Callum Wilson bounced into the Newcastle dressing room and announced: “We’re four points off the top lads….”
The reaction? “He is the only one! Everyone else is…. Everyone just ignored him, to be honest,” said midfielder Sean Longstaff. Newcastle players, coaching staff and fans are enjoying the moment.
Predicting where this season might go is not on the agenda, despite passing their latest test by bossing Chelsea with energy, tactical nous and a killer instinct. No one is making grand boasts or talking big. But this is a “ Leicester City” type of season. The traditional elite clubs like Chelsea and Manchester United in transition, Liverpool faltering and Tottenham, style-wise, not satisfying their fans.
That’s not to say Newcastle can do a 5,000-1 title win like Claudio Ranieri miracle of 2015-16. Manchester City and Arsenal are stronger - including wage bills three times that of the Geordies, and squads twice as strong. But top four would be a major triumph, and they have the system, one game a week freshness, and the team ethic, to do it. Even top six would be awesome considering this time last season they had not even won a game.
Now they have 30 points, five wins in a row and are unbeaten in 11 games. It’s five clean sheets in seven games. Just two goals conceded in the last 11 hours of play.
Local lad Longstaff is among the all-action heroes, improved by Howe’s coaching, and an ultimate self-sacrificing team player. Longstaff said: “It is the manager making us better people and us not wanting to let each other down. That is a big thing.
“You see at the end one person gets into a scuffle and everyone is coming in. We are such a close bunch. It is an 'everyone together' mentality. We are gaining people’s respect and people are getting more and more wary. That comes from our good play, being able to pin teams back, lock teams out with our press.
“It is installed by the coaching staff who get us to play on the front foot. At times we are man for man all over the pitch, the centre halves are one v one. It is a lot different to how we played against them last year. It is really exciting and the message is the same every day. It is great to be part of.
“We have a break to recover and we’ll come back with the same mentality. We have put ourselves in a really strong position. We need to make sure we back that up. There is no point in coming this far to chuck it away. It has been a great start and the place is buzzing.
“We never feared anyone. Now we have confidence and self belief. When the city is pulling together we can do great things.”
The Whitley Bay lad explained how his job has been made easier by playing next to Brazil World Cup midfielder Bruno Guimaraes. He added: “It is a team effort. We have Bruno in there. He is the best of the lot. When you have the best player next to you it is a lot easier.
“We know we can compete with anyone if we are at it. We are more on the front foot. It is harder to play when you are under pressure than when you have time. We get after teams and if they are good enough to play through us they are good enough. It is a good challenge.”
