Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
GIVE ME A GOAL, JOE.. ANY GOAL
Bruce: Joelinton has become the Toon whipping boy and he needs to get the selfish attitude of a top goalscorer
JOELINTON has become Newcastle’s whipping boy – and lacks the instincts of a natural goalscorer.
The astonishing admission has been made by his own boss, Magpies coach Steve Bruce.
He reckons the £40million club record signing is missing “the mentality” of a goalscorer, and has to learn fast to avoid more criticism.
The Brazilian, 23, is at risk of being dropped for the trip to Crystal Palace, with Dwight Gayle fit again and pushing for a start. Toon did all their homework on the summer recruit, who received rave reviews from staff at Hoffenheim, and he was scouted repeatedly.
They expected to be signing a potential world beater, at a young age, but he’s found life in the Premier League tough so far.
A 22-game top-flight goal drought has put the frontman under the cosh and Bruce (celebrating an FA Cup goal with Joelinton, below) conceded: “He has to live with the criticism because he becomes the whipping boy.
“That’s what a No.9 up here has to deal with. You have to score more and he’s acutely aware of it. He has to try to improve it.
“There are not many what you’d call No.9s, especially in Europe, as that focal point of the team. He has got all the physical presence to be it.
“The great strikers, the goal scorers... all they are interested in is scoring. Joe is not like that. He is a team player. He has to be more selfish, like a top scorer.”
Bruce insists Joelinton is contributing to the team, shows a good attitude in training, and can turn it around because of his “undoubted physical attributes”.
He added: “The goalscorers I played with, they were only interested in one thing – scoring a goal.
“He certainly hasn’t got that mentality. We have to improve and get more balls in the box for him. And he has to be in the box more rather than being outside.
“It’s something we have to try to help him with. Every day, we try to remind him. It’s not in his instinct.”
Bruce wants Gayle to step up and challenge for a start after a “horrible” injury-hit season. He last started against Wolves six weeks ago and was impressive.
The Toon boss added: “He has been injured – horrible calf, horrible hamstring injury. We have not really seen him. When we have, I have been impressed with him. For 12-13 games, I hope he can stay injuryfree and contribute.”