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Trailing Brighton, but Newcastle remain on course — Interview
Tuesday, 31st Jan 2017 09:32 by Clive Whittingham

Newcastle may not have kicked on from their 6-0 win at Loftus Road to take the league by storm as we expected, but according to our resident Magpie James Harrison they’re just about on course to achieve their overall goal this season.

Assess Newcastle’s season so far for us…

JH: Very nervy. We're ahead of the class of 2009-10 in terms of points after 27 games but with the exception of you guys at Loftus Road, and maybe Birmingham and Ipswich at home we haven't really put any team to the sword. With Carroll, Nolan and Lovenkrands, we looked dangerous all the time and even in games we didn't play well we'd come off with the win.

With the current team only Gayle is contributing goals so we are very reliant on one player. In my opinion only Gayle, Ritchie and Shelvey are an improvement on the last squad. That all being said, we are where we are and Benitez has formed a strong squad of players when you consider what we were left with last May.

Given the resources, money spent and quality of the squad and manager are you surprised/disappointed not to be running away with it?

JH: Not surprised at all given that Chirs Hughton is in charge at Brighton. Plus Brighton look like a team whereas we're a collection of very talented players. I'm slightly annoyed but promotion is the main goal.

What would need doing to the squad if/when you are promoted?

JH: Our squad is a work in progress so I'd expect some more transfers, in and out. Whilst Gayle is deadly in this division, he's never hit any significant heights in the PL so the forward line looks weak. Similarly with Shelvey.

The general perception seems to be that the club is being run in a much more normal way, with Mike Ashley taking a back seat, is this true?

JH: We'd had five months of bliss then after the Brentford game the Mirror ran a story saying that the reason Mike Ashley had suddenly started reappearing was because he wanted to reiterate the club's transfer policy about buying young players with sell on value. This could be a positive story (all clubs want the newest talent) but where Ashley is concerned you take nothing for granted. It was quite ironic that Daryl Murphy scored the winner that day and if he has any sell on value it'll be to turn him into glue.

January transfer business…

JH: We've been linked with a loan move to swap Andros Townsend with Mbemba. Whilst Townsend is a good player he isn't going to solve the problems we have. I'm sure your fans will be familiar with his runs infield from the right before trying to smash in a wonder goal? I personally think Ritchie is twice the player that Townsend simply because his right foot is used for more than standing. Our left flank is our greatest weakness and yet Townsend wasn't happy playing there for Palace. As for Mbemba, I think he's been given some tough love and I wouldn't want to lose him. Injuries to Clark or Lascelles and the defence starts to look threadbare. Plus he looked better in the PL.

We've been linked with Tom Cairney and James McCarthy and we definitely need creative cover for Shelvey. Callum Wilson would be very welcome in our squad.

Best players and weak links…

JH: In terms of the squad, our greatest weakness is the imbalance of the team. We're so skewed to the right flank that as soon as teams double up on Ritchie we struggle. We desperately need a left winger. Dummett gets a lot of stick but you'll see a pass get played to him and he'll have no options on as the left wing has naturally drifted infield. It winds me up when I hear people saying he's slow; I've seen him cope with Navas and Sterling with no problems.

Gayle is crucial to whether we're going up. I think most Newcastle supporters were pleasantly surprised at how well he adapted. Ritchie was an absolute steal. Shelvey is so integral to the flow of our play that he plays like a quarterback. When he's nullified we look ordinary. Holloway was singing his praises as a pundit on Sky so I'd be surprised if he didn't have a plan for him. Yedlin and Hayden have been very solid signings.

I thought dropping a division would suit Jack Colback but he looks even slower in this division. He tried to commit a professional foul on Marvin Emnes against Blackburn and was too slow to even clip his heels. He'll be a Carlisle United player next season. Mitrovic is another player who flatters to deceive. Rafa obviously doesn't rate him and he's only had one good game this season (PNE away). He's lazy, slow, ill-disciplined and often makes the wrong decisions; a complete blunt tool.

A special mention for Daryl Murphy as well who has had to bide his time but is a complete professional and is putting Mitrovic's lack of effort into focus.

Short, medium and long term aims for the club…

JH: Short term - Promotion. League winners would be a bonus.

Mid term - mid table PL status secured over a few seasons. A decent cup run please. And to see an end to 4-2-3-fucking-1.

Long term - a trophy.

The Twitter @mrbeast06, @loftforwords

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TacticalR added 18:27 - Feb 1
Thanks to James.

It sounds as though even though it's been a good season it hasn't been the plain sailing that many expected. One thing we seen in recent seasons is teams at the top of the Championship not running away with the league, so it will be interesting to see if Newcastle follow that pattern this season.
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