Is Jonjo Shelvey coming of age at Newcastle?
Tuesday 18 October 2016 19:33, UK
The case of Jonjo Shelvey is a curious one. Many will scratch their heads at how he's ended up in the Sky Bet Championship.
Roll the clock back 12 months and Shelvey was an England starter, taking up a central midfield role in arguably the most important Euro 2016 qualifier against Switzerland.
It came a month after he was lauded as "faultless" by then-England boss Roy Hodgson when he picked up the official man of the match award on his England debut in a 6-0 drubbing of San Marino. Another international start followed in October, against Lithuania and all was looking rosy.
With his club form for Swansea City in rude health and the future looking bright, Shelvey then appeared to implode.
His nosedive in form seemed to coincide with Garry Monk's sacking in December. Alan Curtis picked Shelvey just once in the Premier League during his tenure and the 24-year-old's frustration came to the boil in an FA Cup defeat at Oxford United, when he was involved in a unnecessary argument with a disgruntled fan.
Shelvey signed a four-year contract extension with Swansea in 2015 under Monk but was the first player to leave during that January transfer window. Newcastle forked out £12m for his services and despite relegation, he seems settled on Tyneside under Rafa Benitez.
In the Sky Bet Championship this season, Shelvey has been the driving force behind Newcastle's fine start of taking 25 points from their first 12 games.
His swagger has returned in the heart of Benitez's midfield. Most of Newcastle's attacking play is conducted by Shelvey; he tops the Championship assists charts with five and no other Toon player has created more chances than him this season.
Brentford saw first-hand his talents on Saturday, where he played a huge role in each of Newcastle's goals in a 3-1 victory.
"We analyse the characteristics of our players and here we have a player who we know has it in him to deliver the final pass," Benitez said after the victory.
"We have others like [Isaac] Hayden who can play in that position but Jonjo is a player who is technically good and, when he plays well, the team plays better."
Shelvey's influence has not gone unnoticed by Sky Sports Football League analyst Ian Holloway, who knows Shelvey better than most having taken him on loan from Liverpool with Blackpool in 2011 - a spell which yielded six goals in 10 games and triggered the Reds to recall him early.
"He's probably the best player I've ever seen play in the Championship," Holloway said.
"He can get it off the centre-halves, dictate play and go beyond into the final third as shown by Newcastle's third goal against Brentford.
"He never looks to play the simple ball, he's always looking to hurt you.
"He's like a puppet - he's always moving his head. He's so aware of everything around him."
The big question now for Shelvey is whether he can sustain this form and not let his "childish" mindset, as Shelvey himself describes it, affect his current form.
His most famous bust-up involved a furious row with Sir Alex Ferguson after being sent off during an ill-tempered clash between Manchester United and Liverpool in 2012. It was an incident that summed up his frustrating three-year stint at Anfield that saw him start just 31 matches.
"I am not the same person because I have grown so much more," said Shelvey, who revealed he hired a personal trainer in the summer to shed weight.
"I feel more confident and fearless than what I was before. I have probably always been a player who needs to feel loved, who needs an arm around me.
"As I am getting older I have felt that's a bit childish, that's not the way to be in life.
"You don't need someone to say well done and that if you have played well. You should know."
How key has Jonjo Shelvey been for Newcastle this season? Leave a comment below if you're reading on skysports.com or tweet us @SkyFootball
Follow Tuesday's Sky Bet Championship action - including Newcastle's trip to Barnsley - on Soccer Special and with our live blog on skysports.com and the Sky Sports apps, where you'll see match highlights shortly after full time.
