At the start of the current campaign, Karl Darlow and Jamaal Lascelles were seen as not much more than reserve team players for Newcastle United who might get some game time in cup competitions and a few minutes here and there off the bench.
It seemed that, in all likelihood, the majority of their football would be played out on loan again this season, just like it was last term when the duo were loaned back to former club Nottingham Forest. Goalkeeper Darlow arrived with a big reputation in the Championship, though with Tim Krul established as the Magpies’ undisputed number one and Rob Elliot being his understudy, the 25-year-old’s opportunities appeared slim.
Lascelles’ progress, meanwhile, seemed to stall last season, with the big centre-back used only intermittently by his former club. During Steve McClaren’s Newcastle reign, Lascelles’ first team chances were also severely limited, with the majority of them arriving off the bench to try and shore up a defence that had already shipped a couple of goals.
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Yet, in recent weeks, the 22-year-old defender has become a real fan favourite by backing up his strong and honest interviews off the field with some reassured performances on the pitch, which has seen him show maturity well beyond his years.
Darlow too has visibly grown in confidence with every passing match since stepping into Elliot’s gloves, culminating in his sublime display against Crystal Palace, the highlight of which was a penalty save from former Magpie Yohan Cabaye.
At a point in the campaign when Newcastle had looked almost certain to drop down into the Championship without even really fighting for their top flight status, the unlikely duo of Lascelles and Darlow have come in from the cold to drag their team mates towards safety and make the great escape very much a real possibility.
Rafa Benitez’s impact on this squad has been huge, and his handling of Darlow and Lascelles is a testament to his superb man management skills.
“Jamaal has been excellent for us since he stepped into the team and we need leaders,” Darlow explained after the pair helped Newcastle keep a clean sheet during the 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace.
“We need people that not many thought would come through this season to do something.
“Hopefully we can play our part to the end and keep this club up.”
One moment in particular highlighted Lascelles’ defensive contribution. During the first half, Connor Wickham broke past the centre-back, but Lascelles recovered to put in a vital last-ditch challenge to dispossess the Palace forward just before he was about to pull the trigger. If Lascelles mistimed that tackle, it would have been a penalty and he would have walked, but it was as clean a tackle as any Newcastle defender has made in recent years.
“It was unbelievable,” Darlow said of his team mate’s tackle.
“The whole defence was very good again. We look stable. That tackle was a big moment for us.”
With two matches to go, Newcastle are remarkably out of the bottom three (although both Sunderland and Norwich City have a game in hand), but with a very winnable match at Aston Villa on the horizon this weekend, they will feel like they can get a vital three points that would edge them ever so closer to safety.
It has been a stunning turnaround in the last four matches, and unlikely heroes Lascelles and Darlow have been key contributors.
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