SPEEDY GAYLE GIVES TOON EXTRA EDGE
DWIGHT Gayle had been on the pitch for just five minutes when Newcastle skipper Jamaal Lascelles pounced to rescue a point against Norwich in midweek.
It may be a stretch to say the striker was responsible, yet the importance of Gayle’s return from injury cannot be overstated.
Signed from Crystal Palace for £10m in July, the 26-year-old has scored his 20 Championship goals at a remarkable rate of one every 88 minutes this season. In other words, if he is on the pitch, he finds the net.
“Dwight is one of the best best finishers that I have played with,” said Brighton striker Glenn Murray, a former Crystal Palace teammate and current rival for the Golden Boot.
“Left foot, right foot, head. He can sniff a goal out from anywhere and I always knew he’d score plenty for Newcastle. He’s a top quality striker.”
Barry Fry, the man who plucked Gayle from Dagenham & Redbridge in 2012, added: “We only had him for seven months but what a player. Gayley got 13 goals the year we got relegated from the Championship and now he’s scoring for fun again. He should be in the Premier League, without a doubt.”
Yet Gayle’s effect on Newcastle runs deeper than goals – he completely changes the way Newcastle play.
During his five-game absence with a hamstring injury, the Magpies took 11 points from a possible 15. Rafa Benitez’s side have hardly struggled.
But those victories – especially over Derby and Wolves – were largely founded on defensive discipline. At no point did the Toon cut loose.
With Aleksandar Mitrovic or Darryl Murphy up front, they can’t. Both are too slow and static, hold-up men who require runners and support.
Opponents can play further up the park, safe in the knowledge that they won’t be turned. Jonjo Shelvey has nobody to hit with those laser-guided long passes.
Faced with the threat of Gayle’s pace, defenders are forced to sit ten yards further back, giving the likes of Shelvey and Matt Ritchie the time and space to do damage.
Even Murphy has admitted that. “We’ve got players here who can come in, but any team would miss Dwight,” said the Irishman. “He runs in behind, and he’s got that pace that most players don’t have. That upsets teams, and makes them play a different way.”
Newcastle possess the quality to win without Gayle, but it requires far more sweat and concentration. No side can rely too heavily on its back four, especially given Benitez’s inherent tendency to protect a slim lead.
Gayle’s return to the side against Aston Villa tomorrow night will not only scare Steve Bruce’s ailing outfit but liberate his team-mates and lift a home crowd subjected to some stodgy fare in recent weeks.
Given the woeful form of Mitrovic – untrusted by Benitez and reportedly a summer target for Crystal Palace – the Spaniard is likely to hand Gayle his first start for a month.
However, the Toon will be without midfielder Isaac Hayden, who has been ruled out for around a month with a recurrence of an old ankle injury.
The 21-year-old missed the last two games after coming off injured against Derby, but the rest has failed to fix the issue.
“We have had an operation for Isaac Hayden on his ankle,” said Benitez. “He needed an operation. It could take around four weeks, more or less. It depends on how he gets on.”