Jamaal Lascelles

[AyeDubbleYoo]

12 hours ago, NWMag said:

Buzzing he scored, probably his worst performance during this run of games though. Not a massive criticism as he has been playing really well, hopefully it was just an off day for him 

I can really only remember that one mistake, and even for that he was kind of trapped into it because he didn’t have any options. 

[STM]

6 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

I can really only remember that one mistake, and even for that he was kind of trapped into it because he didn’t have any options. 

 

He also made a mistake that led to their second free kick.

[The Prophet]

Out of contract at the end of the season. Renew or bin?

[The Butcher]

Keep for another year.

 

Dummett, Krafth and Manq will probably go in the summer.

[Tiresias]

3 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

Out of contract at the end of the season. Renew or bin?

 

If he wants to stay should let him, would respect him wanting to go and play. I imagine the club will be looking at a 3rd top class CB to compete with Schar so he may not get minutes but he is a big voice in dressing room and could see him moving into the coaching setup or something. 

[STM]

There will be loads of average PL teams after him: West Ham, Brentford, Fulham, Wolves. 

 

It's up to him. If we sign another CB, it's hard seeing him getting many games. On the other hand, the return of the bubonic plague will likely occur again.

 

I've no issue either way.

 

 

Edited November 26, 2023 by STM

[TheBrownBottle]

14 hours ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

I can really only remember that one mistake, and even for that he was kind of trapped into it because he didn’t have any options. 

Made a serious error in the first min of the second half that probably should have seen Chelsea 2-1 up

[TheBrownBottle]

5 hours ago, STM said:

There will be loads of average PL teams after him: West Ham, Brentford, Fulham, Wolves. 

 

It's up to him. If we sign another CB, it's hard seeing him getting many games. On the other hand, the return of the bubonic plague will likely occur again.

 

I've no issue either way.

 

 

 

Yep, he’s a capable bottom half PL centre half - which is why he’s a great squad player for us at present.  Excellent professional too.  

[Stottie]

Contrast with Spurs' backup center halves yesterday. Completely AWOL for the Watkins offside header and the Torres headed goal.

They look way more defensively frail with the backups in. I do not see that level of dropoff with Lascelles.

[Superior Acuña]

Anything behind the non-celebration? Just absorbing it maybe.

[Kanj]

24 minutes ago, Superior Acuña said:

Anything behind the non-celebration? Just absorbing it maybe.

Felt like he was relieved he made up for the mistake. 

[Geordie Ahmed]

32 minutes ago, Kanji said:

Felt like he was relieved he made up for the mistake. 

Yeah, that's exactly how I saw it too

 

Relief and probably still annoyed with himself for the mistake 

[magvicar]

Lascelles has done nothing short of fantastic since he came in, when you consider the time he's been sidelined.

I think he's got a bit of time left for Newcastle, even as a back up to rely on.

It's players like Lascelles that make up the strength in the depth of the squad. Players like him who you can rely on to do a job after being out in the cold, so to speak.

It's the same with Dummett.

 

Naturally as time goes on they will be replaced with better quality but whilst we are in transition, those players are integral to our careful build.

Krafth is another who I'd keep for a bit.

 

I think some of these ageing players may have a role to play behind the scenes.

[TheBrownBottle]

1 hour ago, magvicar said:

Lascelles has done nothing short of fantastic since he came in, when you consider the time he's been sidelined.

I think he's got a bit of time left for Newcastle, even as a back up to rely on.

It's players like Lascelles that make up the strength in the depth of the squad. Players like him who you can rely on to do a job after being out in the cold, so to speak.

It's the same with Dummett.

 

Naturally as time goes on they will be replaced with better quality but whilst we are in transition, those players are integral to our careful build.

Krafth is another who I'd keep for a bit.

 

I think some of these ageing players may have a role to play behind the scenes.

I’d like to see him stay for at least another season, though I’d completely respect if he wanted regular football elsewhere.  The lad has been an excellent servant to the club whatever happens 

[Ronaldo]

1 hour ago, magvicar said:

Lascelles has done nothing short of fantastic since he came in, when you consider the time he's been sidelined.

I think he's got a bit of time left for Newcastle, even as a back up to rely on.

It's players like Lascelles that make up the strength in the depth of the squad. Players like him who you can rely on to do a job after being out in the cold, so to speak.

It's the same with Dummett.

 

Naturally as time goes on they will be replaced with better quality but whilst we are in transition, those players are integral to our careful build.

Krafth is another who I'd keep for a bit.

 

I think some of these ageing players may have a role to play behind the scenes.

All well and good but with FFP we can’t keep paying backup players high wages whose value will depreciate significantly from here on out. 

[Groundhog63]

Granted he lost the ball in the middle of the park which, ultimately, led to the free kick conversion BUT... 

In real time I said Schar needed to get over to Sterling asap but he hesitated because Palmer was behind him. If he had Trippier wouldn't have needed to put his hand on Sterling giving the little prick the chance to dive. 

If Schar had done so he could've narrowed the angle for Sterling to subsequently pass to Palmer whilst Bruno (iirc) was steaming in on him. There was still plenty to do. 

 

 

Edited November 27, 2023 by Groundhog63

[The College Dropout]

Delighted that he scored and made up for his error.  
 

He’s still the beet in the air at the club. 
 

IMO I’d love to keep him next season as 4th choice. We need a proper first team CB to ensure quality doesn’t diminish with 1 injury. But that 4th choice is difficult to get right but Lascelles is perfect for that role if he’s good with it. Burn isn’t it at CB. 

[PauloGeordio]

With the centre-back putting Newcastle ahead, it was a game to remember for Lascelles, even if he scared some Newcastle fans over his potential fitness.

Lascelles said: “It meant a lot because I wasn’t having the best of games, struggling a bit with my boots and my foot. But I was pleased to score and I do think it was the turning point in the momentum.

“I’m fine. My studs snapped so I had to change boots and I had not worn them before so I had a size nine on one foot and a size 11 on the other, so my feet were all over the gaff!”  
 

Commitment  

[Smal]

the best thing you could possibly ask a player to do after a mistake is to keep calm, keep trying to play by the principles and then make up for it at the other end. He did all that. 

 

He'll have been here 10 years by August. Really happy for him. Hope he stays another year. 

[PauloGeordio]

Just now, Smal said:

the best thing you could possibly ask a player to do after a mistake is to keep calm, keep trying to play by the principles and then make up for it at the other end. He did all that. 

 

He'll have been here 10 years by August. Really happy for him. Hope he stays another year. 

Deserves to be on this upward joyride! 

[wormy]

10 years.. Shit I'm old.

 

A size 9 and 11 boot each, too.  Makes me wonder why the hell players wouldn't have correct size back ups available at all times but fair play to the absolute mountain of a man. Must have been really distracting.

[magvicar]

5 hours ago, Ronaldo said:

All well and good but with FFP we can’t keep paying backup players high wages whose value will depreciate significantly from here on out. 

I can't see him on high wages, compared to the regulars. I think he's more than worth his weight for back up as soon as the regulars are fit, plus maybe a few additions.

I think his worth is more than just on match days.

There's plenty of other players that would be first out for me.

9 years at the club and many of those as captain. His wage is about 40 grand a week, I think. 

He's 30 years old and is as fit as a butchers dog and as strong as a Bull.

He cost us about 3.5 million all those years ago.

I think he's been a bargain and a half both on and off the pitch.

 

The dent in FFP would be a small pin head tap on the east stand player flag sheet.

[PauloGeordio]

3 hours ago, wormy said:

10 years.. Shit I'm old.

 

A size 9 and 11 boot each, too.  Makes me wonder why the hell players wouldn't have correct size back ups available at all times but fair play to the absolute mountain of a man. Must have been really distracting.

“It feels like a different Newcastle now”, Lascelles said in an interview with the Daily Telegraph.

 

“Everyone would run through a brick wall to play for the manager and play for the badge.

 

 

“That is what I am doing. I am loving it.”

[Smal]

https://archive.is/ewLIK

 

Quote

Jamaal Lascelles: Lots of people wrote me off but I've always put Newcastle badge before myself

 

Club captain never sulked when sidelined and has taken the opportunity offered by injury to claim his starting place back and find best form

 

It is easy to see why Jamaal Lascelles is not just a Premier League defender but a captain.

 

“There were a lot of people probably writing me off saying ‘his time is done’,” he says of last season when, having previously been an ever-present, he made only two Premier League starts for a rapidly-evolving Newcastle United.

 

“But I will always say I can look myself in the mirror having given 100 per cent and done everything that I can for everybody: for myself and for the club,” Lascelles explains.

 

“It was difficult at the start getting used to the change because if I was fit I always played at Newcastle. But maturity is a huge factor and you gain things if the team is playing well even if you are not playing.

 

“I was wise enough to realise that ‘OK, I might not be playing but I am at a club that might get into the Champions League’. I was in a fantastic situation. A situation most people dream to be in.

 

“So, I wasn’t going to sulk; I wasn’t going to spit my dummy out. I was going to cherish every single moment because it was massive and it might not happen again. I was going to support everybody in the same way that people had supported me when I played. When you have players like that who put the badge before themselves it provides a real unity in the team. And then if your time comes take it.”

 

Lascelles’ time has come – and he has taken it. On Tuesday evening he will lead out Newcastle at the Parc des Princes against Paris Saint-Germain in a must-not-lose (and probably must-win) Champions League tie after re-establishing himself at the heart of Eddie Howe’s team.

 

Injury to Sven Botman offered the centre-half his chance and he has been among Newcastle’s best performers since returning to the side for the League Cup victory over Manchester City in September having not started since March. On Saturday he scored in the impressive – and all the more impressive given the list of players out – 4-1 victory over Chelsea.

 

“It feels like a different Newcastle now,” Lascelles states. “Everyone would run through a brick wall to play for the manager and play for the badge and that is what I am doing. I am loving it.”

 

Mention of the manager brings us to Howe and the transformative effect he has had. Interestingly Lascelles says he grew up – starting his career at Nottingham Forest before joining Newcastle in 2014 – exposed to “old-school” managers who were more used to “effing and blinding” and barking orders.

 

“If not you would be punished,” Lascelles says. “This gaffer has a completely different approach. I think he sees himself as a father-figure to us all. He wants to make sure we are all OK, we are happy. He has set up the games room but then he’s strict in a different way. He is strict with the way we train; with the standards.

 

“We have seen the other side to him when he can have a go if someone is not pulling their weight. You do not want to cross that line. I think he has got the balance perfectly which is why everyone respects him and wants to do so well under him.

 

“It’s: ‘How can we improve him as a person’. When you have someone who gives up so much time – he’s here at half six in the morning, probably earlier, and he’s the last one to leave. So with the amount of effort he puts into us, you almost feel like you have to give him absolutely everything.”

 

The games room? One of the changes under Newcastle’s new owners has been a revamping of the training ground – a new entrance, gym, better canteen and, yes, a room where the players can play pool or table tennis or just hang out together.

 

“No, we didn’t have anything before,” Lascelles says. “It means players might stay an extra half-hour after training and bond a little bit. It makes a difference. When you go to work and it’s a run-down building and there’s nothing to do and there’s no central heating and stuff like that it’s not a real fun place to be and that can affect your mood and so on.

 

“But when there is everything here for you and there are so many caring people – the improvements in the canteen, with the chefs, everything – it means you are looking forward to going into work and want to stay behind even longer. You talk to more people and build relationships you might not necessarily have done if those facilities were not there and that is huge for sports: building that chemistry. The gaffer is big on team-bonding and we do that every single day.”

 

The change of ownership in October 2021, away from Mike Ashley, has changed everything, it seems.

 

“We have owners who want us to succeed so well and so fiercely,” Lascelles says. “You almost feel you can’t have any slip-ups and if you merge that hard work with a manager who breathes the same thing – ambition, work-rate, culture, philosophy – and you add to that the improvement of facilities, added staff. It is little one per cents everywhere. Nothing has been a huge turnaround overnight but we are gradually adding one per cent in every department, in every area. And that makes a huge difference.

 

“It is probably also very different to the Man City takeover when it was ‘go out and spend’. It’s a different era with those small one per cent improvements – although ultimately it’s the manager who has made the biggest difference.”

 

As he speaks the mind goes back to an episode last summer in Philadelphia during Newcastle’s pre-season tour to the United States when, unprompted, Howe seized the microphone and asked the audience if he could say a few words before delivering an impassioned explanation of how important Lascelles was and why he remains the captain.

 

“He didn’t have to take the microphone and say that. It was spontaneous. Completely,” Lascelles says. “I knew the answer before the press conference because I speak to him all the time so I wasn’t shocked by what he said.

 

“I was shocked by maybe him taking the mic and laying it down to everyone who was in there to stop asking these questions! It’s another reason why I value him so highly as a manager because he is a fair man, a proper man. He has been the absolute perfect fit. At Bournemouth they used to play some really good attacking football and being here so long, I knew that is what the fans wanted. Front-foot football.”

 

Another simple change brought in by Howe was the establishment of a leadership group of senior players – Lascelles, Callum Wilson, Kieran Trippier, Dan Burn and Matt Ritchie. “We have weekly meetings – are there any issues? Are there things we need to improve on?” Lascelles says.

 

‘At 23 trying to lead and manage 25 lads is a difficult job’

 

“For years at Newcastle – and I have been captain since I was 22 and I am now 30 – there have been times when I have been left to my own devices. At 23, 24 being a young captain and trying to lead and manage 25 lads is a difficult job.”

 

It was made all the more difficult, of course, because of the toxic atmosphere that enveloped the club. At times under Ashley it felt like civil war and Lascelles, who was made captain under Rafael Benítez and kept it under Steve Bruce, was often the glue holding things together.

 

“Initially when I got given the armband of course it was a huge honour but I don’t think I realised how big it was. The responsibility was massive,” Lascelles says.

 

“I have had real testing times. Real testing times. But, I don’t know, I have a real strong mentality and I am quite driven. I always think it will be OK. That’s it really.

 

“I have good people around me and think if you work really hard then good things will come back to you. But it’s not been plain sailing. That’s sport. There are so many people who want to be in my shoes. Even when things are not going well it’s a real privileged position.”

 

Before the takeover Lascelles received a phone call from one of the co-owners, Amanda Staveley. “I was really excited as to what was to come. I think I was more excited for the fans and for the city,” he says.

 

“Amanda called to say it was happening and introduced herself to me. We had a brief chat and it was quite special as she didn’t have to do that. But it put everything on a good footing even before I had met her. They are great people, really caring people.”

 

It has been some adventure. Only seven years ago Lascelles was captaining Newcastle against Rotherham United as they hoped to move into second-place in the Championship. Now it is the Champions League having performed so remarkably in the unforgettable 4-1 win at St James’ Park to shackle the likes of Kylian Mbappé, Randal Kolo Muani, Ousmane Dembélé and Goncalo Ramos – a £350 million forward line.

 

“I have seen it all. When I first joined – young, raw, fresh and now having played in the Champions League. It’s a remarkable journey and something I am really proud of; something I want to keep striving for and doing well for Newcastle,” Lascelles says.

 

The win over PSG gives Newcastle “huge confidence” for this week’s encounter. “Obviously they are a world-class side, arguably one of the best teams in the world. But the preparation the manager puts in in training and how to beat them worked really well,” Lascelles argues.

 

Newcastle’s trajectory makes him all the more determined to remain in the side; at the club and as captain. “Yeah, completely. I always joke around and say to my dad ‘I wish I was 23 in this team’,” Lascelles says. “I am loving every minute of it. Having seen so many ups and downs and for the fans to now experience this is exactly everything they deserve.”

 

Are we now seeing the best of him, also?

 

“I would probably say yes,” Lascelles agrees. “I am quite modest so it’s a tough question to answer but when you are in a team and you have all these world-class players around you that makes your job so much easier. The team has improved and people have improved with the team.”

 

[PauloGeordio]

1 hour ago, Smal said:

https://archive.is/ewLIK

 

 

One of our captains! Our gaffa!