A whole host of Newcastle United fans have reacted furiously on Twitter to Lee Ryder’s Jeff Hendrick verdict.
Writing for Chronicle Live following the Toon’s 1-1 pre-season draw with Rotherham United, Ryder issued some praise towards the Irishman, stating: “Bruce handed him a role as emergency centre-forward against Rotherham and he grabbed it with both hands.”
The Magpies finished their previous pre-season game against the Millers with no recognised striker on the pitch and Hendrick, the goalscorer during the match, finished as the main striker.
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After his side’s draw against the League One outfit, Steve Bruce commented on the striker situation and questioned ‘how many do you have in a squad?‘ after rattling off how many he already had.
A lot of Newcastle fans appear angry on Twitter following Ryder’s positive take on Hendrick’s performance.
What have these Newcastle fans had to say?
“Mate, please don’t even joke about this. Will 100% give me nightmares tonight now”
“Truly unbelievable”
“We don’t need to buy a forward, we’ve got Hendrick”
“Hope this is some sort of sick joke”
“STOP THIS RIGHT NOW. IT’S NOT A THING.”
“Easy Ryder”
Hendrick was signed as a free agent from Burnley last summer and despite netting on his debut against West Ham, last season was one to forget as he managed just 17 league starts and averaging a 6.33 WhoScored rating.
Out of the five strikers that Bruce mentioned post-match, only three are natural strikers in Callum Wilson, Joelinton and Dwight Gayle, whereas Allan Saint-Maximin and Miguel Almiron are wingers and attacking midfielders, but Bruce has said himself in the past that Joelinton isn’t a goalscorer – so it appears there is a contradiction somewhere along the line.
Either way, these fans are in no mood to entertain the idea of Hendrick being a potential solution to any shortcomings in attack.