Newcastle ace Matt Ritchie confident Rafa Benitez’s men can cope with the pressure and bounce back to Prem
Winger joined Magpies from Bournemouth for £12million and knows all eyes will be watching promotion bid
AS Matt Ritchie rightly points out, pressure can do funny things to teams and individuals.
You only need to take a look at England wilting under the intense heat of expectation at the Euros for a prime example.
All eyes are on Newcastle this year. Expectations are the Toon will walk the Championship.
They have a Champions League-winning manager in Rafa Benitez and a squad full of top-level talent, which has been boosted this close season with players who have thrived in the second tier.
Ritchie, 26, snared from Bournemouth for £12million last month, is the pick of the bunch having scored 15 goals with 17 assists in the Cherries’ Championship title-winning season two years ago.
He is a real coup for the Toon, given he did well in his debut Prem season last term.
And he was also the subject of a failed bid from Europa League-competing West Ham earlier this summer.
The Scotland star is backing the club to go up at the first attempt, meaning only the first season of his five-year deal will be spent in the Championship.
But he knows it is not going to be easy because this time — unlike his triumph with the unfancied Cherries — the heat is on from day one.
Ritchie told SunSport: “It’s different this time because the pressure is there.
“You see funny results such as at the Euros and that is because of pressure. Pressure plays on people differently. We need to handle that. At Bournemouth, no one expected us to get promoted.
“Even when we were five points clear at one point, everyone was writing us off. So there was no pressure from the press on us.
“Whereas here now, the fans expect, the press expect, everyone in football expects. And we expect from ourselves. But it’s a different test because there is that pressure. I’m looking forward to that.”
Newcastle is Ritchie’s sixth club. But this is the first time he has moved permanently away from down south. He is living in a hotel with his missus and four-month-old baby while house-hunting.
The keen cyclist hopes to lead by example through his work-rate on the pitch.
The ex-Swindon ace said: “I’m not a natural leader, I’m not the sort of bloke who will be your captain. But I’ll give everything I’ve got and set an example of work-rate and bring some quality as well.
“But we have a dressing room full of leaders, all in different ways. I can’t comment on what happened previously but since I’ve arrived the team spirit is fantastic.
“Everyone gets on and is striving for the same thing. The manager has recruited in a way that he wants the team spirit to be good — he knows that it’s important.”
Newcastle kick-off the Football League season tomorrow at Fulham. Their first home game against Huddersfield is next Saturday.
And Ritchie added: “Coming to St James’ to play in front of 50,000 fans doesn’t happen every week in the Championship. That will be everyone’s cup final. We have to be aware of that and know it’s coming.
“That can’t be a surprise. The lads know that and the manager knows that. It’s not a given just because we’re Newcastle we’re going to be in the top two or top three from the get-go.
“If you look at the past season, the clubs which have come down from the Prem such as Wigan, who were relegated twice, Wolves were relegated again, Leeds — there are some massive clubs which have taken a plunge.
“But I believe we can be up there in the promotion fight. We’ve got good players and a fantastic manager and we’ll be doing everything we can to be in the top two.”