Joelinton is famous for his £40 million price tag and roots based in country famous for football – Brazil. The signing which Newcastle’s former manager refused to sanction and the No 9 who seems to show that he has played in that role before. So what is wrong with Steve Bruce and why does he play the striker in every match since last 4 months ?
Steve Bruce has insisted he will continue to support Newcastle United’s £40million summer signing Joelinton – despite his awful run of form. He feels that the former Hoffenheim striker will come good.
Steve Bruce said “No matter how he looks, always we’ve got the statistics to prove otherwise. In training and on match days, his physical statistics are very, very good. He’s going through that classic scenario of a striker who can’t score a goal. All of that gets heaped upon them, and it’s amazing what a goal does. His best performance was Tottenham away when he scored. That one he rolled against Rochdale, we need to roll into the net and hopefully, that will get him up and started again.”
Joelinton has looked possibly the worst thing a centre-forward can be – a striker who never looks like scoring. There is no question everybody expected rather more from a player who broke Newcastle’s transfer record by £19m than one goal in 14 appearances. There isn’t a more harmful label to have for someone in his position. Already weighed down by the hefty price tag, is he sinking, sinking, sinking…
If there is some motivation needed for Joelinton, Steve Bruce may want to show some statistics below of famous strikers who have donned magpies shirt in the past. They have been typically slow in scoring goals in their first 22 games but went on to be giants in shooting later.
Andy Cole
Signed from: Bristol City, March 1993, £1.75million
Goals in first 22 games: 22
Total Newcastle goals: 69
Total Newcastle appearances: 85
Cole announced himself in style on Tyneside with 22 goals in his first 22 games to help clinch promotion to the Premier League, and there was uproar when he was sold to Manchester United in January 1995 having taken his tally to 69 in less than two years.
Les Ferdinand
Signed from: QPR, July 1995, £6million
Goals in first 22 games: 19
Total Newcastle goals: 50
Total Newcastle appearances: 84
Still revered on Gallowgate for the goals he scored during a two-year stint at St James’ Park, Ferdinand was prolific from the off and his controversial departure for Tottenham in July 1997 left the Toon Army collectively scratching their heads once again.
Alan Shearer
Signed from: Blackburn, July 1996, £15million
Goals in first 22 games: 18
Total Newcastle goals: 206
Total Newcastle appearances: 404
The Magpies paid a then world record £15million to bring Geordie Shearer home and were richly rewarded with a decade of sterling service which saw him eclipse Jackie Milburn’s record tally of 200 goals for the club.
Jon Dahl Tomasson
Signed from: Heerenveen, July 1997, £2.2million
Goals in first 22 games: 3
Total Newcastle goals: 4
Total Newcastle appearances: 34
A young Tomasson was thrown in at the deep end by then manager Kenny Dalglish after Shearer had suffered a serious ankle injury in pre-season and found the going tough, but went on to enjoy an impressive career with Feyenoord, AC Milan, Stuttgart and Villarreal as well as winning more than 100 caps for Denmark.
Michael Owen
Signed from: Real Madrid, August 2005, £16million
Goals in first 22 games: 10
Total Newcastle goals: 30
Total Newcastle appearances: 79
Newcastle thought they had staged a major coup when they lured England striker Owen back to the Premier League – he had hoped to return to former club Liverpool – but two serious injuries severely limited his impact during an ill-fated four-year stay.
Obafemi Martins
Signed from: Inter Milan, August 2006, £10million
Goals in first 22 games: 9
Total Newcastle goals: 35
Total Newcastle appearances: 104
Nigeria international Martins was given his chance by Glenn Roeder as the Magpies attempted to find a long-term replacement for the retired Shearer and made a fist of a difficult job before leaving for Wolfsburg after three seasons.
Papiss Cisse
Signed from: Freiburg, January 2012, £9million
Goals in first 22 games: 14
Total Newcastle goals: 44
Total Newcastle appearances: 131
Cisse enjoyed a spectacular introduction to English football as he plundered 13 goals, including an astonishing strike at Chelsea, in his first 14 appearances for the club, although his influence gradually waned.
Aleksandar Mitrovic
Signed from: Anderlecht, July 2015, £14.5million
Goals in first 22 games: 4
Total Newcastle goals: 17
Total Newcastle appearances: 72
A fans’ favourite from the start, Serbia international Mitrovic was never able to persuade Steve McClaren’s successor Rafael Benitez that he could do a job for him, but was still sold to Fulham for a significant profit in July 2018.
Miguel Almiron
Signed from: Atlanta United, January 2019, £21million
Goals in first 22 games: 0
Total Newcastle goals: 2
Total Newcastle appearances: 31
Benitez was allowed to smash the club’s transfer record to bring Almiron to the Premier League from Major League Soccer but, despite a series of enterprising displays, he did not break his duck until his 27th appearance for the club.
