For the second consecutive month, Newcastle fans have voted Nick Pope as their Player Of The month.
While the footballing output in September was fairly low due to the international break and postponement following the death of The Queen, we still managed to get a couple of games in, during which Nick Pope once again showed why he should be England’s number 1 – despite his small error while actually playing for England, but we’ll ignore that.
Pope kept his third clean sheet of the campaign against Crystal Palace in the 0-0 draw there and put in another commanding performance against Bournemouth two weeks later.
Speaking to NUFC.co.uk Pope said: “I’m over the moon to win an award that’s voted for by the fans. They’ve taken to me great and that’s helped me perform at a good level.
“The team has looked great. I think there’s been very few periods in the games that we can be unhappy with – in the main we’ve looked like a really good team, a good unit on and off the ball, and hopefully that will lead to more wins.
“I’ve got somewhere I keep (the trophies). It’s always nice to be able to have a few things to look back on; football’s a short career and I’m not someone who’s won loads and loads of medals and trophies, so whatever I do win, it’s nice to have to look back on.”
Pope was unlucky on Saturday to not keep another clean sheet against the 10-men of Fulham when Decordova-Reid grabbed a late consolation goal, but it is hard to blame Pope for that one as Newcastle’s defence was pulled all over the place leaving Pope with far too much to do.
If Pope continues his form at club level, Southgate could have a real headache on his hands. We know he likes to pick his favourites these days so Pickford will likely be his number 1 in his mind, but Pope’s club form shouldn’t be overlooked.
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