Warning of new exodus from Toon
NEWCASTLE legend Steve Howey lived through one Toon revolution and he has warned the current crop of players at St James’ Park to brace themselves for casualties during the next one.
The club’s Saudi owners handed head coach Eddie
Howe a £100million transfer kitty in the New Year and will splash out a similar amount this summer.
For Howey, it brings back memories of the time 25 years ago when Kevin Keegan transformed Newcastle from second-tier strugglers to the Premier League’s great entertainers.
He was one of the lucky ones, thriving under Keegan, despite the club investing millions on new talent.
But he still remembers the exodus of team-mates, who were deemed surplus to requirements, as the Magpies shifted through the gears.
And he is expecting a similar cull as Howe builds a squad designed to challenge at the top of the table rather than just fight for survival.
“If you want to be one of the chosen few, you have to perform – and, even then, it might not be enough,” said Howey, who spent 11 years at Newcastle. “Looking back to my time, David Kelly scored a hat-trick on the last day of the season against Leicester and was then sold.
“Gavin Peacock did a great job in the 1992-93 promotion season, but then lost his place when Andy Cole came in.
“Lee Clark was player of the year, but the writing was on the wall for him when he lost the No.10 shirt.
“Football can be a brutal business and, as a few current players will find out, there’s little sentiment around.”
Skipper Jamaal Lascelles, Matt Ritchie, Jonjo Shelvey, Karl Darlow and one or two others have been around since Newcastle won promotion under Rafa Benitez in 2017.
But none can be certain of being in Howe’s 25-man squad.
Howey added: “Keegan was always looking to make Newcastle bigger and better and it’s a similar situation now at St James’ Park.
“That makes quite a few players vulnerable – and they will know the score.”