eddie Howe's side secured the opening goal against his team in the latter stages of the first half.

The 26-year-old forward made just 15 accurate passes from his 38 touches and completed only one of his dribble attempts (1/3), as well as losing the majority of his duels (7/9) and losing possession of the ball every 2.5 touches over his 90-minute performance.

With that in mind, it was hardly a surprise to see Villa reporter Ashley Preece hand the attacker a dismal match rating of 4 at full-time, writing of his performance: "Like most in attack, Watkins was wasteful whenever he had it. The winger hesitated with his cross early on while, in the second half, didn't get a kick."

It is clear the talented player is struggling to impose himself on opponents with the player averaging at the fourth lowest-rated (6.63) player in the entire squad this season in the Premier League, with Watkins only finding the back of the net twice in 13 league appearances.

With that being said, Emery will need to find a solution to Villa's inability to provide a threatening forward presence when he arrives at the club and it may be worth exploring the transfer window in January if nothing improves over the remaining fixtures ahead of the World Cup.