Eddie Howe has offered insight into Kieran Trippier’s reaction after being told he would not be getting the captain’s armband this season.
A decision on the captaincy was made back in August with Howe appointing Bruno Guimaraes as “team captain” but the ex-England right-back has still worn the armband on a couple of occasions in cup competitions and took on the job as skipper if Bruno has gone off. Trippier showed his class last pre-season when lifting the Sela Cup with Bruno after the Magpies beat Brest 1-0 in the showpiece of the summer warm-up competition at St James’ Park.
Whether that drops a possible hint ahead of the Carabao Cup final should Newcastle beat Liverpool remains to be seen. But Howe has praised Trippier’s reaction to not being appointed skipper this season with the defender poised to play a part in the FA Cup tie against Brighton & Hove Albion today.
Howe told Chronicle Live: “Kieran is still a hugely important player to us on so many different levels. Firstly as a player he still has stand out qualities.
“When he came on against Liverpool, I thought he did really well. He gave us composure and quality on the ball which we needed in that moment of the game.
“His natural instinct is to lead, whether he has the armband on or not, and that has never changed. That is the biggest compliment I can pay him this year.”
Trippier was the first player to order the squad over to the away end at Anfield in midweek after the Geordie faithful backed their team throughout a tough encounter that ended 2-0 to the Reds.
Howe added: “He is still a big leader in the group and is still a very vocal presence. As soon as the game ends his natural thought is to go to the supporters and that’s what you want.
“We went over together and we were talking about the game. You could see the supporters and their reaction to this.
“I can’t praise Kieran enough this year.”
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