Online abuse has left NUFC star with 'badly damaged' confidence levels - Luke Edwards

Luke Edwards of The Telegraph claims that online abuse towards Jamal Lewis crushed his confidence after his early season struggles at St James' Park.

Our £15m summer signing has had a difficult start to life on Tyneside, with many fans criticising him for his under par performances.

Lewis’ best moment in a Toon shirt came when he provided an assist for Wilson’s in last weekend's big win over Everton, however that was followed by a mixed performance in our 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace.

Edwards tweeted this about the youngster, also revealing that the defender had a battle with COVID too:

Lewis has been poor since his arrival and fans have every right to criticise players who don’t perform. However, criticism should never turn into abuse and we should always support the team - not doing so is actually counterproductive.

Hopefully recent signs of improvement are a glimpse of what's to come and he can build on his best display in a Toon shirt to date.

Buying Lewis was always going to be a long-term solution rather than a quick fix. He has just turned 23, which means he could go on to pin down our left back slot for the next decade if he ends up coming good.

Let's stay behind him and refrain from battering a young lads already fragile confidence levels!

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