CITY HAVE WEAKNESSES. WE CAN WIN
JAMAAL LASCELLES is confident Newcastle have gameplan to pip Pep’s lot tomorrow
FooTBALLErS, it turns out, can be just like supporters. When talk of a Newcastle takeover was at its peak a month or so ago, captain Jamaal Lascelles admits he was spending too much time looking eagerly at his mobile phone.
‘It seemed like it would be a fantastic thing from what I was first reading on Twitter,’ says Lascelles of the protracted Saudi Arabian bid. ‘At first I was seeing us linked with Gareth Bale and Philippe Coutinho and all this stuff. But the longer it goes on... well you don’t necessarily doubt it but you realise there is no point every day waking up and just refreshing Twitter. So you just get on with your job. If it happens, it happens and if it doesn’t, it doesn’t.’
Newcastle is a football city with a spring in its step again. Steve Bruce’s team face Manchester City in the FA Cup quarter-final at St James’ Park tomorrow and a takeover would undoubtedly lend Newcastle unprecedented financial muscle. But in football dressing rooms, change can breed insecurity.
‘It’s a tough one because as players we don’t know if it’s a positive or a negative thing,’ Lascelles tells Sportsmail via Zoom. ‘If people come in are they going to bring a whole new squad and a new manager? or are they going to come in and just do up the training ground and add a few players?’
For Newcastle and Bruce, FA Cup success would be welcome for lots of reasons. The club have not won significant silverware for 51 years and last contested an FA Cup final in 1999. They lost tamely to Manchester United.
Some bookmakers have Bruce’s team at extraordinarily long odds to win tomorrow. Maybe it’s the lack of home support or maybe it’s because City, beaten at Chelsea in the Premier League on Thursday, rarely lose backto-back games. Whatever the reason, Lascelles didn’t blink.
‘We have more of a winning mentality these days,’ says the 26-year-old central defender. ‘We go out there trying to win rather than just trying not to lose. The shirt you are playing against means nothing. It can be Arsenal or Brighton, it doesn’t matter. It’s who wants it more. So we are hungry and ready to go.
‘Manchester City have great players but also with those players they do have their own weaknesses. We have a big 6ft 4in striker on the bench (Andy Carroll) who is known for heading it and bullying centre halves. And Joelintion is 6ft 3in as well. ‘There is always a way to win games, whether it be with a counter-attack or set-piece. or make it dirty. We will have some kind of gameplan, I know that. They will be a huge attacking threat and we know we will have to defend with our lives. But they have a small centre half and neither are known for their heading. So if we have to mix it up and be a bit more direct it can definitely work.
‘Thankfully I never have to mark Andy in training. The manager never puts us against each other probably because he knows there is going to be fireworks. But he will have a plan and, as I say, we know their weaknesses. There is no reason we can’t win.’
It is good to hear such talk. Previous Newcastle manager rafael Benitez was loved by all but was rarely prepared to be adventurous against the really good sides. one game at home against City two Christmases ago saw Newcastle simply unwilling to engage. They still lost 1-0.
Under Bruce, appointed perilously close to the start of this season, Newcastle have been a slow burn. They won only one of their first six Premier League games and a 5-0 defeat at Leicester at the end of September carried the look of a manager and team in freefall.
But next up, Newcastle beat Manchester United and subsequently
their journey has largely been an upward one. having taken seven points from their last three league games, newcastle are pretty much safe from the drop. Benitez finished 10th and 13th in his two top-flight seasons at the club. Bruce could yet take the team higher.
‘rafa gave me the armband and put trust in me and gave us successful seasons,’ Lascelles reflects. ‘Players and staff and fans didn’t want him to leave. But we have adapted and steve Bruce has done a brilliant job. We haven’t got any idiots in this team who want to give someone a hard time. they are here to play for the badge, whoever the manager is.
‘But the one the club chose has done fantastic and i know how much he cares. i can see it. he is a Geordie and a newcastle fan. if we lose it will affect his whole week. that was how it looked back then at the start when we were struggling. But now we have an opportunity to really achieve something amazing.’
NEWCASTLE’s relationship with cup competitions under Mike ashley’s ownership has been strained. it doesn’t seem that long ago that newcastle said publicly that Premier League survival was all that mattered to them.
Lascelles, too, has mixed views. he is from a generation raised on a diet of the Premier League and champions League. But while admitting he doesn’t totally appreciate english football’s long love affair with the Fa cup, he would still very much like to win it.
‘i am not sure i understand the whole importance of it,’ he says. ‘i don’t know too much about the Fa cup other than it would be massive to win. Pep Guardiola has rested players ahead of this game so he obviously sees the importance of it too.
‘it would be amazing to win some silverware and i know how much the fans would appreciate it. We have put ourselves in a great position in the league and a top-half finish would be fantastic. But i wouldn’t swap that for the Fa cup. no way.’
approaching his peak years, Lascelles is enjoying his football. he admits he found the captaincy a challenge when things were not good on the field but he remains a fine and articulate figurehead for his club. he knows his manager was once a decent defender, too.
‘yeh he is definitely more old-school,’ he smiles. ‘he wants his centre halves to head it, kick it and clear it. i am fine with that. some managers want defenders doing cruyff turns and stepping into midfield. that’s modern day football but our manager wants us to defend first and let players like allan saint-Maximin and Jonjo shelvey do the other stuff.
‘i haven’t got here by being the most gifted player on the planet but nobody could question my work rate, hunger and desire. We will take things step by step. it’s a huge task to beat city but we are up to it.’
‘We were linked with Bale and Coutinho.. after a while I stopped reading it’
STEVE BRUCE says Newcastle have done everything possible to keep Matty Longstaff and the club’s final contract offer is with the player. The 20-year-old has signed a short-term extension until the end of the season, but unless he commits to a new deal, he will leave his boyhood club this summer. Longstaff has an offer from Serie A side Udinese of around £10,000 a week more than Newcastle’s basic terms, but Bruce said: ‘We’ve made him a wonderful offer. That should be his way forward in his career. There’s nothing much more we can do. It’s now up to Matty to decide.’ CRAIG HOPE