Tag: Matt Ritchie

Matt Ritchie: This is a Party Political Broadcast!

The dust has just about settled on one of the most successful seasons in Newcastle United’s recent history. The majority of our thoughts – and those of the players and staff – have inevitably turned to the prospect of top level European football next season. It’ll still that way for a while yet. However, there are other matters to attend to. Transfer targets seem to be emerging in their hundreds and as they do, we’re also being informed about players who are likely to be released.

One of those names is Matt Ritchie and while there are lots of fans who’d be happy for him to leave, I think he’s well worth at least another year. I think that there are lots of us who agree with that too.

So why vote Ritchie, so to speak?

Brought to the club for £10m by Rafa Benitez in 2016, Ritchie was a vital component in our promotion from the Championship a year later. He was a player I’d seen at Swindon and Bournemouth and always liked the look of. Seven years later and I think he’s been worth every last penny of that transfer fee and then some. A loyal and popular servant to the club and always a player that we could rely on.

I’ve always liked Ritchie at Newcastle. I’ve always liked wingers, so he fits the bill. But also, I like the competitive edge he brings, the creativity and even the odd spectacular goal, like the volleyed stoppage time equaliser at Bournemouth in 2019. Add in the penchant for lacing corner flags and over-enthusiastically slapping team mates on the back of the head and I’m sold! A few years back, I even managed to get his image up in every classroom of our school when I added him to our ‘Word of The Week’ posters – a personal highlight of my teaching career!

Ritchie will be almost 34 by the time next season kicks off. But let’s not worry about age; let’s put some value on experience, because experience can take you a long way in life. Every squad needs experience and positivity and Ritchie’s got both in spades.

Next season – everything crossed – we hope to be playing in Europe and while Matt Ritchie to my knowledge has never played in a European tie, he has played on the international stage with Scotland earning 16 caps and scoring 3 times. So, in my opinion his career experience at league level and his international experience make him a valuable asset to the squad and a player that needs to stick around.

Ritchie is versatile too, as we found out in the Bruce era. When Bruce finally discovered that tactics weren’t the little sweets in the flip top plastic box, Matt Ritchie became one of his first victims and he was deployed as a makeshift wingback. It worked in fits and starts, but I think Eddie would get more out of him if needed there. While most of his career has been spent as a wide midfielder, I think it’s safe to say that he can do a job in central midfield as well as operating as a wing back. And while I wouldn’t say he’s a perfect option as a wing back, he’s an option and a reasonably dependable one at that.

Now, before I go any further with my Matt Ritchie Pitch, I think it’s necessary to acknowledge the fact that Newcastle United are shopping at a different level of the market these days. So, yes, I understand fully that there are better options in terms of age and ability than Matt Ritchie, but those options cost money in what is undeniably an inflated market and with the club insistent, rightly, on adhering to the rules of Financial Fair Play it would seem pertinent to keep someone like Ritchie around. He knows the club and seems to love it, totally understands the manager’s methods and demands, is well liked by the fanbase and obviously a popular bloke within the squad. He might even be a good option to help out on the coaching side of things as the year progresses.

Ritchie is the kind of character who is invaluable ‘around the place’, as they say. The back-of-the-head slaps as goal celebrations, the corner flag kicking, the passion, the berating of linesmen, the honesty, the chirpiness, the energy and the fight; all vital in any team sport. And then there’s his experience. As we’re more likely to be bringing more younger, inexperienced players in someone like Ritchie would be sure to have a positive influence on them. As well as this, with the likes of Anderson, Miley, De Bolle, Kuol and others coming through the ranks the influence of such an experienced pro would no doubt be more than useful. Earlier this season it was Sean Longstaff who talked of Ritchie’s influence on his professionalism and mental health in the last couple of years and look at him now – a glowing reference if ever there was one.

Apparently Ritchie is a bit of a whinger and it’s borne out on the pitch where he’s always been vocal with his team mates and contested the majority of decisions that have gone against us. I kind of like that as it shows him as someone who won’t settle for second best. Yes, he’ll whinge, but just because he wants to be better.

For me, Matt Ritchie brings a wealth of positives. His influence on the pitch would probably only really be as a substitute, but he’s a solid ‘yes’ for me just for that. Add in his character and personality – he seems well loved by squad and staff alike – his drive and desire to win, his professionalism and his experience and I think a year’s extension sounds almost a no brainer.

Eddie Howe has already expressed his desire to keep Ritchie, alongside others like Paul Dummett. Someone like Ritchie helps to maintain our ‘evolution not revolution’ approach, while understanding exactly what it takes to play for Newcastle United and for me that’s the kind of thing that can’t always be bought and simply shouldn’t be disregarded.

My friends, I implore you, Vote Ritchie!

An ode to Matt Ritchie and why his injury could prove disastrous to Newcastle United.

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I was driving home on Wednesday night when I heard the news of Matt Ritchie’s injury. Ironically I was driving home to Leeds from Newcastle where I’d been visiting family and friends. My self-imposed boycott – 8 years and counting thanks, Mr Ashley – meant that even though I was home I wouldn’t be in attendance as Newcastle bowed out of the cup in traditional fashion once again.

Ritchie’s injury brought a much greater significance to a game that I’d fully expected us to lose. They say that with Newcastle United it’s the hope that kills you. Well, in terms of the cups, I gave up hoping a long, long time ago. So actually, I was fairy impressed that we’d put out a scratch team and actually drawn the match over 90 minutes. The loss on penalties was par for the course. But then came a different kind of hope.

As I watched the highlights and Hamza Choudry’s crunching challenge on Ritchie, I immediately feared the worst. Here was as good an example of a straight red card as one could hope to see. But it wasn’t given because referees and Newcastle often don’t mix. The sight of Ritchie hopping out of the challenge and trying to stay up before collapsing to the ground sent a shiver down my spine.

Matt Ritchie is my favourite player. In fact, if you look at my Twitter feed – @grahamcrosby – I can fairly regularly be seen to be declaring him the best player in the world. It’s as close as I’ll get to loving a footballer. I’ve always had a taste for wide players. I was one myself and feel that I can identify with their role. It all started in the 70s as I attended St. James’ Park with my dad to watch an utterly uninspiring Newcastle United side containing, over the years, the likes of Tommy Cassidy, Irving Nattrass, John Connolly and Alan Gowling. My favourite though, was Micky Burns. From memory he was a workmanlike winger who would graft up and down in front of me in the East Stand. There was no discernable pace and little skill, but I loved watching him. Micky Burns was the Matt Ritchie of his day. Possibly. Later I’d fall for wide men such as Waddle, Sellars, Lee, Tino, Ginola, Solano, Robert and Ben Arfa, but I’d never forget Micky Burns. I’d also have to put up with people like Alan Davies – God rest his soul – and Wayne Fereday, so I think I deserved the likes of Ginola and mad Hatem. But Matt Ritchie is my current beau.

Ritchie first caught my attention when he played for Swindon under the notorious, horrible, referee assaulting mackem fascist Paolo Di Canio. If you’re reading this Paolo, I hope all the dry cleaning in the world never got those knee slide trousers clean. I’d occasionally watch Swindon on Sky or just catch goals on highlights shows and Ritchie would always turn up.

He then went to Bournemouth, where a lot of Geordies will remember him for the incredible volley he scored at Dean Court against sunderland. Here was a player that I coveted, but never imagined we’d sign. He wasn’t French enough for a start. And so – and I can’t be the only one who does this – my imagined ‘scouting’ would once again go to waste. But sign him we did.

Arriving as we prepared for a promotion attempt, having been relegated under Rafa, here was a sign that we meant business. We payed £12m as a Championship team and persuaded him to drop down a division and to me as a fan, that meant a lot. Here was a bloke that wanted to take on this challenge. Here was a bloke who wasn’t frightened of the potential mess that was put in front of him. Here was Matt Ritchie – I felt at one with Rafa Benitez!

One of the first things he talked about would remind me of Kevin Keegan. And for me, Ritchie is a Keegan type player. In early interviews Ritchie spoke of his father-in-law, an exiled Geordie and how he’d tell him of the joys of Newcastle United. Ritchie bought into the club straight away and was quoted as telling journalists who asked about his decision to drop down a division, ‘You cannot pass up an opportunity like Newcastle’. Much like Keegan and his tales of his exiled Geordie father, Ritchie was endearing himself to the faithful straight away. Here was a player to fall for.

Since his arrival Ritchie has been a pivotal part of the team. And so his injury and the two months out that it threatens to bring will prove crucial to the Toon. Much is made of the captaincy of Lascelles, the finesse of Schar and the pace of Almiron, but for me Matt Ritchie is the talisman and leader of this particular group.

I coach my son’s under 11 team and can get quite obsessed with the role. This often means that when we sit down to watch games, I’m constantly ranting to him about how a player made a run or what decision was made. All in the name of progress though! Matt Ritchie is someone I always draw his attention to as an example of how things are done. My son is ten and impressed with Dele Alli’s handshakes and Jesse Lingaard’s dancing, and while I want him to enjoy his football, I also want him to see the value of passion, desire and working hard. Matt Ritchie encapsulates all of these qualities.

There will be much to miss about Ritchie in the coming months and thankfully some of his time out will be taken up by the first international break of the season. We’ll undoubtedly miss his work rate. Ritchie is a renowned grafter and footage of him sprinting back into position at the very end of last week’s win away at Spurs was great to watch, but nothing remarkable for him. He leaves nothing out on the pitch, as they say and he’s always looked like one of those players that might well die for the cause.

Ritchie also brings a wealth of experience, which often comes out in his talking on the pitch. Throughout any game he seems incredibly vocal; barking orders, cajoling others and generally chuntering along at himself. He seems bad-tempered with it, which can be a useful motivating factor for those around him. A lot was made of the relationship between him and Miguel Almiron last season, but I for one didn’t notice much to worry about. My take was that we had a seasoned professional talking a fairly young and inexperienced new signing through exactly what was required of him. Ritchie was merely Rafa on the pitch and acting as the kind of player that Sir Bobby Robson would have referred to as one of his ‘blue chip boys’. He isn’t afraid of giving out the odd bollocking either, which when the stakes are high is a valuable tool to have. I’m not sure kicking the arse of Christian Atsu, as witnessed last weekend at Spurs, would be found in any coaching manuals, mind!

Another excellent quality that Ritchie possesses is that he never hides. He demands the ball and commits everything to every single challenge and run. There’s the odd trick in him too and he can certainly pass a ball. His delivery from wide areas especially will be missed and could be something that costs us dearly with Joelinton and dare I say it, Andy Carroll waiting in the box. He reads the game well and is often in the right place at the right time to make a vital block or interception. Ritchie is brave in possession and hungry for the ball when out of possession and as we scrap for every available point in what could be a long next few months, it’s almost cruel that our under pressure manager has been robbed of this player.

The last thing that I think fans as well as players will miss is Ritchie’s enthusiasm. I don’t pretend to be ‘in the know’, but I imagine that he is the kind of character that galvanises a team. You can see it in the way he screams at officials when he senses injustice. It’s there in a very different way when there’s a goal and someone is the recipient of a dozen forceful slaps to the head – an in joke? I don’t know, but again it’s the kind of thing that appeals to team mates – the ones who’s heads remain unslapped – and fans. And it’s also there as he’s kicking the shit out of corner flags!

I sincerely hope that Ritchie isn’t missed too much and it would be nice to think that in his absence someone steps up to fill his boots. But this is Newcastle United where a crisis is never far away and rarely averted. Let’s hope that Ritchie’s back sooner, rather than later.