Cole hails “frightening” new signings at Newcastle
Posted on January 30th, 2023 | No Comments |
Cole, who won his only Premier League ‘Golden Boot’ award with the Magpies in the 1993–94 season with a record 34 goals also went on to look back at his days playing for Kevin Keegan’s ‘Entertainers,’ a previous era when Newcastle were also improving rapidly, and looked to be heading to the very top. Sadly, it was not to be though. Whilst there were top four finishes and a pair of cup final appearances after that, the Magpies never quite turned it into cups.
Interviewing for the Betway Blog, Drury asked Cole what he made of the new, improved Newcastle this season?
“Very good. Fair play to the players, management staff and the recruitment staff. Considering where they were this time last year, it’s a great turnaround. They’ve brought in four or five quality players and it’s changed everything. You probably wouldn’t even say that the new signings are big names, but they’ve been absolutely frightening. Kieran Trippier, Sven Botman and Bruno Guimarães, they’ve all been brilliant.”
But Cole also went on to praise the remarkable improvement of some of the more longstanding members of the squad, adding:
“But the players who were already there are totally different, too. Joelinton is like a new player. It just shows you that when you work on a certain way of playing and everybody buys into it, you can succeed.”
He could have added players such as Fabian Schär, Sean Longstaff and Miguel Almiron too, but Adam Drury then turned his attentions to the past and Cole’s spell at Newcastle, which wasn’t very long in hindsight, only one full season and two half seasons. In total he only made 84 appearances for the Magpies, but he scored a remarkable 68 goals. When asked what it was like to be a Newcastle player when the club is bouncing, Cole replied:
“It’s absolutely frightening. Games at the weekend, sold out and it’s raucous. Absolute bedlam.”
“All that Newcastle fans want is for their team to give 100 per cent. Naturally, they want to win matches, but if the players give 100 per cent, they’ll support you until they can’t give anymore. And that’s what they’re getting now.”
Back in the present, Cole went on to reflect on Newcastle’s League Cup run, continuing:
“They’re in the semi-finals of the League Cup, they’re third in the league, and from now until the end of the season you can guarantee they will be 100 per cent behind the team.
“If they were to qualify for Europe, regardless of which competition it is, the atmosphere would be unbelievable. I’m sure some serious money would be spent on new players, too. The owners will be wondering if they can get Champions League. And if they get Champions League, they will be thinking, “right, we can bring in X, Y, Z.
“If their model is like Manchester City’s and they bring in the right players, the only way it can end up is that they compete for the biggest titles in England and in Europe. It’s inevitable, even if it takes a few years.”
Not quite the same model, perhaps, with Financial Fair Play rules which didn’t exist when Chelsea, Manchester City and Paris St. Germain experienced their huge increase in spending power, though things are certainly going well so far.
NUFCBlog Author: workyticket
workyticket has written 1091 articles on this blog.