Big game players and Newcastle United

When describing a footballer as a ‘big game player’ it is generally perceived as a compliment.

Someone who rises to the occasion under the biggest pressure and delivers when it matters the most.

Our squad is undoubtedly full of them.

Newcastle United players who deliver their best performances under the lights at St James’ Park.

Often against some of the biggest teams in world football.

Look at some of our results from this season.

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City? Beaten.

Benfica and Athletic Bilbao – easily disposed of.

Three wins on the spin in the Carabao Cup which has secured us another semi-final and an opportunity for a third visit to Wembley in four years.

When something big is on the line and the players have the roar of the crowd behind them, they can go toe to toe with any team in football and hold their own.

However, if you are going to win the Premier League title one day, which should absolutely be our ambition in the future, we simply must improve our consistency and produce excellent performances no matter the opposition.

Take our game against Burnley later today. This is a fixture between two teams with vastly different resources. On paper we should comfortably beat a side managed by ex Magpie Scott Parker.

And yet it’s exactly the kind of game where I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see us lose. We made incredibly hard work of beating them at home recently and we go into the game under significant pressure with results over the last few days seeing us slip to 14th place in the table.

So which Newcastle United team will we see tonight?

Will it be the Newcastle United team that can produce excellent results against some of the top teams in Europe?

Or will it be the Newcastle United team that lost back to back fixtures against West Ham and Brentford in such disappointing fashion.

Nothing would make me happier than just seeing a comfortable 2-0 victory. Nothing special. No frills.

Big game players getting the job done in the smaller games.