Newcastle unleash £130m ‘bomb squad’ as telling figure emerges in team photo for first time
Newcastle United have been been able to change the outcome of games with their bench
Eddie Howe had seen enough. The half-time whistle was fast approaching at Molineux when the Newcastle United boss scribbled some final notes before making his way down the tunnel. Joe Willock, Sandro Tonali and Harvey Barnes were coming on.
“I’m very prepared to make early changes if I feel something is not right as it was today,” Howe explained. “There wasn’t any hesitation from my view. We needed to inject some energy and just a new dynamic into the team.”
That’s for sure. Although one of these changes was enforced – Alexander Isak had to come off with an eye issue – Newcastle needed a jolt following Mario Lemina’s first-half opener. These replacements ended up helping to turn the game on its head late on after Barnes stepped up with a superb winner – just minutes after Fabian Schar drew the visitors level.
READ MORE: Scary thing about Newcastle’s win at Wolves after dressing room confession and Tindall goes wild
READ MORE: Harvey Barnes shows why he can save Newcastle United millions and Fabian Schar back with a bang
That was far from a foregone conclusion. After all, the word ‘substitute’ has negative connotations – they are instead called impacters at Arsenal while the South Africa rugby team place great importance on their so-called ‘bomb squad’ – but Barnes embodied the team-first mentality at the heart of Newcastle’s rise under Howe.
Barnes, who scored on his first league start of the campaign against Spurs last time out, could have easily sulked after being dropped at Molineux. However, the forward was desperate to help his side get back into the game.
“When you’re coming on and the team’s behind and they need a goal, you have to take it upon yourself to try and change the game,” he said after the 2-1 win.
With that attitude, it is hardly a surprise that Aston Villa super sub Jhon Duran is the only player to have scored more goals as a replacement in the Premier League since Barnes joined Newcastle last summer. Not when Barnes can conjure up a finish right out of the top drawer like he did in the 80th minute on Sunday.
The chance did not even look to be on when Barnes picked up the ball, but the forward cut inside and skipped away from Matt Doherty and Jorgen Strand Larsen in trademark fashion before lashing the ball into the net from 25 yards out. How fitting that Newcastle were wearing their new Entertainers-inspired away kit for the first time; this finish was straight out of David Ginola’s playbook on an evening the visitors made their best start to a season since the mercurial Frenchman was playing under Kevin Keegan.
