Fit-again Guthrie gunning for a regular spot
Oct 23 2010 by Luke Edwards, The Journal
DANNY Guthrie is back from injury and ready to prove Newcastle United are back where they belong in the Premier League. Chief Sports Writer Luke Edwards reports.
WHEN Newcastle United were strolling their way towards promotion at the top of the Championship we were constantly told they were a Premier League club.
Too good, too big and too strong for English football’s second tier, maybe, but just because they are back where they supposedly belong does not mean they are going to stay there.
Reputations count for nothing, previous achievements offer nothing more than a history to be proud of and the size of a football club has absolutely no bearing on results on a football pitch.
Newcastle have already found that out the hard way, tumbling out of the top flight with Alan Shearer in the manager’s chair and a host of international stars on the playing staff.
It is the deeds of the here and now which matter and, as things stand, Newcastle United are a Premier League club in name only, and so are the players.
“Newcastle have to prove that we are a Premier League club and I have to prove I am a Premier League player,” said Danny Guthrie, who returned to the side last weekend following his recovery from a knee injury.
“The team has to show it belongs here and from personal point of view I have to show this is my level.”
It is a challenge Newcastle still have to prove they are up to. A great start at home to Aston Villa has been replaced by doubt. In the three home games against fellow stragglers Blackpool, Stoke City and Wigan Athletic the Magpies have taken just a solitary point.
It is home form which screams relegation, yet the team’s performances and results away from St James’ Park have hinted at far more than a battle against the drop.
In all competitions, Newcastle have won three, drawn one and lost two on the road. Despite the trip ups on Tyneside, Newcastle have collected eight points from their first eight games. Solid rather than spectacular, but a 16th-place – the berth which they currently occupy – finish come May will be celebrated with gusto.
This is the cold, harsh reality everyone associated with the football club needs to accept ahead of an early-season relegation face off at West Ham. However, it remains to be seen whether expectations can be managed realistically, either in the boardroom or in the stands, at St James’.
