Big-money Newcastle ‘scapegoat’ on borrowed time after latest showing – Howe stance revealed

Elanga was handed his third successive start for the Magpies down on the south coast on Saturday after seeing his minutes limited during a disappointing international break with Sweden.

However, he ended up being hooked at half-time, alongside midfielder Joelinton, by Howe after failing to have any impact on the game.

11 games into his Newcastle career after his £55million arrival from Nottingham Forest, Elanga is yet to contribute a goal or an assist. He was given a 4/10 by the Shields Gazette for his display against The Seagulls.

The winger did win a penalty against Union Saint-Gilloise in the Champions League in a match which saw him awarded Man of the Match by UEFA. But that remains his only debatable goal contribution so far.

The Swede contributed six goals and 12 assists for Forest last season, although it did take him until December to register that first goal.

While Howe admitted the decision to replace Elanga for Jacob Murphy at half-time was tactical at Brighton, he was also quick not to single out individual players for criticism.

When asked about whether he thought Elanga’s lack of goals and assists was ‘harsh’ to highlight, the Newcastle boss told The Gazette: “Yeah, we need more from everybody. It’s never about one player. Anthony is going to be a great player for this football club, I’ve got no doubt about that.

“But some players need a little bit extra time and more support and just something to happen positively for them to suddenly kick off. He’s got all the attributes to do really well here so I’ve got no issues or worries with him.

“It’s about the team, it’s always about the collective and too many of our attacking players currently aren’t delivering enough and that’s sometimes withdrawing through the team, as in looking at your centre-halves and their distribution and your full-backs, their contribution as well. So it’s never about any one player.”

Newcastle fans baffled by ‘scapegoat’ Elanga

While Howe was quick to defend his summer signing, it’s fair to say that Toon supporters have mixed feelings about Elanga – although the majority feel it’s time for Jacob Murphy to return to the starting XI at his expense.

Writing on Reddit, No-Village7980 stated: “Only managed to watch the first 30 or so minutes, but Elanga is now starting to seriously concern me with his performances, it’s alright having all the pace in the world, but he seems to fumble with the ball so often.”

TheBlaydonRacer also commented: “Seriously worried the die is being cast with Elanga too. He wasn’t poor and he hasn’t set the world alight but some of the comments here completely ignore he has had some good performances. Barcelona, USG, Villa.

“Still relatively early days to write him off even if he’s not looking like a £55m winger at present.”

rfy93 added: “Elanga should have to actually win his place from Murphy, as Murph is consistently outplaying him. Let Elanga be an impact sub until he settles in.”

Johno3644 also wrote: “People need to have a scapegoat, was longstaff last season, Miley got it for no reason against Leeds. Elanga is getting it now, don’t get me wrong he was poor but he will come good.”

ta11e stated: “Looks rough with Elanga right now. Trying to keep in mind it’s taken both Gordon and Barnes time to settle into eddies system they both looked really bad their first few months. Let’s hope Elanga can pick things up soon.”