Nick Pope must prove once again that class is permanent | OneFootball

There’s an old maxim in newspaperland that bad news is easier to write than good news. The former also tends to sell better than the latter. Sad but true.

All of which makes me wonder why for the past week I have struggled to express my thoughts on an aspect of Newcastle United’s season that I fear will jeopardise our chances of finishing in the top four.

This is not another article lambasting the transfer window. Or its close relative, PSR. Or the septic six.

What’s the point of wasting time and energy on things that cannot be altered?

No, what worries me is the form of a St James’ Park linchpin, a player who arguably did more than any other to help us qualify for the Champions League and to reach our first Wembley final in a generation. There are a few contenders for that accolade, such as Trippier, Guimaraes, Almiron and Wilson. Other fans will choose other players. It’s a game of opinions.

My pick is Nick Pope.

And that, of course, is why this is difficult to write.

In that unforgettable 2022-23 season he was incredibly effective, a one-man wall who thwarted the opposition time and again. He seemed to be a real-life version of Bernard Briggs, the No-Goal Goalie from the Hornet comic. Clean sheet followed clean sheet. When facing a one-on-one, Pope came out on top more often than any predecessor I can recall playing for the Black-and-Whites.

He dominated his penalty area and was always willing to sweep up behind the back four if rivals tried to hit us on the break.

Disaster struck him and United on December 2, 2023 in what turned out to be a pyrrhic victory against the Salfords at St James’ Park. Diving full-length to save a shot that never arrived because Schar blocked it, Pope dislocated his shoulder.

He did not return until the final Premier League game of the season on May 19.

A dislocated shoulder is not great for any footballer but only a keeper is likely to be sidelined by that injury for five and a half months. Our No1 has now completed five competitive matches since his long-awaited comeback. Too few to judge, perhaps.

I hope I’m barking up the wrong tree and jumping to a false conclusion in saying Nick Pope is well below the levels he reached pre-dislocation.

One aspect of his play hasn’t changed; his footwork with the ball. It wasn’t great then and it isn’t great now. Big deal! He isn’t picked for his long-range passing or his close control under pressure. I don’t particularly want “assists” from a keeper, I want a cool head, good judgment and that priceless ability to keep his team in the game.

Well, we have won four of the five competitive games since Pope returned (counting the penalty shootout success at Forest as a victory) and drawn the fifth, so what’s the problem?

Seven points from nine this season alongside progress in the League Cup after yet another tricky away tie, are reasons to be cheerful.

And yet, and yet, the old assurance that became a hallmark of our keeper is absent. He has come out for high balls and not got them. He has stayed on his line when crosses have flown across the six-yard box. He has been rescued more than once by goal-line clearances after finding himself in no-man’s land. He looks short on confidence.

Yes, he made six saves against Spurs on Sunday but nearly all of those were shots struck from outside the penalty area. Any half-decent keeper would not expect to be beaten by them. Even the swerving effort from the odious James Maddison, probably Pope’s most impressive intervention, was a few feet inside the post when he dived and pushed it away for a corner.

As for the goal we did concede, it was caused primarily by his failure to hold on to a long-range shot.

Several times in these first four games of the season, there has clearly been confusion between defenders and keeper over whether he will come out to take control. That will always encourage the opposition.

There are extenuating circumstances. The settled defence of the 2022-23 season (Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn) is a fading memory. A new back five will always take time to build the understanding needed for success. Botman will be out for another few months. Schar has just completed a three-match ban. And Nick Pope has, after all, played only five times post-surgery.

Form is temporary, class is permanent. He has been a class apart since he joined United in June 2022 for a bargain £10m. He is only 32 and should be at his peak.