Newcastle United midfielder Isaac Hayden has heaped praise on Jonjo Shelvey, branding the star ‘a Rolls-Royce of a player’.
Shelvey has played a hugely important role for the Magpies in recent weeks.
He has formed part of a terrific trident in the engine room, with Joelinton and Joe Willock providing the energy just ahead of him.
Shelvey has often come in for big criticism from many Newcastle fans.
At times under Steve Bruce, he could really frustrate.
He would sometimes give the impression of perhaps not working as hard as he could. That was hard to take for some, who have always known Shelvey’s on-the-ball quality.
Since Eddie Howe came in though, the former Liverpool and Swansea City maestro has shown a fantastic level.
He is currently keeping the likes of Sean Longstaff and new signing Bruno Guimaraes out of the team, and injured star Hayden had a kind word to say about his teammate on Twitter today.
Shelvey’s level did dip a bit yesterday in the win over Brighton. And the player actually gave an apology for not being at his best, which he really didn’t need to.
Quoting Shelvey’s message, Hayden wrote: “Rolls Royce of a player, excellent again yesterday during a tough game with not a lot of ball. Lads have been unbelievable and a pleasure to watch. ‘The relentless pursuit of better’ must never stop.”
Jonjo Shelvey deserves huge credit for remarkable turnaround at Newcastle
It is a nice word from Hayden on Shelvey, who deserves tremendous credit for stepping up on the past couple of months.
Howe also deserves huge praise for drawing this kind of level out of a player who had lost his way under Bruce.
He always had tremendous ability. His passing range is seriously impressive.
It is good to see that the defensive side of his game has massively improved, and that he is taking much more responsibility in games.
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