Eddie Howe puts record straight about Yoane Wissa's struggles since his £55m move to Newcastle United
Karma is a magnificent thing, isn't it? Both Yoane Wissa and Alexander Isak did the whole going on strike thing to force moves in the summer, and both have been slapped with nightmare seasons.
Alexander Isak's Liverpool career got off to a very rocky start before he picked up a major injury, while Yoane Wissa's Newcastle United career started with a major injury, and his poor form came after the fact.
It's hard to feel too bad for them when they behaved the way they did to get their respective moves over the line.
However, as a Newcastle fan, I would certainly like for karma to take its foot off Wissa's throat now and give us a glimpse of what we paid so much money for.
Eddie Howe has explained why Yoane Wissa is still not up to speed
We said in an earlier piece that we are reluctant to judge Yoane Wissa yet, as he's not really had enough time on the pitch to make any kind of impression either way, but Eddie Howe was asked about how the DR Congo international is feeling after such a troubling season, and why he's not banging in the goals for Newcastle.
“He didn’t train a lot in the summer so obviously had a gap there in his physical preparation for the season and then picked up an injury on international duty.
“That’s very, very difficult to adjust to mid-season. You have a six week pre-season for a reason to get players adjusted and ready for a new season.
“We haven’t been able to do that with him, but he has been doing a lot of work behind the scenes on his fitness. He has just come back from another injury and we are hoping his best moments are ahead of him.
“Certainly, he has shown a great attitude to his training and he is really motivated and keen to do well for the club and repay the club and the supporters for everything they have given him.
“That’s the situation, it hasn’t been an ideal introduction for him coming here. It’s been a tough period for him.”
Yoane Wissa needs to rediscover his form from last season
With Nick Woltemade out of tomorrow's game through illness, we expect it will mean we'll get a rare sighting of the 29-year-old in the starting lineup.
There are still enough games left in the season that Wissa could bag a few more goals to give us some hope that we made the right decision signing him in the summer.
We know that he knows where the goal is. He was prolific for Brentford last season, but he's looked completely out of his depth when he's played this season. There's a huge confidence issue with Newcastle's strikers, and it's a huge problem that we suspect only time can fix.
