Is This Scottish International Underrated At Newcastle United?

Grant Hanley Is A Heavily Underrated Player At Newcastle United

Newcastle United’s season has, by and large, gone the way they and many others would have expected.  With just 8 games to go, they sit on top of the table above Brighton and with a 7-point gap to 3^rd placed Huddersfield.  International players like Aleksandar Mitrovic, Vurnon Anita and Chancel Mbemba have not even got regular starts for the Magpies.  With a squad like that to look after though, one of Rafael Benitez’s biggest challenges has been to keep everyone fit and happy.

On that subject, step forward Grant Hanley.  Still just 25-years old and a regular in the Scotland side, Hanley is a thoroughly capable centre-back who has been afforded only 3 starts in the league all season.  He has rarely let anyone down in appearances for Newcastle and, in the past, Blackburn Rovers in the Championship, as well as for Scotland at international level.  Despite his solid performances, Hanley has found himself to be a reserve alongside fellow defender Mbemba at St James’s Park.

It’s not that a strong case can be made for Hanley to depose either Jamaal Lascelles or Ciaran Clark from the back four on a permanent basis. Rather, one can argue that his role as their back-up could have been a bigger one in retrospect. Lascelles as captain, and stand-out defender Clark have each played well over 30 high pressure games this season and at times those efforts have taken their toll on either their fitness or form.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but it can be argued that having failed at home on numerous occasions against supposedly weaker oppositions, the chance could have been offered to Hanley a bit more often. For Benitez to rest either Lascelles on the right of the centre-back partnership, or Clark on the left in favour of the versatile Hanley, it would have kept his first choice pair a bit fresh for the crucial run-in.

One thing is for certain; should Newcastle suffer a seemingly devastating injury to Lascelles or Clark during the closing weeks of the season it will not be the disaster many will surely cry of. Hanley is a solid proposition at this level and, as proven in the past, will not let anyone down.