The tall former Burnley striker left after just four goals in a black and white shirt in 2023
Eddie Howe feels that Chris Wood’s presence at Newcastle United was “underestimated” by some but admits he is not surprised by his glut of goals at Nottingham Forest.
The New Zealand international struggled for goals at St James’ Park and netted just four times in the Premier League for the Magpies. His career with Newcastle ended with an absolute sitter during the infamous FA Cup third round defeat at the hands of Sheffield Wednesday in 2023 before he made the switch to the City Ground.
But Howe has revealed that Alexander Isak’s re-emergence from an injury and Callum Wilson’s presence at the club meant Newcastle decided to cash in on a player that has rocked Premier League defences ever since. And don’t Newcastle fans know it?
As Wood, who grabbed a hat-trick on Boxing Day in last year’s victory for Nottingham Forest, returns to his old club, Howe is full of respect for the striker and said: “It was probably underestimated how much he affected our style and our play and that enabled us to stay in the league. He was an ever present and did really well.
“Then, with Callum’s return to fitness and Alex’s arrival he ended up moving on. I’m delighted for him on a personal level because he’s a great character and he gave everything for us.
“I can remember him doing so much for the team, filling in positions, sprinting back, doing things that centre forwards don’t usually do. He is still doing that for Nottingham Forest but he is scoring a lot of goals as well and a different variety of goals as well and that is the big plus for him, headers, goals with his feet, counter attacks, so yeah, really pleased for him.”
Howe also explained that Wood was signed from Burnley in 2022 as a target man, and not a prolific scorer. He added: “Chris when he came to us helped us in a really difficult situation, fighting relegation we felt we needed a focal point in that position, someone who could take a lot of pressure off us as a team and be a physical presence and I thought he was outstanding for the team.”
When asked why Wood did not get the goals he is getting now at Newcastle, Howe said: “I can never really give an answer to that because I am not behind the scenes at Forest but for us, he played his role in helping others score more goals than he did himself.
Leave a Reply