Callum Wilson: offered 'incentive-based' contract extension (Ornstein)

[huss9]

Lineker but a bit more power and strength.

[Disco]

1 hour ago, joeyt said:

His pen was fine today

Incorrect, if you don’t take a pen as hard as you can you’re bottling it, fact. Jus’ saying.

[huss9]

 

 

I’ve canned 700-mile trips to see my family in bid to make my England World Cup dream come true, says Callum Wilson

  

 

CALLUM WILSON knows he has lots of catching up to do to gatecrash England’s World Cup squad.

But the Newcastle striker is nothing if not confident — and a plan is in place to turn that dream into reality.

 

Callum Wilson hopes his form for Newcastle can fire him back into the England squadCredit: Rex

 

Wilson has cut down on his 700-mile round trips home

A brace on the final day of the season to relegate Burnley, coming six days after his first start since December, served as a gentle reminder to the doubters.

Hamstring, thigh and calf issues have limited Wilson to just 39 league starts in two seasons since joining from Bournemouth.

And in an exclusive interview with SunSport, Wilson, 30, said: “I know I need to stay fit.

“It’s been frustrating and I’m putting things in place off the field that I know can add small percentages to contribute to that.”

 

 

Asked what he is doing, there is a long pause before Wilson revealed: “I was wondering what I should and shouldn’t say…

“Basically, my family still live in Poole down in Dorset. Travelling back and forth to see them after games and on days off probably contributed to having setbacks over the last two years.

“I’m going to move them up with me. That is going to minimise travel so on my days off I’ll actually be going to the training ground for recovery.

“It’s the only thing that has changed from before. The season before I joined Newcastle I played 39 games — but that’s dropped each season here.

“When you have an injury, if you don’t then build up that accumulative load you can get another injury because your body is not robust enough.

“This will stand me in good stead. I want to be fit and firing from the start of next season to give myself the best opportunity to represent my country at a World Cup.

 

Callum Wilson's last England cap came in 2019 and he has netted one goal for his countryCredit: Getty

 

“That is my driving motivation this summer.”

Stage one of Operation Qatar is a family holiday to Greece to turbo-charge the batteries.

And if Wilson can score the goals to get Toon off to a flier, Gareth Southgate — who handed him all his four England caps, the last coming in 2019 — will surely take notice.

Right-back Kieran Trippier, 31, became the first Newcastle player to win an England call-up since Andros Townsend in 2016 when named in Southgate’s Nations League squad.

And with that arduous 700-mile round trip to the south coast no more, Wilson reckons that he offers the England boss something he has not had.

Tammy Abraham is the only other centre-forward alongside Harry Kane for the upcoming games — with a trip to Hungary first up a week on Saturday.

And Wilson said: “I feel I add a different dimension and dynamic to the striking department.

“My style is a bit different, a bit unique — running in behind a bit more, an off-the-shoulder type.

“You want different sorts of firepower going into a World Cup.

“If he wants someone to do that or come on and make an impact alongside Harry… 

Travelling back and forth to see family after games and on days off probably contributed to having setbacks over the last two years.

Callum Wilson

“The only way to get into the manager’s mind is by starting the season well. By doing that and staying fit, I’m hoping I can break into that squad.”

The main man on Tyneside when fit, Toon boss Eddie Howe is eyeing another striker to compete with Wilson and Chris Wood.

After recovering from bottom of the league to 11th, the super-rich Magpies have grand ambitions to smash their way into the elite and will embark on another lavish transfer splurge to go alongside the £92million spent in January.

If Benfica’s Darwin Nunez looks an overly-ambitious target, Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin and out-of-contract Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah are admired and more realistic.

Wilson declared that Wood’s January arrival would bring out the “dog” in him.

So with the Saudi owners ready to splash out on a new forward, his message is simple: “Bring in who you like.”

As long as they do not pinch your No 9 shirt, right?

Laughing, Wilson added: “That’s the bottom line! You don’t want anyone taking your shirt off you. Wearing the No 9 is an honour.

“I’ll always back myself. That mindset got me to where I am.

“I’m going to be replaced one day, I’m not deluded. But as long as I am feeling fit and strong, I’ll do everything to keep it.

“If anyone has ever doubted you, put on a show — like I did against Burnley and Arsenal — just to let them know.

“A reminder to everyone who hasn’t seen me for four months.

“Your phone pings when you score a goal and when you get your tooth knocked out — like I did against Arsenal.

“However, it doesn’t when you get injured. Nobody contacts you as much.”

Wilson did not score in the season’s penultimate game, but he ran the Gunners ragged and looked like he had never been away.

Afterwards, Gary Lineker tweeted: “If he could stay fit he’d be one of the best strikers in the Premier League.”

Wilson says he was “flattered” by the praise, but what about that big if? Do those comments gnaw away?

Without hesitation, he replied: “No, it’s just fuel to the fire and adds to the burning desire to prove people wrong.

“I am not the most technically gifted player but my mentality, and proving people wrong, has got me to where I am.

“It’s the thing that has made me resilient to injuries and adversity."

 

 

So is next season about making up for lost time on Tyneside and shutting the critics up?

Wilson fires back: “It’s about scoring more than eight goals — that’s for sure!”

[huss9]

blame Bruce. wtf was he thinking letting Wilson do that.

[Nexumaster]

Jesus! That's some round trip... 

[Holloway]

That's a bit stupid doing that for that length of time

[Rich]

Piss poor that like. Glad it’s being sorted.

[Guest neesy111]

Aye, that should've been sorted well before now.

[SiLvOR]

Well, not really a surprise then tbh. Let's hope he can have a big season. I really like him, and if he's fit for a whole season, with a better team? Could get 15-20.

[madras]

46 minutes ago, huss9 said:

blame Bruce. wtf was he thinking letting Wilson do that.

TBF the player takes a lot of the blame for the situation as well.

[Tiresias]

Excited to see what he can do with some proper coaching again. Thought he was really good against Arsenal, trying that long range lob and all, looked absolutely desperate to score loads. We need to sign a striker cos he can't be relied upon to stay fit unfortunately but hope he gets a chance

[madras]

2 minutes ago, Tiresias said:

Excited to see what he can do with some proper coaching again. Thought he was really good against Arsenal, trying that long range lob and all, looked absolutely desperate to score loads. We need to sign a striker cos he can't be relied upon to stay fit unfortunately but hope he gets a chance

Wonder if the plan is Wilson with Ekitike as back up and even possibly Paqueta as he has played up front before.

[huss9]

12 minutes ago, madras said:

TBF the player takes a lot of the blame for the situation as well.

yeah but he's gonna do what his missus says.

briucey maybe should have put his foot down

 

allegedley the house hunting hasnt been going well as his wife hasnt liked any of the properties seen.

just know someone involved with the property searches.

[madras]

1 minute ago, huss9 said:

yeah but he's gonna do what his missus says.

briucey maybe should have put his foot down

 

allegedley the house hunting hasnt been going well as his wife hasnt liked any of the properties seen.

just know someone involved with the property searches.

Whys he going to do what his Mrs says and I'm sure, given their budget they could find somewhere more than suitable. Unless of course "being in Poole" is one of the stipulations.

[Kanj]

I wonder if deep down wilson didn’t think he was going to be here that long under MAs ownership. 

[Smal]

Bruce pretty much enabled this bullshit by only training twice a week, like. What an utter fucking useless cunt he was.

[Guest reefatoon]

Love the guy, but I would be massively apprehensive going into the season as him as our main striker. The last thing we need is a few games in having to rely on players like Wood again.  Bit of a dilemma as he is a great striker but his game return is piss poor.  If this no travelling up and down the county works though and he has an injury free season, I'd be over the moon for him to be the main man. Going to be a gamble.

 

 

Edited May 26, 2022 by reefatoon

[Groundhog63]

12 minutes ago, Smal said:

Bruce pretty much enabled this bullshit by only training twice a week, like. What an utter fucking useless cunt he was. IS

 

[Abacus]

2 hours ago, huss9 said:

blame Bruce. wtf was he thinking letting Wilson do that.

 

Funnily enough, Bruce has insisted now that all West Brom players need to move to be near to the training ground so they don't travel long distances.

 

So he clear knows this could be a problem, but still didn't do anything about it for us.

 

He also excluded himself from this new rule of course, because he still wants to live in the North West.

[BoSelecta]

Shows how weak the back room team must have been that he was allowed to do that. Can’t think of many things worse for recovery than massive travel times post match. 

[Lazarus]

25 minutes ago, Abacus said:

 

He also excluded himself from this new rule of course, because he still wants to live in Portugal.

 

FYP

[Nine]

2 hours ago, madras said:

Wonder if the plan is Wilson with Ekitike as back up and even possibly Paqueta as he has played up front before.

Been saying for a while that I think this is the most likely scenario, im pretty sure Wilson we be our first choice for next season at least 

[TRon]

Quite encouraged that he is moving his family up here from Dorset, if nothing else it shows how badly he wants to be here now that we have a new regime in charge.

[Kanj]

Wilson was virtually unplayable against Arsenal, genuinely looked top quality and the best he's played for us all season. Shows what motivation and desire does. He knew what he was dong that night - he looked like a 50m all-action CF. 

[Yorkie]

Aye, I was seriously impressed with him in the last couple of games tbh, to the extent that, if he keeps that level of performance up, there's no reason why he doesn't have a chance of getting in the England squad.

 

I've always been a bit of a doubter but I think it's cos I didn't want to like him, what with him doing Bruce a favour every other time he played.  But I can't believe how effective he's been in terms of bringing the ball down and bullying defenders.

 

I've harped on about it already but if he'd found the inside of the post with that long range strike against Arsenal, I genuinely think we'd have been talking one of the best Newcastle goals of this century; certainly up there with the likes of Cisse and Robert, cos why not? It wasn't just hit and hope; he had the initiative in the first place to see the chance, the strength to hold off the defender, the technique to bring it down and shape to shoot, and then the technique on the shot itself was almost impeccable too - to get it up and over at such range but to keep it down as well. Was so unlucky, would've been a special goal.