ROB ELLIOT WATCH
HE will not court attention, he will not boast about his performances, and he will always go out of his way to praise his team-mates.
The unsung hero of Newcastle United’s 2-1 win over Stoke City was undoubtedly Rob Elliot.
Without the Republic of Ireland international’s string of excellent saves, there would have been no platform from which man-of-thematch Matt Ritchie could create the opportunities to deliver the win, there would not have been a second goal in as many weeks for captain Jamaal Lascelles and Newcastle would not be ending matchweek five in the European places following a third successive win, either.
There are no airs and graces as far as Elliot is concerned. He is not a flashy individual nor a headlinegrabber but what the 31-year-old undoubtedly is is a dependable and often-underrated goalkeeper.
Rafa Benitez laid down the gauntlet to him at the start of the summer window - and Elliot has responded by raising his game.
Back in July, Benitez sat down with all of his goalkeeping contingent and told them he was looking to bring in an alternative – someone with greater Premier League experience.
Elliot was given the challenge of proving he deserved to wear that No 1 jersey on a weekly basis if another goalkeeper was signed. Meanwhile, Tim Krul was told to find a new club, as too was Karl Darlow initially, though he eventually remained on Tyneside.
Freddie Woodman had also hoped to head out on loan but the transfer window did not progress as planned for Benitez.
The Spaniard did not get his wish in the end – neither Pepe Reina nor Willy Caballero were signed,while a whole host of other goalkeepers were also considered, too.
Yet none were brought through the door, meaning Elliot found himself firmly in possession of the starting shirt.
Far from rest on his laurels, Elliot has improved with every top-flight game so far this season.
Aside from one shaky
performance at Huddersfield Town – after which he admitted himself his distribution was not up to scratch – he has been good so far this term. However, he was terrific against Stoke.
Xherdan Shaqiri may have eventually curled an unstoppable shot into the bottom corner to equalise in the 57th minute but Elliot made two fantastic saves from the Swiss international prior to that.
For the first one, Shaqiri cut in from the left and whipped a vicious effort towards the far left-hand corner. It looked destined for the back of the net - but Elliot back-tracked rapidly and tipped it over the bar.
The Irishman then blocked away a fierce shot from Shaqiri, who had capitalised on a misdirected header from Ciaran Clark, to keep United ahead.
This was after Elliot had twice rushed off his line to clear the ball, anticipating danger early and ensuring he was quick to react.
Elliot saved the best until last. Picking Shaqiri’s shot out of the back of his net only appeared to make the goalkeeper even more determined to secure all three points for Newcastle.
Mame Biram Diouf’s point-blank header looked a certain goal – the Stoke wing-back even gestured as if he was about to start celebrating – yet Elliot flung himself to his right and stuck out an arm to make a magnificent reflex stop.
Without the Ireland international, Newcastle may well have taken nothing from this game – never mind claimed all three points.
Benitez challenged Elliot to prove he deserved to start in the Premier League and he has certainly responded.
A humble individual who has made the North East his home and who is as honest on social media as he is during interviews – the bird-poo tweet following the West Ham United victory proved that – Elliot encapsulates everything which is positive about this Newcastle squad at the moment.
He will rarely grab the headlines, he may not be a household name like Reina or Caballero, but Elliot is certainly Mr Dependable for Newcastle at the moment.