Jump to content
Newcastle-Online

Isaac Hayden

54

by 54
in Football

 Share

Recommended Posts

Guest taps01

Guest taps01

Posted
Posted

What a man!  If you get the chance read his interview in The Times today. Sunderland fans won't be happy :lol:

Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest taps01

Guest taps01

Posted
Posted

Issac on NUFC fans "I don't think there can be any question that they are the best fans in the country. We have an average attendance of 51000 for a second division team. I don't believe anyone who gets relegated would get that. Look at Sunderland - would they have that loyalty? Even in the Premier League when you watched them (at the stadium of light) there would red seats everywhere. I don't think they will get 40000 in the championship when they can't fill the stadium in the Premier League"

Link to post
Share on other sites
Seymour

Seymour

Posted
Posted

Issac on NUFC fans "I don't think there can be any question that they are the best fans in the country. We have an average attendance of 51000 for a second division team. I don't believe anyone who gets relegated would get that. Look at Sunderland - would they have that loyalty? Even in the Premier League when you watched them (at the stadium of light) there would red seats everywhere. I don't think they will get 40000 in the championship when they can't fill the stadium in the Premier League"

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/sport/isaac-hayden-arsenal-is-a-massive-club-but-newcastle-has-a-special-aura-kh8gvpv0m

Link to post
Share on other sites
Seymour

Seymour

Posted
Posted

Absolutely fewmin on wearside about that. To be fair, they dont get 40k in the premier league.

The lack of self awareness is quite scary

Sunderland players are constantly in the media licking mackem ringpiece and attempting to belittle Newcastle. Pickford, Kone etc

Link to post
Share on other sites
Mick

Mick

Posted
Posted

 

The lack of self awareness is quite scary

Sunderland players are constantly in the media licking mackem ringpiece and attempting to belittle Newcastle. Pickford, Kone etc

 

I would guess a lot of mackem players don't have a go at Newcastle because it's where they live.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Seymour

Seymour

Posted
Posted

 

The lack of self awareness is quite scary

Sunderland players are constantly in the media licking mackem ringpiece and attempting to belittle Newcastle. Pickford, Kone etc

 

I would guess a lot of mackem players don't have a go at Newcastle because it's where they live.

They have a go at the club though, happens all the time

Link to post
Share on other sites
Mick

Mick

Posted
Posted

They have a go at the club though, happens all the time

 

I can't say that I've ever noticed that and it doesn't matter anyway.  They're probably asked questions and simply answer them, the same will go for both sets of players.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Paully

Paully

Posted
Posted

Issac on NUFC fans "I don't think there can be any question that they are the best fans in the country. We have an average attendance of 51000 for a second division team. I don't believe anyone who gets relegated would get that. Look at Sunderland - would they have that loyalty? Even in the Premier League when you watched them (at the stadium of light) there would red seats everywhere. I don't think they will get 40000 in the championship when they can't fill the stadium in the Premier League"

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/sport/isaac-hayden-arsenal-is-a-massive-club-but-newcastle-has-a-special-aura-kh8gvpv0m

 

Someone paste it man!

Link to post
Share on other sites
dinotheprehistoricgeordie

dinotheprehistoricgeordie

Posted
Posted

Even now, the joy of promotion to the Premier League is still sinking in for Isaac Hayden, Newcastle United’s thoughtful central midfielder. He had so many career paths open to him, particularly having gained 13 GCSEs, and with a golf swing so natural that he could have turned professional, but there was only one dream from the moment his father trained him in a local park in Essex, and then sat the eager eight-year-old down in front of a tactics board.

 

Now 22, Hayden frequently sits down with Rafa Benítez, Newcastle’s inspirational manager who continues his education on a tactics board and through video clips. “If I want to talk to him about tactics, he’s always there for me,” Hayden says. “Rafa’s obsessed with football. When we lost to Ipswich [on April 17], I was in his office the next day at 9am, going through the clips and he told me where I went wrong.

 

“He’s very honest. I could be sitting there with Jonjo Shelvey and Rafa could say ‘look, Jonjo, Isaac’s better than you at this, this and this’ and ‘Isaac, he’s better than you at this, this and this.’ Some players might not like it. But this year everybody’s got on with it, whether playing, or on the bench.

 

“It’s his passion for the game that drew me in. I love football and I want to improve to be the best I can. I haven’t worked so hard for all those years to be mediocre. Rafa’s got the same drive and determination I have.

 

“It’s the culture Rafa brings — a family mentality. He goes: ‘Look, if you’re not playing, it’s because of you, not because of anyone else, not because of me, it’s you. You’ve not done enough in training, or when you’ve performed, to make me want to keep you in the team.’ He’s fair. He’ll give you a chance, a game, whether it’s a cup game, 20 minutes, and you have to do something in that time to show him you want to play for Newcastle.

 

“He’s made it a situation where Newcastle isn’t a stepping stone. He says you should want to put on this black-and-white shirt, going out and giving 100 per cent, and if you don’t, you won’t play. He makes it so that players are desperate to play, not only for him but for the club and that’s why we’ve had the success this season.”

 

To the relief of everyone on Tyneside, Benítez has signalled that he is staying. “I don’t know what it will be like if he left,” Hayden says. “It’s not just the players who have the connection with him, it’s the fans who have a massive connection too. He’s united the club. Before Rafa came along, a lot of the lads were talking about [how] it wasn’t really a good atmosphere between the fans and the manager.

 

“Steve McClaren wasn’t even the manager, he was head coach, and even the fans were sitting there, thinking ‘he’s not even the manager’. You want someone with the aura, that commanding authority that says ‘I’m Newcastle United manager’, and Rafa has that. Without Rafa, we wouldn’t have got promoted.

 

“He’s been nothing but warm, whether it’s with me, the cleaners, whoever. He’ll have a ten-minute conversation with the cleaners about the match. He’ll talk to anybody, physio, players and support staff, exactly the same as if you’re Cristiano Ronaldo. It doesn’t matter to him. Although if you get him on to Real Madrid, you’ll be there for a while! He’s got stories about players, the club, [which is] all good because it adds to my experience.

 

“I’d not played centre half in two years, and he said ‘we’ve got injuries, we need you there’ and then he said: ‘I remember when I had to tell Javier Mascherano to play at centre half [at Liverpool].’ That gave me confidence. He’s talking to me about things that he’s told Mascherano.”

 

Benítez’s shrewd decision-making was seen throughout the season. “In the Norwich game [in September] when we were 3-1 down, I remember him saying to me: ‘come on, get ready.’ ‘Hang on, I’m here to shut a game out? We’re 3-1 down.’ ‘No, get on.’ Me and [Aleksandar] Mitrovic came on, Dwight Gayle scored, and I thought, ‘game on here.’ ”

 

When Yoan Gouffran equalised five minutes into added time, St James’ was in raptures. “It was really loud. The fans are incredible. Every time we went forward I could feel the urgency of the fans,” he says. Gayle then made it 4-3. “The tannoy system says, ‘Newcastle United 4-3, No 9, Dwight Gayle . . .’ and then the noise. Wow. The pitch was shaking it was that loud.

 

“There were times when it was massive pressure at home. If you play for a club like Newcastle, you have to ride the storm. The fans will be edgy but they are fantastic. I can’t go anywhere without somebody talking about football. I could go to a garage and fill my car up, people would come up and go: ‘Isaac, wahey . . . great result at the weekend.’ I’ll be standing there having a conversation with somebody about Newcastle for ten minutes, and think ‘blimey I’ve got to go’. It’s lovely.

 

“I don’t think there can be a question that they are the best fans in the country. We have an average attendance of 51,000 for a second division team. I don’t believe anybody who gets relegated would get that. Look at Sunderland — would they have that loyalty? Even in the Premier League, when you watched [them at the Stadium of Light] there were red seats everywhere. I don’t think they will get 40,000 in the Championship when they don’t fill the stadium in the Premier League.

 

“When we drew with QPR [in February], coming out of St James’ Park, I could see the devastation in children’s faces, people’s faces. I went home, but couldn’t sleep, so I was playing music in my speakers, some Drake, until 2am.

 

“Two days later I got a notice through from the flat [company] about ‘a noise disturbance’. I’d been so disappointed that I was just sitting there, listening to music until 2am, thinking about the game, deflated, and didn’t realise there were people trying to sleep next door.

 

“I woke up the next day going, ‘right, I’ve got to make this better.’ Sometimes I question myself: is everybody else sitting here at home, feeling the way I do at 2am?

 

“I’ve always been driven. When I was eight, Dad took me over the park, worked on technique, different skills. We did that for a year and a half. Dad was a youth player at Aston Villa, but became an insurance broker, good job, but he let me follow my dreams.

 

“When I was eight, he was showing me things on a tactics board. I was a striker when I started so watched clips of Ruud van Nistelrooy, Thierry Henry and Alan Shearer, and looked at their movement. I dropped back to midfield. Patrick Vieira was the one for me.”

 

Hayden developed at Southend United, before big clubs came calling. “Manchester United came in at the same time as Arsenal,” he says. “I was an Arsenal fan. Arsenal showed more interest. Steve Leonard [Arsenal’s under-14s coach] pushed Liam Brady, the main man at the academy, to sign me. Steve said: ‘You’ve got to treat him right because he’s going to be good.’ ”

 

He kept working hard at school, St Martin’s, Hutton, near Brentwood. “All the kids at school were saying, ‘don’t worry about maths, wow, you play for Arsenal’. But my parents said if I didn’t do my school work I wouldn’t go training,” he says. “I got 13 GCSEs. My parents said: ‘You can crack on with your scholarship now.” Even with his golf prowess, football came first, “People said scrap the football, play golf.”

 

Hayden rose up the ranks at Arsenal, soon representing the under-18s. “Steve Bould [the coach] took me aside, and said I want to make you captain. I always felt a leader, that I’m the boss, and I should be controlling everything,” he says.

 

Arsène Wenger began taking an interest, picking him twice. “I was disappointed after the first game against West Brom [a League Cup win in September 2013], I played well, the manager was pleased but I never played central midfield at the club again. It was quite difficult to take. I did talk to the manager but I was only 18, he said, ‘be patient and I want you to play centre half.’ ”

 

Hayden played there against Southampton in the League Cup the following year, sharing the field with players such as Alexis Sánchez. But then he had a bad ankle injury — damaging ligaments and suffering a micro-fracture — when he was caught accidentally by Mathieu Flamini in training at Colney. “I thought: am I ever going to be the same player again? I spoke to Jack [Wilshere] about it. He couldn’t have been better. He was there for me,” Hayden says.

 

“When I first got injured Wenger said ‘that’s a shame’, then I didn’t speak to him until I was outside running. Wenger’s detached, quite closed. When you’re a young player, not constantly in his eye-line, he can be quite cold. He watches training, doesn’t say much, maybe three, four words in the whole session. I don’t have a point to prove to Arsenal. I have a point to [prove to] myself. Deep down, I said to myself, I knew I was good enough to play for them. I wasn’t given the opportunity.”

 

He got an opportunity on loan at Hull City, playing 24 times for Steve Bruce. “You used to hear Steve’s voice all the time, laughing, joking, shouting. Steve was very much old school mentality, the harder you work the better you’ll become,” he says.

 

All his hard work down the years is paying off at St James’ Park, where he played in 33 of their 46 league games as they won the title. “Being back in the Premier League means everything to Newcastle fans,” he says.

 

“ The last few years have been terrible for the club but now we have the right manager definitely in place. It’s a special feeling here. Arsenal are a massive club, but it doesn’t have the same aura as Newcastle. I pulled on the red-and-white Arsenal shirt — maybe not enough times to fully appreciate it — but it’s almost like a sense of pure passion from the Geordies, compared to the Arsenal fans.

 

“Don’t get me wrong, Arsenal fans have had a tough time as well and been great, but I didn’t get the feeling when you walk out at the Emirates as when I walk out at St James’. It’s a different vibe. At Newcastle, it’s like I’m representing the guy in the stands. When we lose, I know 50,000 people are not going to have a good weekend. They make me feel like I’m representing them directly on the pitch. I didn’t get that at Arsenal or Hull.”

Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...