Jeff Hendrick

footballman wrote:

Newcastle fans hate him nearly as much as Ireland fans. Should have went abroad if/when he had the chance

some Ireland fans - Newcastle I wouldn’t know

10 teams in the premier league playing today, just two irish players getting some minutes so far.

Hendrick - gets sent off after 50mins

Connolly - still no goal and replaced after 60mins.

Hopefully Coleman starts for Everton but he hasn't featured much of late

Newcastle's gain is AC Milan and Man Utd's loss.

Hotlips_Hoolahan wrote:

Hendrick's actually been in good form for a few games until now. If he was born in Luton and eligible for us, people would probably be creaming over him of course.

They really wouldn't.

You Tell Me wrote:

Hotlips_Hoolahan wrote:

Hendrick's actually been in good form for a few games until now. If he was born in Luton and eligible for us, people would probably be creaming over him of course.

They really wouldn't.

The annoying thing is I think there's a good footballer in there somewhere. He just hasn't shown it since 2016

He has done well for us and works hard doing a lot of the dirty work. Given his early career at Derby and first 10/15 caps we expected greater things from him.

DeclanDaly wrote:

Id go further and say he’s been unseen in pretty much every game he’s played in the last 4 years

Wud ya

I don’t have a lot against Hendrick - and he actually seems like a decent lad - but he is really not effective enough in any of the roles that we need him in. If we had an outstanding #6 and #10, he could come along for the ride as a #8, but we don’t.

Midfield has been a problem for a long time, but Jeff is not the answer.

I agree that it’s a combination of issues. We need better midfielders

You asked if I'd be anyone from history, fact or fiction, dead or alive:
I said "I'd be Tony Cascarino, circa 1995"

I did call it in this thread that the fans would turn on him because he doesn't bust a gut to chase a ball down, which is a fair criticism, but it's not their biggest problem.

The problem is the same as last season; They're 20th in overall possession, 20th in other possessional statistics such as shots conceded, expected goals conceded, I think they've improved to 18th on goals scored, and that's about it.

Last season they got away with absolute murder finishing mid table with those type of statistics, this season it's catching up on them, they've improved on absolute nothing from last season.

It's very normal in North East England football to scapegoat players who aren't busting a gut, which is why I knew Jeff would easily be the first.

Jeff's biggest problem is that he suddenly disappears in games which aren't going well, he's gone missing too often for Ireland when the team aren't playing positively, and joining Newcastle Utd who have had less than 30% possession in 33% of their games so far, he was always going to be a sitting duck.

Steve Bruce is obviously the bigger problem, but there's no excuse for going hiding in games as often as Jeff does.