Jonjo Shelvey has a big part to play this season

When Newcastle United signed Jonjo Shelvey for £12m from Swansea City last winter I couldn’t have been more happy. I soon found out my happiness at the signing well and truly put me in to a small group of Newcastle fans with anything positive to say about him. £12m was a lot for a player with a seemingly bad attitude who was currently languishing in the Swansea City reserves after all. I can’t say I have followed his career much other than knowing he was a kid with talent at Charlton Athletic who made his debut for them at the age of 16 but where Jonjo Shelvey has appeared on my radar is when he played against Newcastle United for both Liverpool and Swansea City - in my opinion, on each and every occasion, he absolutely ran the show. He dominated the midfield, he made football look simple, he sprayed balls near and far and had a fantastic shot on him - that is the Jonjo Shelvey I knew; he was the sort of player I loved to watch.

He made his debut for Newcastle United in a home fixture against West Ham United - a game in which he created both goals in a 2-1 victory and was named man of the match. It was a result which seemed to signal a turning point in the clubs’ fortunes - surely Jonjo could lead the club the survival? Sadly that wasn’t to be and unfortunately, that performance against West Ham, was Shelvey’s one and only man of the match performance of the season which ended up with him being dropped when Rafa Benitez took over the club. The season ended miserably for both the club and Shelvey and a departure away from the club, albeit at a significantly reduced fee, looked inevitable.

However, he has not left the club and if anything, he seems to have been rejuvenated under Rafa. There seems to be a real togetherness in the squad now and Shelvey appears to be playing a large part in that. Whilst he hasn’t played in every game of the season (not many have due to squad rotation), when he has played, he has played well and arguably put in a man of the match performance in the 2-0 victory of Brighton yesterday, scoring a magnificent free kick in the process.

Much was made of the injuries to both Aleksandar Mitrovic and Dwight Gayle prior to the Brighton game, which resulted in Rafa playing a 4-1-4-1 formation, allowing Shelvey more freedom going forward alongside Mo Diame. In previous games, Shelvey has played a more defensive midfield role alongside Colback or Hayden and he hasn’t really shone. Yesterday was a different story and we saw the Jonjo Shelvey of old, the one that made Liverpool sign him, the one that broke in to the England setup, the one that cost £12m.

Jonjo Shelvey could be a key figure in the chase for promotion this season. Yes, his attitude has been questioned in the past but he does seem committed to the cause. I am sure there will be times he won’t get a game but Rafa is aiming at having 2 players in every position so there will be occasions when he is rested, dropped or rotated but nevertheless, he is a key man.

The fans are on Jonjo’s side, in fact we’re fully behind everyone and will remain so all season long. The team has a togetherness that us fans have not seen for years but the same could be said for the club as a whole. The fans are backing the manager and the team, we are behind everyone and this can only help Shelvey. He wants to be loved and if he continues to repeat yesterday’s performance throughout the season, love him we will.