Dan Burn has revealed what shocked him the most about Jonjo Shelvey when he first joined Newcastle United back in January 2022 as one of the first signings under Eddie Howe.
Newcastle were at the time still in a relegation battle and Burn had joined a dysfunctional team who had won just one game all season by the end of January.
The defender was on The Monday Night Club to discuss how he was surprised at how vocal someone like Jonjo Shelvey was in the dressing room after first assuming he was a more reserved character.
Burn was surprised how positive Newcastle’s team were
At the time, Newcastle were one of the poorest teams in the Premier League and no club had ever gone as long they had without a win while also avoiding relegation.
Upon arrival, Burn was expecting a sort of toxic atmosphere in the dressing room that he’d have to work with and try and improve to rally the squad if they were to stay up.
What he found, however, was a group of players who were willing to fight for each other and to do everything they could together to keep the team in the Premier League.
Shelvey in particular surprised the 31-year-old with how vocal he was at a difficult time in Newcastle’s recent history, and it made Burn believe they really could stay up.
On The Monday Night Club, Burn said: “I was very surprised when I got there. I have played in teams before who have been struggling against relegation and I feel like everyone goes into self defence mode and it’s like it’s not my fault it’s theirs.
“They are very quick to pass the blame on. You tend to see that the lads on the bench wouldn’t say poisonous was the word but they are like you are not winning and I’m not playing so they can be a little bit bitter but when I got there it was sort of just how much everyone got behind each other at the games.
“People like Matty Ritchie who hadn’t played as many games as he would have liked, getting people going for the games, Jacob Murphy he is playing more now.
“Jonjo – who I had never played with and always thought he was quite quiet – but he was quite vocal in the changing room so I looked round and thought we stand a chance here. If we start picking up results quickly this could snowball.”
They built the foundations for the current Newcastle team
Newcastle’s current team looks a lot different to what it did almost two years ago, but the feeling of togetherness and willingness to fight for the manager and supporters is still there.
Eddie Howe and the recruitment staff have so far done a brilliant job at identifying the right characters to bring in who will both elevate the quality of the squad without upsetting the balance of the dressing room.
While Shelvey and others may not be there anymore, the culture that was set in those first few months under Howe still exists and Burn has now taken up the role as one of the leaders in this Newcastle team.
There is a temptation to now go out and buy high quality players from around the world, and that will definitely be the long-term aim, but it’s a difficult challenge to do that and make sure the culture stays exactly the same as we’ve seen at so many clubs already.
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