Football journalist Alex Crook has been sharing his thoughts on the current atmosphere and situation at Newcastle United.
This comes after Crook recently made an appearance on talkSPORT’s Gameday podcast where he previewed the Premier League’s Boxing Day fixtures.
On the topic of the Tyneside club, Crook had this to say on the matter. (27.12)
He said: “I think Newcastle maybe are one of the clubs who are grateful at this moment in time that they’re not allowed fans into St. James’ Park because the atmosphere would be toxic.
“But it’s the fact that it’s an open secret that Mike Ashley is trying to sell the club to anybody willing to buy it and therefore the height of their ambitions this season is to stay in the Premier League and to keep that club as a saleable asset.
“I think they’ll do that but ambitions any further than that are not being talked about in the dressing room and we probably saw that in that cap game when Brentford made so many changes and Newcastle still couldn’t find a way to win.
“I think there’s a couple of exceptions, Callum Wilson, obviously is on a personal mission to get himself in the England squad and that’s why his form has been quite good, but they know really [that] they’re treading water in the Premier League and it will remain that way until Mike Ashley does find a willing buyer.”
Would you say the atmosphere at Newcastle is toxic at the moment?
Yes
No
So far this season, prior to their Premier League clash away at Manchester City, Newcastle have picked up a fairly mixed bag of results in the league having won five, drawn three and losing five, placing them in 12th place in the league table.
In terms of Wilson, who Crook mentioned in the podcast, the striker has managed to score eight goals in the 12 league appearances he’s made for Steve Bruce’s side and earn himself a solid season rating of 7.03/10, making him the second-highest rated player in the squad.
TIF Thoughts on Alex Crook’s comments on Newcastle…
Given the fact that the team have picked up a very inconsistent run of results in the Premier League so far this season and that the club are currently involved in a court case against the league over their handling of the failed Saudi takeover of the club, it’s not exactly surprising that Crook has suggested that the atmosphere at the club isn’t exactly positive at the moment.