A NEW contract on Friday morning, a match-winning goal on Saturday afternoon. It wasn’t exactly a bad 24 hours for Callum Wilson.
Fresh from removing any uncertainty over his future by agreeing a 12-month extension that commits him to Tyneside for the next two seasons, Newcastle United’s number nine delivered a weekend performance that underlined why, at the age of 31, he remains such a crucial performer within Eddie Howe’s squad.
The Magpies might have brought in a number of fresh-faced forwards over the course of the last couple of years, but amid the cut and thrust of the Premier League, there will always be a place for a wizened old striker happy to wear his war-wounds as a source of pride.
Saturday’s meeting with Brentford was a messy, tetchy affair, so it called for a centre-forward willing to fight and tussle for every challenge, adept at holding up the ball with his back to goal, and unperturbed by the presence of a hulking centre-half at his back. As things turned out, it also required the presence of a player able to hold their nerve when a match-winning opportunity presented itself 12 yards out.
Step forward Wilson. Alexander Isak, who had started Newcastle’s four previous league games, is a supreme technician who likes nothing better than artfully gliding across the 18-yard box. Wilson, for all that he has proved himself an excellent finisher throughout his career, is also a battler who relishes a scrap. At the weekend, as the Magpies claimed a welcome victory that doubled their win tally for the season, his earthy qualities were exactly what was needed.
“He (Wilson) led the line really well. It probably wasn’t your trademark Callum Wilson performance, but I thought he held the ball up really well and was a real physical presence.
“He was a nuisance for them, and although he probably didn’t have much in open play, he took his penalty really well. He didn’t have many clear-cut chances, but it was a brilliant display from a Newcastle number nine.”
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Wilson’s second-half spot-kick ultimately proved decisive, with referee Craig Pawson deciding that Anthony Gordon had been fouled when he went down under seemingly minimal contact from Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flekken.
It was a debatable decision, although Newcastle had been on the wrong end of an even more egregious call five minutes earlier when Pawson ruled out a scrambled finish from Wilson for a non-existent push on Flekken, who simply made a complete hash of an attempted punch from Ethan Pinnock’s misdirected header.
To complete an extremely poor afternoon for Pawson, the referee also had to overturn a later penalty decision that initially saw him award a spot-kick for handball against Bryan Mbuemo even though the ball had clearly struck the Brentford forward’s head before rebounding into his arm.
Thankfully, from a Newcastle perspective, Wilson calmly converted the penalty award that stood, taking his spot-kick tally for the Magpies to a perfect ten out of ten.
“Pressure is for tyres,” joked Wilson, when asked about the successful finish that resulted in his third goal of the season. “For me, with practice in training and on a matchday, you’ve done it so many times and it’s just repetition, stay composed and that’s what I did.”
Nevertheless, the goal was a crucial one, removing much of the anxiety that had built in the face of three successive defeats prior to the international break and ensuring Newcastle are able to head to Milan for the start of their Champions League adventure this week without having to worry about the domestic situation they are leaving behind.
“I don’t think there was (any sense of worry) within the dressing room or the squad,” said Wilson. “We have full belief in ourselves and each other. But maybe for the fans, yes, because last time we were here, we were 1-0 up in the 90th and conceded two late goals (against Liverpool).
“You can understand that anxiousness, but when we were 1-0 up here, we had to stay professional, see it out, and thankfully we did that.”
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