Kieran Trippier arrived at Newcastle United without a cape that I know of, but clearly prepared to give superhuman levels of effort in order to keep the club in the Premier League. We weren’t quite on our knees, courtesy of the recent takeover and the appointment of Eddie Howe, but without Tripps you wonder if things would have turned out a lot worse.
There was something a bit thrilling about signing an established England international back in January 2022, especially as we were bottom of the league at the time. Add to that the honours – he’d won La Liga with Atletico Madrid in 20/21 and scored for England in the 2018 World Cup Semi Final – and for me this was a signing that was a bit reminiscent of signing Keegan in 1982.
Before he signed many of us had probably resigned ourselves to watching Championship football in season ’22/’23. It was hard to feel any hope or optimism, particularly as for many of us this wasn’t the first time that we’d been struck by that particular Toon depression. After he signed though, it felt like everything might just be alright after all.
Tripps would go on to captain the side, embodying the determination and work rate of his manager, helping us get to safety in that first season and then leading us on an unforgettable journey in subsequent seasons. He galvanised what was pretty much a broken club, influencing other quality players to take the plunge too and set the standard for every last one of the squad to follow. While Eddie is often credited with improving players, it’d be remiss of us to underestimate Trippier’s influence on the likes of Gordon, Miley and Hall.
Trippier’s laser-like focus has remained largely unaltered during his time on Tyneside and even when others have been preferred to him, like Livramento and Miley, he’s always been a positive influence on others. No sulking and pouting, no ‘do you know who I am’ type behaviour, just sheer professionalism and a desire to see the club progress.
One thing I really liked about Tripps was his on field behaviour. Always calm and composed. If he made a mistake, the hand went up in apology. If others made a mistake he was the first to give encouragement. A proper professional, an inspirational captain and a superb team mate.
There won’t be many among us without a positive memory of Tripps. For me, his performance in the vital away win at Leeds in January 2022 stands out. He was immense that day against Bielsa’s team and helped secure a rare clean sheet and three points at a time when we desperately needed things to start going our way.
He’s scored vital goals too with my personal favourite being the curling, dipping free-kick in the win at home to Everton in February 2022. This was only our third win of the season and a goal that would help us get out of the bottom three. He made ‘tiny arms’ Pickford look stupid as well at the same time! Such was the beauty of that free-kick that I was inspired to write a poem about it as well! It’s on the link below if anyone fancies a look.
https://middleagefanclub.co.uk/2022/02/13/poetry-blog-kieran-trippier-over-the-wall/
And of course, Tripps was superb in the Carabao Cup final win drawing on his big game experience to get us through the match. Firstly, he delivered the corner for Dan Burn’s towering header for the opener and then he was immense in those last 10 minutes when Liverpool were piling on the pressure.
That’s been the story of Trippier’s 4+ years in Toon. When the pressure’s been on, he’s invariably been there with the big game experience to calm it all down and push people to greater heights. In leaving, he’ll leave a huge hole in the squad and it’s to be hoped that he’s passed enough of his experience on so that things don’t suffer to much.
In the future, it’d be great to see him return in some capacity. For now though, it’s goodbye. Go well, Tripps and thank you.
Middle Age Fanclub 