Changing start of a
THE dynamics of Newcastle United’s dressing room are changing as Eddie Howe looks to move into phase two of his project on Tyneside.
The departures of Dwight Gayle and Ciaran Clark were inevitable this summer with the striker barely featuring and defender Clark not even registered in January 2022 for competitive action.
Another big presence behind the scenes in midfielder Isaac Hayden has also moved on this summer.
At one stage both Gayle and Clark were part of a leadership group which helped haul Newcastle from the Championship and into the Premier League.
Alongside skipper Jamaal Lascelles, who stays this season, and winger Matt Ritchie they were an integral part of those dynamics and the link between the manager and the locker room at Benton.
Lascelles had been inherited by Rafa Benitez but the former Real Madrid boss saw him as the ideal man to lead the team from the Championship.
He had been impressed by Lascelles’ passionate outburst during a 3-1 loss at Southampton in 2016 when the team were sliding out the Premier League.
So later that summer he handed him the armband at just 22, then signed Gayle, Clark and Ritchie to bolster the team’s chances of promotion.
It worked a treat but the bond between the four stars arguably helped keep Newcastle in the Premier League in the consequent years.
Whether Ritchie stays on board remains to be seen but Howe has already dropped a hint he could leave this summer to be reunited with his family. Of course, things change in football but that would leave just Lascelles remaining from Rafa’s A-team if you like.
Ritchie and Lascelles would often ben seen on tours sitting over a coffee and discussing key issues which were cropping up.
The likes of Gayle and Clark would then help enforce that message but also weigh in when they felt it was needed.
When Newcastle owner Mike Ashley would not agree a bonus package for the players in 2018, the group told the Press and the club’s official media channel they would not take part in interviews until it was resolved and walked through a mixed zone in Braga without stopping to chat.
It was not about money, like squads before them, it was about standing up to the owner.
They approached Steve Bruce with feedback when they felt things were not working well under his tenure and the former Manchester United skipper, knowing he had limited funds, used his man management to battle through some tough times.
Gayle and Ritchie, along with defender Paul Dummett and former goalkeeper Rob Elliot, also showed they were not just here for the money.
The group ploughed their own personal finances into the Newcas
tle Elite Academy which not only gave youngsters the chance to experience top-notch coaching but also looked to help players who had either been released or slipped through the net their chance.
The pages of Newcastle’s history books are now turning, though.
Howe opted against breaking some of the elder statesmen behind the scenes all together by handing Dummett a new deal and praising Lascelles in public last week at the team’s media day.
However, if Lascelles does not play it is more than likely Kieran Trippier will wear the armband next season in games.
He will not be the only one Howe relies on.
During a training session last week, which unfolded in front of the invited local press pack, Howe showed a different side to the calm persona we see in front of the cameras.
When a session dropped pace he ordered his “leaders” to step things up, Trippier was name-checked as well as Geordie Dan Burn.
Whether Burn and Trippier dovetail with the likes of Dummett and Lascelles to form a new player committee remains to be seen.
Jonjo Shelvey is a voice behind the scenes too but also leads by example on the field with consistent performances in games and in training while Callum Wilson has also been in the game long enough to know his way around the place.
Yet there are other big characters
around the place too, not least Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton who have big respect around the camp.
New signings will come and others may go but Newcastle have to retain their identity going into a new season.
Some things change but others will stay the same.
Yet even those who depart will agree Newcastle United must always live up to the name on the crest.