Kieran Trippier is suffering – Newcastle’s standard bearer needs propping up
The Athletic says The game was lost, Newcastle United were out and you could only wonder what Kieran Trippier was thinking. This was not Chelsea and Stamford Bridge but Cambridge United at St James’ Park, where defeat had become a way of life.
It was January 8, 2022, the day after the England right-back had signed from Atletico Madrid for £12 million ($15.3m) with no get-out clause in his contract in the event of relegation. No safety net, and they were plummeting.
Newcastle had won a single game of football that season, a 1-0 home victory over Burnley being the lonely exception among 21 loveless fixtures. They were 19th in the Premier League, one point above Norwich City and now the FA Cup was gone too, kicked out by a side from two divisions below them. Players trudged towards the tunnel, locked inside their humiliation, until Trippier pushed and hauled them back to face the crowd. Until he set them free.