This particular group of Newcastle United fans are going under the radar.
The end of the season almost here and they are getting ignored.
Arguments raging amongst many other Newcastle United fans when it comes to what has been to blame for the poor results in the Premier League.
This particular group of Newcastle United fans I wanted to talk about are those who also happen to be NUFC players.
NUFC having more than any other major club, lifelong fans who are also in the first team squad.
The likes of Dan Burn, Lewis Hall, Mark Gillespie, Lewis Miley and Jacob Murphy are all lifelong Newcastle United fans. Whilst Geordie teenager and United fan Sean Neave has also become a regular this season when it comes to taking part in first team training and named in matchday squads.
Some fans have accused players of not trying, of not giving it one hundred per cent in matches. The same when it comes to players missing matches through injury, some supporters wanting to believe that injuries and illnesses have been faked by players at times. Skipping matches for whatever supposed reasons.
With so many lifelong Newcastle United fans being part of this first team squad, I simply don’t see this as the reality. Both in training and in matches, my belief is that especially with so many players also being NUFC supporters, it is strange to even consider this as a possibility.
That is even before you get to those such as Bruno Guimaraes and Kieran Trippier. They aren’t lifelong Newcastle United fans BUT they are players who have the very highest playing and training standards and wouldn’t countenance any lack of effort or application from those around them.
On top of all the other stuff such as Alexander Isak and the mess made of last summer generally by the Newcastle United hierarchy. Plus so many injuries and far too many matches to play for such a small squad. When it comes to what has gone wrong on the pitch this season in the Premier League, I think it is simply too many individual mistakes and as a team simply not playing well enough, rather than players not putting in enough effort.
Sometimes it doesn’t matter how hard you work, results and performances elude you. At the weekend, the Newcastle United players collectively ran almost 5km more than the Bournemouth team, the effort was there but not the inspiration or good enough focus in key moments.