Chris Wood gives honest assessment of his goal record at Newcastle

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Chris Wood has admitted that he would love to have a better goal record for Newcastle, but wasn’t just brought in to put the ball in the net.

The 30-year-old joined the Magpies in January, moving to St James’ Park for £25million from Burnley. While it was an expensive signing, it was a deal that made sense at the time.

Newcastle desperately needed a striker in the absence of Callum Wilson, while the move severely weakened a direct relegation rival.

Wood’s arrival had the desired effect. Newcastle stayed up, while the Clarets, sadly for them, went down. However, that only tells half of the story.

The goals didn’t flow at al for the New Zealander. His first came in an away victory against Southampton, and his second was a penalty in the 1-0 home win over Wolves. They are the only two competitive goals Wood has scored for Newcastle.

However, Wood has defended himself in an interview with the club’s website.

What Wood said about his Newcastle goal record

The striker has done a feature with the club’s website where he discusses pictures from throughout his career. One of the snaps is of him celebrating his first Toon goal, and Wood went into detail about his start to life on Tyneside.

“Of course, you’re brought in to score goals and ultimately I would have loved to have scored more last season,” he said.

“But it wasn’t ever about me coming in just to score a load – if I’d scored ten but we got relegated, it would still have been catastrophic for both me and the club. It was all about the team at this stage. It was about staying in the Premier League, working as a unit and club to push forward.

“My role, when I spoke to the gaffer here, wasn’t just about scoring goals. It was about incorporating the whole team together, bringing them further up the pitch, things like that. I’d like to think that everything other than goals was pretty damn good from me last season. I just needed to add more goals.

“I know I can score goals in this league – I back myself, I know the manager backs me, and I know the players back me. That’s all that really matters.”

Newcastle in the market for another striker

Wood’s defence of his performances is very fair. While he didn’t score enough goals, he did bring a lot to the side. It’s no coincidence that we went on our best run when he was leading the line last season. He allowed others to thrive around him.

As he says, it would have been great if he had scored 10 goals, but it would have meant nothing if Newcastle were relegated.

While Wood’s defence of himself is understandable, it hasn’t stopped the Magpies looking for a new striker. It’s been the priority all summer, and is even more urgent now that Dwight Gayle has gone to Stoke.

The current main target appears to be Goncalo Ramos from Benfica, who we faced in pre-season. It’s been claimed that we could offer £25million for the 21-year-old.

Whoever arrives will be competing with the Wood for the role of second choice striker, as Wilson is the undisputed favourite forward at St James’ Park.