Jamaal Lascelles’ leadership at Newcastle United has been questioned since Kieran Trippier’s arrival.
The right-back was the first new recruit in January, joining for £12million from Atletico Madrid.
He made his debut almost immediately after joining, starting the humiliating FA Cup exit to Cambridge United. After the game, Trippier was seen rollicking teammates who’d departed the field without applauding the capacity St James’ Park crowd.
Despite only just arriving, the 31-year-old was cementing his position as a leader within this squad.
His influence has only increased over the past few weeks, captaining the team in Saudi Arabia. Alan Shearer predicted Trippier to captain Newcastle competitively, and that happened on Sunday.
With Lascelles out due to illness, Trippier donned the armband in his absence. It was a captain’s performance, netting the winner from a free kick. Sadly, injury ended his captaincy debut early.
Trippier authority has ‘galvanised’ Jamaal Lascelles
Trippier has had an incredible impact at St James’ Park already. He’s a new voice and a leader in the dressing room.
But how has his arrival and authority impacted Lascelles? Well, the Athletic claim that he is ‘galvanised’ by it.
That’s exactly what you want to read. Lascelles could easily have been threatened by the presence of Trippier. Combine his arrival with talk of two new centre-backs joining and Lascelles could have been questioning his Toon future.
But instead, the Athletic state he is ‘galvanised’. More voices and leaders in the dressing room is exactly what you want. You can’t just have one captain calling the shots. You need multiple leaders, especially in our position.
Trippier has came in and he has completely raised the standards of the club. It is up to others to step up and match those standards, and thankfully that appears to be happening.
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