It is a difficult, possibly even a provocative subject, yet Jamaal Lascelles’ response to losing his place in the team reveals much about the changes that have occurred since Newcastle United’s takeover and the skilful way manager Eddie Howe has operated.
Lascelles is club captain and for most of the last five years has started every game when fit. Now, he is the skipper who has been dropped, replaced by one of the club’s January signings and has watched the team climb clear of the bottom three from the bench.
The 28-year-old has been one of the first victims of Newcastle’s new spending power under their Saudi Arabian owners after Howe made the signing of a left-footed centre back one of his recruitment priorities. In came Dan Burn, at a cost of £13m from Brighton and Lascelles is no longer a first-choice defender.
“It’s pretty much the first time for years I’ve not started when fit,“ Lascelles acknowledged without any hint of irritation that this has been pointed out. “I have a really good relationship with the manager. We speak a lot.
“I’m happy the team is playing well and it’s not just my job as captain to drive the team on the pitch, it’s about what happens at the training ground, driving what the manager wants in training. A lot of what I do is away from St James’ Park.”
Many in Lascelles’ position would not even consider doing an interview to mark the opening of a new £8m building for the Newcastle Foundation. Some would have refused to turn up. Which means Lascelles’ willingness to talk so openly points to a dressing room at ease, despite the £93m spent on five new players in January.
“I think the new players have added to what was already here,” explained Lascelles. “The manager was smart about that. He didn’t just go for players who are good on the pitch, he went for players who are good in the dressing-room. He went for leaders too like Chris Wood, Kieran Trippier and Dan Burn. The manager knows exactly what he’s doing.
“He’s huge on team camaraderie, players with personality, people getting on and gelling together because you do all those things off the pitch and then you want to run an extra mile for your teammate.
“Straight away, the minute he walks through the door… we know every single one of the staff. They know our ins and outs. They know our kids’ names, their birthdays. I’ve had managers in the past who wouldn’t even ask, you know what I mean? They’ve just created that feeling. When you have a manager and a staff like that you’d run through a brick wall for them. He’s created that.”
Newcastle are no longer just looking to survive
Lascelles probably knew what was coming next. He is no longer playing regularly and there will be more signings to come in June. Newcastle were trying to sign two centre backs in January, not just one.
“I’d love to stay here for as long as possible,” Lascelles continued. “Who wouldn’t? I’m captain of the club and where things are going at the minute is a fantastic thing to be part of.
“I just think we’re all working hard. That’s the other thing, because everyone is desperate to stay and be a part of it, the level improves. Not just in the way we train, but the way people are sensible in what they do in and around the city.
“The transfer speculation isn’t hard to deal with. Not really, because when you see all the superstars being linked, we don’t know how true that all is. We also know that you cannot completely change a football team overnight, it’s going to be gradual. Even if that is what this club eventually turns into, it’s what is happening now that matters to us.
“All I know, the players who are here want to be involved with this football club for as long as we possibly can. It’s a great thing at the minute. It will be fascinating to see how that all develops in the next year and beyond that.”
That brings us back to the captaincy. Lascelles has had his critics on Tyneside but he has always commanded respect as a skipper.
He was given the job by Rafael Benitez following relegation to the Championship in 2016 and kept it under Steve Bruce. He has led a team, within a club, that was so divided at times under former owner Mike Ashley that it felt like civil war.
“The manager has just made my job so much easier,” Lascelles added. “There have been times here where I’ve found it difficult trying to keep the dressing room together, trying to keep relationships, trying to keep things positive. But now when you’ve got like five, six, seven players all doing that.
“You look at the bigger teams back in the day, teams like Manchester United, they wouldn’t just have one captain, they’d have a group of players, your lieutenants I guess. We’ve got that, a leadership group, and that’s a real good thing.
“We have a completely different mentality. We are no longer just looking to survive. We go into every game, even Chelsea away the other week, looking to win. It feels like a very different football club from top to bottom. I’ve been here a long time, six or seven years, and it’s great to see that change.”
Jamaal Lascelles was speaking at the official opening of the Newcastle Foundation’s new £8m NUCASTLE community hub, sponsored by Newcastle Building Society, in the heart of the city’s West End.
