Newcastle United wingers world beaters or panel beaters?

Which position generates the most conversations amongst Newcastle United fans and those of other clubs?

Dodgy keepers? Sulky centre-forwards?

How about the Newcastle United wingers?

They can be regarded as either world beaters or panel beaters, rarely anywhere in between.

Well it is for me and this goes way way back to 1973 and Jinky Jim Smith. Hence my name (on The Mag).

For this 13 year old, Jinky was a genius, capable of beating five men in a row and winning a game by himself.

Probably.

At the time I didn’t get why the old fellas around me would scream abuse at our long haired winger from Aberdeen. “Pass the bloody ball you stupid Scottish so and so…”

To me, he was our answer to George Best, but as I said, I was 13.

Stewie Barraclough and Terry Hibbitt were regular wide men around this time. My memory is that Stewie was regarded as a panel beater, while Terry was a world beater, by the Newcastle United fans. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

The thing is, I reckon it’s so much easier to do your job in a good side, hence why the Newcastle United wingers in the eighties don’t live long in the memory.

Lee Payne, Paul Stephenson, Ian Stewart, Wayne Fereday.

In their defence, when you are feeding the likes of Frankie Pringel or Rob Macdonald, you really were stuffed.

However, the same can’t be said about the 90s, when we had Ginola, Gillespie, Robert and Solano.

At times, these were truly exceptional players in a black and white shirt, but at other times…

What a talent David Ginola was, but he must have had a doctor’s note that said; “David can’t go back into his own half or his head will explode”, because Jonny Beresford never saw him in two years.

Likewise Laurent Robert. Watch his highlights video and what a talent he was, but at times, having Mr Underpants in the team was akin to playing with ten men

Issue 194 – 11 June 2005

There were even times when that beautiful player Solano could be so ineffective. that If I could have got a hold of Nobby’s trumpet, I would have shoved it so far up his backsidehe would still have been able to play it.

Wingers do that to me.

Which brings me to our current bunch.

Newcastle United wingers; Gordon, Barnes, Murphy and Elanga

At times, three of them have turned in classic 90 mins for Newcastle, while Elanga also did it for Forest last year.

However, all of them are irritatingly inconsistent.

But in their defence, I think we expect our wingers to be on their game, every game. Beat their man, get the ball onto the centre-forward’s head and then the next minute be getting back to help out the full back.

If we ran a poll of who should start against Sunderland, Harvey Barnes or Anthony Gordon, Jacob Murphy or Anthony Elanga, I’m guessing the polls would be pretty even.

I’m as guilty as anyone for being critical of all four of them at times and then praising them to the hilt the next.

As I said, world beaters or panel beaters?

Maybe I should cut them all a bit of slack.

After all, remember Allan Saint-Maximin? Now that lad took more stick than these four combined.