Miguel Almiron has risen above Jack Grealish’s insult and is motivated by “positive” forces, Newcastle boss Eddie Howe has claimed.
The Paraguay winger has scored six goals this season and is in line to win player of the month for October. In May, during Manchester City ’s title winning parade, £100m man Grealish joked: “Riyad (Mahrez), take him off the pitch, as soon as possible. He played like Almiron.” This season it has sparked a #playlikealmiron hashtag on social media as the winger turned into a smiling assassin during Newcastle’s charge into fourth place.
Almiron has yet to break his silence on the Grealish dig, which until this season, contained an element of truth. He has added goals and end product to his relentless running power, and Howe said: “I think Miggy’s motivations are much bigger than that and greater than that. Any comment anyone can make in the world whether it is about me or someone else you have to have a bigger picture.
"The bigger picture for Miggy is being the best he can be for Newcastle. He loves the club, the supporters love him, he loves the supporters back and his motivations are greater than any comment from any individual. He is proud to play for his country as well so he has huge positive things in his life that drive him.
Howe says he doesn’t regard the row as “relevant” in Almiron’s upturn in form, which has come with Newcastle’s vast improvement as an attacking and defensive outfit - creating more chances and playing higher up the pitch. Howe says he admired Almiron before he became Toon boss a year ago and added: “Down the years I’ve learned never to underestimate players’ abilities given the right surroundings, conditions and confidence.
“You never know what someone is capable of until you start working with them. Miggy’s starting scoring goals and I’m really pleased for him, but his overall performances have been very strong. The right attitude and good consistent work can elevate them to performances even they didn’t think they were capable of." Asked if Almiron’s form has altered the club’s plans in the summer and January to strengthen with a right winger, Howe said: “If there was a player we feel could improve the squad then we will always look at that.
Who would you prefer in your team, Grealish or Almiron? Comment here
“Even from afar watching Miggy, because of his work-rate, he is a very difficult player to contain. He has added end product this season to his brilliant work out of possession. We are looking at every position to improve, and that won’t change with the ambition of the owners.
"Certainly, the players who are here and have done well for us will be respected. We'd love him to keep scoring great goals, but we don't expect him to be scoring from 25 yards every week! I get just as much pleasure from the second goal against Fulham, a tap-in in the six yard box. They're the goals that you'd love our players to deliver every week."
Howe will chalk up a year in charge of Newcastle who at this stage last season were winless. Six of the same squad Steve Bruce had, have started during their five wins in six games, and ten were on the pitch as the 4-0 win against Aston Villa ended.
Howe said he inherited a squad that “wanted help” and coaching. “I had that belief internally that we'd got some really good players. I think my first impressions were genuine, a really willing group that wanted to be coached, that wanted help, so I felt that was a really good starting point.
"Now the results weren't matching that expectation initially and that leads to an element of doubt because you need the results to validate what you feel, and it was really from the Leeds game onwards that things started to turn in a positive direction.
"I had a clear vision of what I wanted to do. I tried not to focus on what had gone on in the past here. I think that’s a very dangerous thing. You can be too reliant on certain things that have happened, or traditions and cultures that exist.
The lowest moment? “I think Cambridge (defeat in the FA Cup ) is the obvious one and I can still feel that today, the disappointment, the loneliness, that was a game we wanted to win and we wanted to build a winning culture and there was a real lowness after that. lso the Watford game, we were close to a win. Afterwards there felt a long way to go, a long way back for us. Thankfully the reaction to those disappointments was very strong.”
