Jonjo Shelvey must make sure Newcastle debut wasn't flash in the pan at Watford

It's been a difficult few weeks being a Newcastle fan, and in all honesty my patience has been more than tested as we dropped further down the league and failed yet again in a cup competition.
Jonjo Shelvey gets stuck in against West HamJonjo Shelvey gets stuck in against West Ham
Jonjo Shelvey gets stuck in against West Ham

But with two new arrivals, a six-goal St James’s Park thriller and a 2-1 home win being crammed into just five days, the mood on the terraces has certainly changed for the better.

On Tuesday night we all witnessed a Newcastle United comeback, not once, not twice, but three times, which left me in complete shock – and that was before left-back Paul Dummett, who was most probably the weakest player on the field that night, fired home the late equaliser with a thunderous strike.

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It was a much deserved point despite the cluster of dire decisions from referee Mike Dean, who once again found himself under the spotlight as he missed a stonewall penalty and failed to hand both Chris Smalling and the world’s worst footballer, Marouane Fellaini, their second cautions of the night in the second half.

Dean’s efforts weren’t enough and United battled through, sealing a memorable draw in a game which was a great advert for the Premier League with Gini Wijnaldum, Cheick Tiote and Fabricio Colloccini all stealing the show.

The result against Man United upped the spirits going into the West Ham game, a fixture which on paper would be much tougher that that of Tuesday evening, but to the surprise of everyone Newcastle eased their way through, picking up all three points in the process.

New boy Jonjo Shelvey made his debut in black and white stripes and what a debut it turned out to be. Sitting comfortably in the middle of the pitch, Shelvey conducted it all, tackling, moving play forward and effortlessly pinging 60-yard balls to the feet of his team-mates.

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The match stats will hand the assists to other Toon players but the ex-Swansea playmaker was heavily involved and orchestrated both with his keen eye and pin point delivery across the field.

It has been a long time since we’ve witnessed a player with Jonjo’s passing ability and it has sorely been missed up here, so fingers crossed that this wasn’t a flash-in-the-pan performance and he continues that magnificent display week after week.

Next up is Watford, whom we’ve lost twice to already this season. This time I’m confident it won’t be three defeats.