Eddie Howe has been pretty clear what players out of the Newcastle team must do to force their way back in
Sean McCormick is a football writer covering Newcastle United for ChronicleLive. After starting his career covering North East sport, he has had a spell working as an editor on the Manchester Evening News. He also writes about darts and boxing. He joined us in 2016.
He is a player whose name will always be cemented in the modern history of the club but Joe Willock now finds himself fighting for his Newcastle United career.
Willock, of course, equalled a club record back in the 2020/21 season when he scored in seven consecutive games at the end of the campaign to help lift the Magpies away from the relegation battle to a mid-table finish.
His contribution during a worrying period for the club under the management of Steve Bruce was invaluable and was enough to convince previous owner Mike Ashley to sanction turning his loan move into a permanent stay for £25million.
He remains one of the few survivors at the club from the Bruce era and was a key player in the side under Eddie Howe that avoided relegation the following season and then finished fourth in 2022/23. But the two seasons since then have been beset by injuries and he has found himself out of Newcastle’s strongest team as a result.
Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali and Joelinton are irrefutably Newcastle’s strongest midfield three and, when they are on song, they are among the best midfields in the Premier League.
Willock was previously seen as a like-for-like alternative for Joelinton but when new summer signing Jacob Ramsey returns to full fitness, he will likely be ahead of the 26-year-old in the pecking order.
Following Sean Longstaff’s move to Leeds United in the summer, as well as the high esteem teenage star Lewis Miley is held in by Newcastle, Willock currently finds himself as the club’s sixth choice midfielder.
He has been restricted to just three appearances this season and, as he heads into the prime years of his career, he is reaching a bit of a crossroads.
Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe has been a big fan of Willock’s over the years but he was pretty blunt when asked last week what Willock had to do to get back into the side.
“It is the same for any player in his position,” Howe told reporters. “He needs to train well. Whenever a player is not playing as much as they would want, they still have a window to impress me every day.
“And, of course, when they play, when they get on the pitch, they’ve got to perform. They’ve got to grab every opportunity that comes their way.”
With Newcastle still competing in four competitions and the likelihood of two matches every week between now and Christmas, Willock should still get plenty of time between now and the January transfer window to impress.
He simply has to seize his chance to convince Howe and his coaching staff that he remains a player they can rely upon. The next two-and-a-half months will tell us whether Willock is up for that challenge or, ultimately, whether his long term future belongs away from Tyneside.