Before he signed for Newcastle United, Anthony Gordon had a certain reputation amongst players and fans at the club.
The infamous bust-up with Kieran Trippier, Fabian Schar and Anthony Gordon is so well documented that it was the first thing mentioned to the Newcastle duo by coach Jason Tindall when Gordon was introduced.
Gordon had a reputation for being a bit, shall we say, feisty and the type of player who’d resort to dirty tricks to win his team any kind of advantage. Like Joey Barton, he’s the type of player you hate unless he’s on your team, but it turns out the real Anthony Gordon is nothing like that.
Telling NUFC TV: “I think when I came here a lot of people were surprised around the place because my personality off the pitch and on the pitch couldn’t be any different. Off the pitch, I’m really upbeat and socialise with anyone and really upbeat all the time. On the pitch, I’m probably a bit more aggressive.
Gordon: “I will do anything to win”
“I will do anything to win in short term so whether that be ruffling someone’s feathers or anything really, anything the game requires me to do I’ll do it if it helps my team win, so my personality is very different.”
The interviewer likens Gordon to Eddie Howe in that he’s a personable guy but has that winning mentality that can sometimes lead to a more intense side. The fans and media don’t really get to see this side of Howe, but I bet the players have seen the demon.
It’s fine if he does it for Newcastle
If Gordon does resort to the tactics we cursed him for in his Everton days it will be amusing to see NUFC Twitter as fans who called him out for it previously will suddenly be behind him for doing the exact same thing. As I said, he’s that kind of player you hate unless he’s wearing your team’s shirt.
Gordon has won me over after watching interviews with him since he arrived and it’s easy to see that what he says is true, his off the pitch personality is completely different to his on-pitch persona.