OPINION
Stephen Warnock isn’t ready to jump on Newcastle United’s bandwagon despite their 1-0 win over Tottenham.
The pundit was asked whether the real Newcastle were the side that got ripped apart by Norwich City to lose 3-1 last Saturday or whether their true nature was shown against Spurs when they achieved a hard-fought victory.
Warnock replied by being a bit of a Debbie Downer as he pointed out it could be a couple of months until the real Newcastle emerges, hinting at the fact they’re about to be inconsistent, before doubting Joelinton’s ability to get a hatful of goals.
“I don’t think we’re really going to see it (the real Newcastle) for a couple of months if I’m honest,” said Warnock on Sky Sports News (10:09am, Monday, August 26th).
“Steve Bruce coming in changing the formation, going to three at the back, it takes a lot of getting used to, a lot of work rate, their new players need to sync into the new formation and understand what they’re trying to achieve.
“I feel very sorry for Steve Bruce as it took them until the 3rd of November last season to get a victory and Steve Bruce has done it within three games and there was a lot of pressure on him to get that result.
“He’s got one quicker than Rafa did last season and with the new players like Joelinton, you look at him and think, can he be the man to score you goals?
“I don’t think he is going to score a hatful of goals, I don’t think he’s that type of striker, but bringing that presence to play upfront will give them that option away from home.”
While Warnock praised Joelinton’s ability to be a potentially good presence up front for the Magpies away from home, he seems overly negative about the Magpies despite the fact they beat last season’s Champions League runners-up on Sunday.
With this in mind, the pundit will surely bring many Newcastle fans back down to earth with his pessimistic verdict as they’re likely flying high after a surprise victory.
After all, no one likely expected the Magpies to even get a point off Tottenham on Sunday as Steve Bruce’s side were outclassed by Norwich City last weekend, whereas Spurs were good enough to deny last season’s Premier League champions Manchester City of getting all three points when those two sides clash.
Granted Warnock may be right not to get carried away.
After all, while Newcastle did beat Tottenham on Sunday, they only had 20% of possession by the time the final whistle blew, as per BBC, and Tottenham registered over double the number of shots the Magpies managed.
However, shouldn’t Newcastle fans and Bruce be hoping that the win against Spurs has seen their side turn a corner? Rather than dismiss the possibility that it was just a one-off. They’ll surely entitled to do that.
Also given that Joelinton was clinical against Spurs as he scored his first goal for the club despite only having two efforts in the match, as per WhoScored, can it not be hoped that he can score the goals for the Magpies?
The 23-year-old may not have managed double digits in his career before in a single season, but given that he is arguably playing with better players and still improving due to his age, surely it can’t be said that he won’t transform into a forward capable of racking up the goals.
While Warnock may be proved right in the coming weeks, all his remarks have done at this time, is bring many Newcastle fans down to earth.
