Newcastle United journalist Lee Ryder has been sharing his thoughts on Toon striker Dwight Gayle and his performance for the club during their recent Premier League defeat against Chelsea on Monday night.
This comes after Ryder recently made an appearance on the latest episode of The Chronicle’s Everything Is Black and White Podcast to reflect on the 2-0 defeat against Thomas Tuchel’s side.
On the subject of Gayle, who started the game at Stamford Bridge before being substituted off in the second half, Ryder had this to say on the Englishman and his display in the match.
He said: “You’re only as good as the service around you and sadly, Gayle didn’t get much of it.
“I have to be honest, being at the empty ground, Gayle was playing like a captain in some ways, in terms of encouragement, keeping the troops motivated.
“I don’t think you can fault his effort, I really don’t. I think he did everything he could, given the circumstances. Sums it up, really, that his main contribution was a defensive clearance at the start.”
Newcastle signed Gayle back in the 2016 summer transfer window from fellow Premier League side Crystal Palace for a fee of £10.8 million.
Overall, the 31-year-old, who is currently valued at £7.2 million, has made 103 appearances for the Tyneside across all competitions in which he has managed to score 34 goals and provide 10 assists along the way (per Transfermarkt).
TIF Thoughts on Lee Ryder’s comments on Gayle…
Despite only managing to only earn himself a match rating of 6.56/10 for his performance on the pitch against Chelsea, it’s reassuring to hear from Ryder was trying to motivate his teammates on the night and help them through the game that ultimately ended with Newcastle returning to St. James’ Park empty-handed.
Perhaps that will give the Newcastle fans a bit of perspective in future games, with Gayle being one of those singled out for criticism in the immediate aftermath of the result at Stamford Bridge.
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Moving forward, with fellow Toon striker Callum Wilson out of action through injury, Gayle will have to take every opportunity he gets to help fire his team towards some positive results or else Newcastle could find themselves in the relegation zone as the season progresses.