Ok, for anyone who isn’t a Newcastle United fan, this headline won’t make much sense, but I’ll try to explain it. 1992 was the Premier League in its first year, but unfortunately Newcastle United were playing in the lower leagues and were keen to get in on the party as soon as possible. Under Kevin Keegan’s leadership, Newcastle won the Division One title that season and were poised to gain promotion to the Premier League, albeit a year late. Towards the end of the season, in February 1993, Keegan had paid a record transfer fee of just under £2 million for a young English striker called Andy Cole. Cole played a huge role in the second half of the season, scoring 12 goals out of 12, although most fans questioned why such a transfer fee was paid for a relatively unknown player. Newcastle’s top scorer that season was David Kelly, who scored 24 league goals (28 in total), so the need for Andy Cole was questioned, but hey, if Keegan wanted Cole, so be it. David Kelly has been the key man in attack this season, scoring goals that have helped the team to the title. Both Kelly and Cole more than proved they can play well together, scoring hat-tricks each in the final league game of the season, a 7-1 victory over Leicester City.
It came as a huge shock to everyone when Keegan sold David Kelly at the end of the season – partly due to the impending return of Peter Beardsley, but it was also suggested that Division One was David Kelly’s “level”. Kelly remains an extremely popular figure among Newcastle United fans and although his sale to Wolverhampton Wanderers after leading Newcastle United into the Premier League was pretty brutal, most Newcastle fans could understand the reasoning. The decision to sell Kelly proved to be the right one, with both Cole and Beardsley forming a lethal duo in the Premier League, in an era that most Newcastle United fans remember fondly.
Newcastle United are facing a similar situation this summer and much of the news has already revolved around the question of whether top scorer Dwight Gayle will be sold.
Rafa Benitez stated publicly last summer he was building a team to get out of the EFL Championship and that is exactly what he did. The team he built was not full of world class stars or trophy signings; it was made up of players with Championship experience, players who had played in the lower leagues and come up through the ranks and players who wanted to play for Newcastle United – we should no longer be a stepping stone. Some players, Daryl Murphy and Grant Hanley for example, made a big splash when they were signed; shouldn’t we be targeting players who are better than them? Under Rafa however, things are different, for one thing the Newcastle fans trust him completely and that is why we have done it this way.
During the season it was difficult not to think ahead and look at the current team to see if they would make it to the Premier League if we were promoted. The phrase ‘found their level’ was used a lot by fans; Gouffran, Anita and Colback all had a decent, solid season but most fans would agree they just aren’t good enough for the Premier League and I would be surprised if they didn’t move on this summer.
Dwight Gayle was never really mentioned in that group. Neither were Hayden, Ritchie, Atsu and Shelvey, but the conversation this summer revolved around whether or not Gayle would be replaced.
I like Gayle a lot, he has had quite a few injuries this season and if he had had more time on the pitch he would undoubtedly be the league’s top scorer. But is he good enough for the Premier League? An injury-free Dwight Gayle – yes, but his injuries are a concern.
Dwight Gayle has scored world class goals and scored deflections too – he is a fantastic all-round striker and plays well as a lone striker in Rafa’s 4-2-3-1 system. He has the pace to beat most Premier League defenders, he is young, English and most importantly hungry to be successful with Newcastle United. Unless a truly world class striker becomes available at a reasonable price, I would be happy to give Gayle a fair chance in the Premier League.
I think players like Murphy and Mitrovic will leave the club and a quality striker will be brought in to give Gayle competition. Competition is a good thing and has spurred Gayle on this season but next season in the Premier League will be different. Mitrovic has not taken his chance this season and I’m sure most fans will agree that the Premier League is too much for Murphy so a new striker is needed but Dwight Gayle has done more than enough to keep his place in the squad if not the starting XI next season.
