Leadership, or rather the lack of it, has proved a recurring theme at Newcastle United this season but a dressing-room leader has emerged from the shadows to relieve some of the weight resting on Steve McClaren’s shoulders.
Rob Elliot has never been afraid to voice an opinion or confront awkward truths but, as Newcastle’s third-choice goalkeeper, he had limited scope for influencing first-team affairs.
Everything changed in October when Tim Krul slipped on an icy plastic pitch while playing for Holland in Kazakhstan and ruptured a cruciate ligament. The sight of Krul limping heavily as he arrived at Newcastle’s training ground for physiotherapy on his knee last week served as a reminder that McClaren’s first-choice keeper will not play again until next season.
At the time of Krul’s injury, Karl Darlow, his supposed deputy, was sidelined by ankle trouble so Elliot suddenly found himself parachuted into the limelight. In a struggling team the Republic of Ireland international has performed so well there would be an uproar were Darlow to be selected ahead of him now.
Moreover Elliot is providing the sort of authority Fabricio Coloccini, Newcastle’s less than vocal captain may lack. When, this month, the team were losing 1-0 at Tottenham at half-time the 29-year-old former Charlton keeper delivered a half-time address, urging his team-mates to confound the doubters by refusing to surrender. Newcastle won 2-1 and, afterwards, McClaren could not praise Elliot highly enough.
“We’re quite a young team – people forget that – and we’re still coming together so I guess I’m someone with a bit of experience,” Elliot says. “I’m 30 next year and I’d decided that, once I got my chance, I needed to be more vocal and I needed to be encouraging. We’re quite an inexperienced team so we need to be grabbing each other and helping each other to push forward.
“I’ll only say something if it’s positive. Negative stuff will have no effect. It’s got to be positive and constructive but, if something needs to be said, I’ll say it. It’s just about making sure we’re talking to each other, going forward together and pushing each other along.”
After tasting life on loan at Bishop’s Stortford, Notts County and Accrington Stanley while trying to establish himself at Charlton and then spending the best part of five years on Tyneside as an understudy, Elliot is thoroughly enjoying his moment in the sun.
“It’s definitely right up there,” the Londoner says. “All I’ve ever wanted is a run in the team. An honest chance. Unfortunately it happened because Tim got badly injured and that gave me an opportunity not just to get chucked in for one or two games but to prove myself and show my worth.”
The relationship between Newcastle players and their supporters harbours some serious faultlines but Elliot and the Gallowgate End appear to enjoy an instinctive bond. “I do seem to have a bit of a rapport with the fans and it’s great,” he says. “It’s lovely. They’ve been magnificent with me. As a kid I was a massive Charlton fan and, travelling away all the time, knew how much it meant if players showed their appreciation.”
On Saturday his one-year-old son, Max, will be in the St James’ Park crowd to see him try to defy Romelu Lukaku and his Everton team-mates. It is a tough task but one Elliot could only have dreamt of performing in August.
“Last summer I probably thought my career was over here,” he says. “I wasn’t playing and I was down the pecking order but I’ve got to say Steve McClaren’s been fantastic. I’ve got so much respect for the manager, not for the way he is with me now but because of how we was with me when I wasn’t in the team.
“Looking back, though, it did seem as if I was going to leave Newcastle. Thank God I didn’t. This is all I’ve ever wanted. I love the people here and, if I could play, I’d stay here for the rest of my career.
“Of course I don’t think I’m anywhere near having proved myself just yet, not after 10 games. You need to be playing for years, like Tim, to do that. But it’s been a really good turnaround. It feels refreshing, re-energising. When you’re playing on a Saturday, especially in front of this crowd, there’s no better feeling. “
Elliot has been instrumental in Newcastle’s recent improvement which has seen them rise to fourth bottom courtesy of wins against Liverpool and Spurs and a draw with Aston Villa.
“Max comes to all the games but the Liverpool game was the first one where he didn’t cry,” he says. “Usually the noise of the crowd scares him a bit and he cries but he was obviously pleased we beat Liverpool. I now call him my lucky mascot.”
At times this season certain Newcastle players have probably been more upset by the crowd than young Max but Elliot is thriving on the pressure of performing in front of one of England’s largest and most demanding audiences.
“I just see this as an amazing opportunity,” he says. “People ask about the pressure but, if you have to choose between working nine to five or playing in front of 50,000 every week, it’s an easy one. It can be tough here but I’d rather be part of trying to turn it round than be on the sidelines, watching and feeling helpless. That’s been the hardest thing in the past.”
They say you make your own luck but Elliot still feels immensely fortunate. “There are probably a lot of keepers out there in the lower leagues who could play at this level but who aren’t going to get the opportunity I got,” he says.
“But maybe I can show people that, if you work hard, you can take the scenic route. Dean Kiely [a former Charlton goalkeeper] was always an inspiration to me because he didn’t get to the Premier League until he was 29.”
Elliot’s mission is to imbue his team-mates with similarly indomitable spirit. “The Tottenham game summed it up: ‘Don’t give up,’” he says. “As a team, we’re good enough to win games. We know we can compete with the best and fight. It’s just about getting that out of us every week.
“We’re still a young side, we’re still developing and the manager’s only been here a few months. I know it can be frustrating and hard for our fans but the crowd, I think, have been magnificent in all this. They can see an improvement and hopefully, if we can all stick together, we can keep it going.”
Come June Elliot could yet find himself in France wearing the green of Ireland at Euro 2016. “I’m probably still right down the pecking order for that,” he says. “But just to be in with a shout of playing at the Euros is amazing. Just talking about it is surreal.”
