OPINION
Ever get the feeling you’ve outstayed your welcome?
Some hints that it might be time to pack up your things and hit the road are subtler than others, but Steve Bruce’s decision to omit Jack Colback from his Premier League squad for the current campaign was about as inconspicuous as a house brick through your front window.
The 30-year-old is no longer valued at Newcastle United, and if he has any self-respect or ambition, he must look to leave the club as soon as possible.
And according to Sky Sports pundit Danny Mills, a January exit is a real possibility.
When asked if Colback could be on his way this winter during an interview with Football Insider, he said: “Yeah, I’m sure there will be lots of loan deals around.
“We all know that teams at the lower end of the Premier League and the higher end of the Championship get the January and think: ‘Right, who’s available, who can we nick on loan for six months? Even if we pay half the wages, it might be worth the gamble to get somebody in.’
“There’s always lots of movement around the lower end of the Premier League, higher end of the Championship just trying to do that little bit of business but most of them will be loan deals.”
Whatever opportunities present themselves to Colback this January, he must take them.
The midfielder showed during his spell with Nottingham Forest last season that he can still be a real asset for the right club, averaging 3.2 tackles and 1.4 interceptions per game, as well as a pass completion rate of 87.3%, as per Whoscored.
There are an awful lot of sides in the Championship who would love a player like that in their ranks, and potentially a few in the Premier League too.
You would fancy that there will be suitors, and with no sign of a regular spot materialising for the Toon Army any time soon, Colback has to engineer an escape route.
