A number of Newcastle fans have called for Jonjo Shelvey to be dropped ahead of their crucial trip to Burnley on Sunday.
After battling to a draw with Spurs and seeing Fulham lose to Wolves on Friday night, Newcastle head to Turf Moor knowing that victory will take them six points clear of the drop zone.
It’s clearly a major opportunity to ease relegation fears, with Burnley only 15th following a run of one win in seven.
Shelvey, who is valued at £11.7 million (as per Transfermarkt), hasn’t missed a Premier League minute for the Magpies since he returned from injury in the 3-0 defeat at Arsenal on January 18.
The former Liverpool midfielder is averaging 1.4 tackles, 1.1 interceptions and 1.3 key passes per 90 minutes this season (via WhoScored).
He’s faced some stinging criticism this season, accused of ‘pure laziness’ and labelled a ‘liability’ by NUFC Blog‘s Jonny Dawson at the end of February.
Ahead of Sunday’s game, the club’s Athletic correspondent Chris Waugh laid out Bruce’s key selection dilemmas.
‘Is it time to drop Shelvey?’ he asked.
These Newcastle fans think Shelvey omission is long overdue
“Ritchie would be the first name on my sheet, Shelvey’s a passenger, the only positive thing Shelvey has going for him is that he’s not Hendrick.”
“Jonjo could sit on his backside in the centre circle for 90 minutes and he still wouldn’t be dropped.”
“Shelvey should have been dropped months ago, may as well play with 10”
“It was time to drop Shelvey about 4/5 months ago!”
“Drop Shelvey like a bad habit.”
“Definitely drop Shelvey.”