Danny Guthrie praises the Three Amigos

Nov 19 2009 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

He said: “It does dispel a few myths. They could have rolled over and played a bit part, but they came back in the summer, rolled up their sleeves with the rest of us and have got on with it. I don’t know if they get targeted more than the

English lads, although Jonas does because of the way he plays. But he’s tougher than he looks. He’s got skinny little legs, but he can take a whack, get up and carry on going.

“He has shown that this season and all three of them deserve a lot of credit for the way they have conducted themselves.”

Although the foreign imports are the most obvious targets in the Newcastle side because of the different mentality of Latin football, Guthrie admitted the whole United team could have become victims this season.

With so much uncertainty surrounding the club following the disaster of relegation, Guthrie admits some of their rivals probably expected Newcastle to be a soft touch as they struggled to adapt to their new surroundings. Instead, with the notable exception of the away defeats at Blackpool, Nottingham Forest and Scunthorpe, Newcastle have illustrated they have the battling qualities, as well as the individual quality, needed to escape the Championship.

He added: “I think some people in the Championship were looking forward to playing us and turning us over. They might have expected us to be soft and ready to roll over whenever the going got tough.

“We’ve had to show a bit of steel and we haven’t been kicked off our game or bullied at all. We’ve got to be strong and that will always be the case because we know we’re the team everyone wants to beat. A lot has been made of the fact we have a really good team spirit and everyone has contributed to that. You’ve got your senior players like Nicky Butt, Alan Smith and Steve Harper who set an example, but everyone has bought into what we’re trying to do.”

Former Newcastle striker Paul Dalglish has been confirmed as the new manager of MLS side Tampa Bay Rowdies.

SHEFFIELD Wednesday defender Richard Wood has completed his loan move to Coventry with a view to a permanent transfer.

The 24-year-old centre-half will join the Sky blues on a permanent basis in January for an undisclosed fee once his initial loan spell has ended. Owls manager Brian Laws said: “Richard is a very good defender at Championship. Unfortunately, Richard did not want to accept the terms we offered him.”