Newcastle United captain Jamaal Lascelles has revealed that he and his teammates held a meeting earlier in the season to address their woeful home form.
The Magpies have won their last five home games, and could equal their best run at St. James’ Park since 2004 with a victory over Crystal Palace on Saturday, but earlier this campaign things weren’t looking quite as rosy.
And talismanic defender Lascelles has revealed that he and his colleagues sat down to discuss the issue.
As quoted in the Chronicle, he said: “In the first half of the season our home record wasn’t good enough.
“As players we said to ourselves we had to step it up. That’s exactly what we did.
“We’re in a good position now and we definitely can’t take our foot off the gas.”
OPINION
It will be a promising sign for Newcastle fans to hear that there is little bit of player power going on behind the scenes at St. James’ Park. Not too long ago you would have been forgiven for thinking that nobody, except perhaps a small minority, could care less about the fate of the Toon Army, but now, after a bit of revitalisation and some big conversations, the Magpies look like a side capable of really pushing on under Rafa Benitez. It’s far too easy, and common, in the modern game for a failing side to be instantly blamed on the inadequacies of the manager, but there has to be decent amount of the blame apportioned to players as well, and it’s pleasing to hear the Magpies were willing to step up and accept their share of the culpability. That has translated into results on the field, and perhaps a few more sides should follow suit.
