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Newcastle Coach ‘We knew Mitrovic wasn’t a short-term fix’

9 years ago
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Newcastle United first team coach, Paul Simpson, says that Aleksandar Mitrovic just has to ‘relax’ as he tries to adapt to the step up to the Premier League.

Simpson says that the club have bought the Serbian striker for the long-term and they never anticipated him hitting the ground running, with the belief that it was always going to be a while before he settles in.

With him cutting such an imposing figure, it is easy to forget that Aleksandar Mitrovic is still on 20 years old and coming from the Belgian League, it is a massive step up to the Premier League.

The intensity from the media will also have gone up a number of notches, meaning that is an extra something to deal with as well.

However, after the team struggled so badly for goals last season, whilst we can understand Mitrovic needs time to get used to his new surroundings, it doesn’t answer the question of who will score the goals in the meantime.

The vast majority of fans appeared to accept the need for at least one more proven goalscorer to be brought in this summer but with Papiss Cisse still at St James Park, it never looked as though Mike Ashley would allow another to be brought in.

There were press reports this morning that McClaren may play Ayoze Perez as a lone striker at West Ham and leave Papiss Cisse on the bench.

Perez did a job there last season but he looks far more comfortable as a second striker or attacking midfielder.

Paul Simpson talking to NUFC TV:

“It will be a huge thing because he (Mitrovic) has come in and he’s desperate to do well for us, he is so keen and eager. That has probably been reflected in the cards he has picked up.

“We need to control that and for him to have that enthusiasm but just to relax and realise we have brought him here for the long-term, we’re not looking for an instant fix, we know it is going to take time for him to get settled in.

“We’ve now got a couple of weeks where we can really work him and get his sharpness up, get his head focused, ready for him to be available for Chelsea.”

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