Eddie Howe now confirms ‘fully fit’ Newcastle star is ‘not having the impact’ he wants him to have

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Not all too many of Newcastle United’s big players have shown up this season.

Indeed, Anthony Gordon’s body language was slammed during Newcastle’s defeat to Fulham on Saturday, while Bruno Guimaraes made a mistake so glaring he apologised for it.

It would be difficult to argue that Joelinton is anywhere near the level he showed last season despite a strong performance against Southampton on the opening weekend.

Eddie Howe, meanwhile, admitted he made a mistake starting Joe Willock at Craven Cottage, presumably as he’s spent so long out of action of late.

Another worry is Alexander Isak.

The striker, who earned so many rave reviews last season, has scored only one Premier League goal thus far and the Newcastle United manager pretty much admitted his form was a concern.

Eddie Howe admits Alexander Isak is a concern for Newcastle United now

Isak proved rather ineffective at Fulham, albeit he was hardly offered much in the way of service by his teammates.

The forward had gone into the game with an injury concern following a toe problem, having also come off at Wolves last weekend after complaining of blurred vision.

Still, Howe confirmed the striker was fully fit, though admitted Isak is just not having the impact the club want him to right now.

“He was fully fit, he was happy to play,” he told Newcastle World.

“He trained yesterday [Friday] and there were no issues.

“He’s not as involved as we want him to be, he’s not having the impact in the games we want him to have and what he is capable of doing so hence the tactical reshuffle at half-time. We tried to get players nearer to him. It’s one for me to think about.”

Newcastle need Alexander Isak to click

Howe recently described Isak as a “game-changer” when he’s at his very best and it would be foolish to disagree with that.

Criticism may be fairly harsh given the injury issues in the build-up to the game but there’s little doubt Isak is yet to click into gear this season.

A player of such quality surely will at some point but it’s clear that he just isn’t at it right now. It may be a fitness issue of course but it’s worth pointing out.

The sooner Isak is up to speed, the sooner Newcastle will start playing well.