Newcastle United midfielder Jonjo Shelvey has hit back at pundits and critics for their comments on his side’s start to the Premier League season.
The England international labelled the critiques as embarrassing and stupid after the Magpies entered the international break with a win and a draw after consecutive defeats.
After struggling for consistent playing time under Rafael Benitez last season, Shelvey has found himself on the bench once more after Steve Bruce decided to sacrifice a midfielder for an extra man in the final third.
Speaking to the Chronicle, Shelvey admitted the squad spoke about the critics in the dressing room before putting it behind them.
“We had a chat in the dressing room,” he said.
“It’s just embarrassing. People can talk but we need to stick together and keep it all in house.”
OPINION
Shelvey is spot on, the Newcastle squad need to have a thick skin and be prepared to ignore any comments on them this season. The decision to replace Benitez with Bruce was always going to come with a huge amount of media attention given their records in management. Bruce would have known what he was in for. The players can’t do anything about that though, and their performances so far in this campaign definitely don’t deserve any critics. The pressure was huge after they lost the first two games of the season and the critics were out in force. The response from the team has been really strong and the win at Tottenham only proved that they are capable of anything they set their minds to this season. Criticism is part and parcel of the game, and there will be a lot more to come as the season goes on. That’s part and parcel of the modern game. If Newcastle can use it as motivation, they could cause a lot more shocks in this campaign, as Spurs already found out the hard way.
