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Warren Joyce ‘Newcastle fanbase is Premier League Top 8’

7 years ago
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Warren Joyce has declared ‘Newcastle are a proper Premier League club, aren’t they’.

The Wigan boss says that when looking to face the top of the table club, it has to be a case of both ‘respect – but also no respect’.

Having suffered narrow 1-0 defeats to both Villa and Derby, Warren Joyce thinks it is a case of just approaching this latest game in the same way.

He says he has a ‘philosophy’ of getting his teams ‘on the front foot’ but has had to have a ‘reality check’ at Wigan when looking at the players he has at his disposal.

Wigan are the lowest scorers in the league with only 16 goals and things have hardly improved since they sacked former Newcastle player Gary Caldwell.

Including the game when they were managerless, Wigan had a record in the six games before Joyce was appointed of two wins, three draw and only one defeat.

Since Warren Joyce arrived on 2 November, Wigan have played five, won one, drawn one and lost three.

Warren Joyce speaking to Wigan Today:

“Newcastle are a proper Premier League club, aren’t they, with a fanbase that would put them probably in the top eight.

“But all we can do is approach the game exactly the same as we would any other.

“We could look at the host of problems they could give us, but there were certainly a host of problems Aston Villa could have given us at the weekend, and Derby the week before, so it’s no different in that respect.

“All we can do is be the best we can be. That’s my only concern. It’s respect – but also no respect.

“Respect them for what they are, but show them no respect in that we want to set out to stop them, and impose ourselves on them the best way we can.

“In all of the clubs I have been at, we have been a team on the front foot, because you’ve had a bit of artillery, and a free-flowing style.

“It’s alright having a philosophy but then there’s a reality check of looking at the strengths and weaknesses of the players you have got, trying to play to their strengths.

“I think we have tried to do that here, and they have have shown they can be a match for big sides with their big hitters, they’ve been a credit to the club.

 “We’ve got to keep doing them, be even more resilient and even more competitive, while being a little bit better in and around the box.

“We’ve not quite managed to get a win doing those things – it is just a little bit more quality in and around the box, the final set-up, the final effort on goal. That’s all that’s lacking.”

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