How Joe Newell has become Hibs' most important player

Jack Ross has been delighted with Newell's form.

Goalkeeper Ofir Marciano’s place is nailed on, and you’d expect top goalscorer Kevin Nisbet and speed merchant Martin Boyle to feature high up the list. The three defenders who have been summoned to the Scotland squad this season in Paul Hanlon, Ryan Porteous and Paul McGinn would be up there too.

However, there is one man who is becoming exceptionally important to this current Hibs team, and that is midfielder Joe Newell.

It is now high time that Newell gets the column inches he deserves, because the suave 27-year-old from Tamworth is in a rich vein of form. In fact, some may argue he’s hit the best level of his career.

Newell has often teamed up with Alex Gogic in central midfield.

Facts and figures

Let’s get the vital statistics out of the way first. Newell has started every Premiership match this season for Hibs, who currently sit third in the league and are most certainly genuine challengers for the European places. The Englishman has laid on three assists, which is standard for a deep-lying midfielder, but his pass completion rate is very high at 83 per cent. He’s even chipped in with a goal this term, a lovely finish away at St Mirren.

Ross usually deploys Newell alongside a more physical midfielder. Alex Gogic has been the partner of choice for most of the season, although in Saturday’s 3-0 win at Motherwell, Melker Hallberg was given the nod. The Englishman’s job is simple: get on the ball, distribute the ball wisely and start off attacks. Why it is so simple is because he is doing so well.

While not afraid to do some of the dirty work in midfield, it is Newell’s classy left-foot that makes him stand out. He has a glorious range of passing. He can go short, he can pierce the lines, switch play and he is able to go long. He is adept at set-plays, be it free-kicks or corners. His vision is excellent, his football brain totally tuned in to what is going on around him.

Newell's delivery from set plays has become so important for Hibs.

What is so startling for many observers is that Newell has come on so much in the past year.

A totally different player

He arrived at Hibs from Rotherham in the summer of 2019 with a reputation as a left-sided midfielder, who would most often be used as a winger. Then Hibs manager Paul Heckingbottom put him in there for his debut in a Betfred Cup match against Stirling Albion, where his performance was so lame that most Hibs fans had their doubts already.

Things did not get much better under Heckingbottom. He flitted in and out of the team and when he was picked, there was little evidence of a player who could cut it in the top flight of Scottish football. He was weak and ponderous on the ball and appeared to lack energy and drive. Had Newell been let go in the first six months of his time at Hibs, not many people would have batted an eyelid.

Joe Newell is in the form of his life at Hibs.

It is therefore testament to Newell’s character that, in the space of a year, he has overcome the doubters so emphatically. He has admitted that his form during the first months of his Easter Road career were miles away from the required level and promised to get better.

A delicate touch

Ross deserves credit for seeing the central midfielder in him and persevering. Confidence and trust are such key factors in the performance of a footballer. On Saturday, against Motherwell, Newell stood out once again, like he has done so often in congested midfields, a vaccine to pandemic plodding. He did not once look flustered at Fir Park. The game was played at his pace. His assist for Christian Doidge’s goal was refined and the way he glided forward to instigate the third goal was impressive too.

He is not a man who stamps his authority on matches. Rather, he works away in the background, rarely wasting the ball. He is delicate, and would almost certainly benefit from having another like-minded, creative midfielder ahead of him to dovetail with. The one frustration with Newell is that a lot of his work takes place away from the final third.

Newell's debut for Hibs in July 2019 against Stirling Albion was one to forget.

A lesson from Newell’s tale is that new signings to this league, so unique in its nature, should be given more time than is generally afforded. The pace of Scottish football often catches good footballers out. Now Newell is catching Scottish football out.

Contract running down

The former Peterborough player is now entering the final stages of his two-year Hibs deal. Talks have already opened about a new contract but as each game passes, as Newell comes to the forefront of people’s attention more and more, the concern may be that he is lured elsewhere.

Newell likes it in Edinburgh. He has spoken fondly of the city and, as a mad-keen and very proficient golfer, certainly takes advantage of the Lothians’ courses. When he picked up a recent shoulder injury, Ross joked that his man would be more concerned about being kept off the course rather than the pitch.

After Saturday’s masterclass, Ross could not speak highly enough of Newell. “We had a good chat with him pre-season and we felt central midfield was the area of the pitch we could get the most from him,” said the Hibs boss. “For me, he’s been up there with the best midfielders in the league this season. Those that watch us week in, week out will acknowledge how good a footballer he is. He’s added different bits to his game, he’s grown in belief. He’s really, really important to us.”

If the front nine of Newell’s Hibs career was in the rough, he’s found the swing of things on the back nine. In such good form, now the challenge for Hibs is to keep him on their green.

A message from the Editor: Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers. If you haven't already, please consider supporting our sports coverage with a digital sports subscription.