Callum Wilson has shared what he and the rest of the Newcastle United players were thinking when it was announced they’d signed Anthony Gordon.
You only have to have taken a brief peek at Newcastle fans on social media a year or so ago to see what they thought of Anthony Gordon while he was an Everton player. To say it wasn’t positive would be an understatement.
It seems now that that feeling may also have been apparent in the Newcastle dressing room too given when Callum Wilson has said on this week’s Footballer’s Football Podcast.
Callum Wilson couldn’t resist lighting the fuse when Gordon arrived
We all know that Gordon was a fairly divisive figure on the pitch. Known for, shall we say, outhousery of the highest order, be it winding up opposition players, diving to try and buy free kicks or just generally being a pest.
However, there seemed to be a switch in attitude amongst fans when it was announced that Gordon would be signing for Newcastle and that was along the lines of – he’s an outhouse, but he’s our outhouse. The kind of player you hate unless he’s on your side. See also Craig Bellamy or Joey Barton.
Callum Wilson had a similar view of Gordon as he said on the podcast: “Yeah it was funny because we played Everton and there was a scrap between him, Dan Burn, Kieran Trippier, Nick Pope and everyone just come for him in that moment.
“I wasn’t even the one that was there but he was just annoying me from afar, I was thinking what is this guy doing.
“Then he joined us and a lot of the lads were like ‘oh I wonder what he’s going to be like’ and for me one of the first things I said to him was ‘right you two need to get the boxing gloves on’, on about him and Kieran because they had had some beef on the pitch but that was just me throwing a hand grenade out there and letting it simmer.
“But like I say he’s joined us and he’s a nice guy, so we are delighted to have him.”
Fans’ opinions of Gordon seems to have changed dramatically since he joined, and his image continues to improve for me too. After seeing him in interviews, especially the one where he admitted he had a lot of work to do, it completely changed my view of him.
Anthony Gordon has endeared himself to the Newcastle faithful
The fact that his performances have been second to none certainly hasn’t harmed his cause either.
He actually does seem like a really nice lad, but he obviously has that competitive edge that can turn him quite nasty when it matters.
It’s little surprise that he’s already on four bookings this season after just six games.
Receive a digest of our best Newcastle content each week direct to your mailbox
