**In all the excitement of a convincing Champions League win on Tuesday, the fact that Newcastle United have a new member in their 'leadership group' completely passed us by.**
After Callum Wilson left the club in the summer, there was a hole left in the leadership group at Newcastle, which is made up of Jamaal Lascelles, Bruno Guimares, Kieran Trippier, Jacob Murphy and Dan Burn.
All of the aforementioned players pick up the responsibility of captain in some form or another, and recently, the players held a vote to decide who would fill the void left by Wilson's departure.
In contention were Nick Pope, Joelinton, Sandro Tonali and Fabian Schar, who have all displayed solid leadership skills on and off the pitch.
> [](https://twitter.com/CiaranKelly__/status/1980678988432601438)
Nick Pope is the latest player to join the leadership group
-----------------------------------------------------------
Ultimately, it was decided that Nick Pope would be the latest player to enter the inner circle, and he celebrated on Tuesday by nabbing himself a Champions League assist thanks to a stunning 65-yard throw out to Harvey Barnes.
As highlighted by Ciaran Kelly on X, Kieran Trippier spoke about the decision to elect Pope, saying that he was a leader already.
> “He was already a leader in the dressing room. He has good opinions on what the team needs so he will bring a lot to the party…but the squad is so determined to work well and do well that they make our jobs easy.”
Newcastle have such a close-knit group
--------------------------------------
The Newcastle squad is absolutely brimming with leaders, and there's a togetherness there that we hadn't seen at this club for a long, long time.
The perfect example of this was when Bruno Guimaraes and Kieran Trippier insisted that Jamaal Lascelles lift the Carabao Cup trophy despite not having played a single game all season. He's still the club captain and was just a big a part of the achievement as those who did play.
Eddie Howe's influence on this culture at the club can not be underestimated either. Newcastle United are in such a good place at the manager and team level. Hopefully, now, with the appointments of David Hopkinson as CEO and Ross Wilson as Sporting Director, the rest of the club can catch up.