Kieran Trippier's departure will leave a huge hole in the Newcastle dressing room
Kieran Trippier of Newcastle United
Kieran Trippier of Newcastle United(Image: Newcastle United via Getty Image)
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Kieran Trippier's exit will leave a massive leadership hole in Newcastle United's dressing room - and deprive Eddie Howe of one of his trusted lieutenants.
That's the view of former Newcastle United defender Stephen Carr, who knows better than most the pressures and challenges of being a right-back on Tyneside.
Trippier released an emotional statement over the weekend as he revealed he would be parting company with the club after four years on Tyneside. The full-back has been a huge part of United's renaissance under Howe and the PIF-led ownership group but is out of contract at the end of the season and will finish his career elsewhere.
Whether it was a mutual decision, or made by either the club or Trippier himself, remains to be seen but Howe has always been keen to retain the player's services after making him captain when he first joined, and installing the England international in the senior leadership team.
Carr has nothing but praise for what Trippier has done for the club but while he thinks he will be a huge miss in the dressing room, he knows only too well the demands of playing full-back in your mid-30s.
"I think he’s been excellent for Newcastle," Carr told Chronicle Live via Gambling.com who help people compare online casinos. "He’s 35, I know from being a full-back it’s very difficult to keep going at that level up and down.
"For me, you can’t do what you could do at 30 as a full-back. A full-back is like a winger now and you have to defend. It’s tough going, you have to adjust.
"I was only as good as the player in front of me. I was very very lucky, I had Darren Anderton, Ruel Fox, Damien Duff, James Milner who work really really hard to help you. I think that’s where you get exposed as you get older if you haven’t got that in front of you - like a Ginola.
"Ginola is not going to keep running back but what Ginola does is win the game for you, so you have to accept that. He was an unbelievable winger, the best winger I’ve played with but just don’t ask him to track back.
"You need big players around, with experience to help the squad. With Kieran, his experience in the dressing room is massive.
"At the end of the day he’s had a few injuries but experience is a lot. Every manager wants that experience. I’ve been around squads like Birmingham where you had Barry Ferguson, Lee Bowyer, Ben Foster, experience that the manager can just trust to sort things out. But Kieran has been an unbelievable buy for Newcastle."
Howe admitted that Trippier's leadership qualities have been a huge part of his stay at Newcastle, saying: "His leadership skills have been invaluable. In difficult moments, his experience has proved calming, and his drive and will to win have inspired the players to keep pushing forward.
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