The James Bunce effect

Last summer transfer window was a particularly dry one for Newcastle. Other than the permanent signing of Lewis Hall, our other first team additions have made little to no real impact thus far this campaign.

Despite the lack of notable squad changes, there has been one very noticeable difference in the Newcastle team this season, that being the lack of injuries within the squad this time around. With that being said, our most important new addition to the club last summer could potentially have been in our staff.

Our injury crisis last season was arguably one of the worst the premier league had ever seen, with Newcastle officially having the most games missed by first team players in the league last season.

Our squad was already lacking the depth required to compete in multiple competitions, and our draws in both the Carabao Cup and Champions League in the first half of the competition gave us some of the most difficult fixtures imaginable.

This highly condensed schedule of difficult fixtures whittled our squad down to the bare bones, and the problems only intensified when players carrying knocks were overused and miss-managed which lead to further delays and injuries. Our injury issues plagued the entire campaign, leading to a much poorer season than the one prior given the lack of availability of key players.

Bunce the 'best in class'

James Bunce was hired as our performance director in the summer, having previously worked alongside new sporting director Paul Mitchell at Monaco. When Mitchell was originally appointed at the French side, he had an injury crisis on his hands similar to the one we encountered ourselves last season. His solution to the problem was to bring in Bunce, a man Mitchell has labelled ‘the best in class’, with his key responsibility being to address the ever growing list of injuries.

Upon joining Newcastle, Bunce gave a description as to what he would bring to the table in his new role, saying “My role will be to ensure that we push in every area of performance and medicine to optimise the health, fitness and wellbeing of players, ultimately ensuring they are available to perform at the highest level, week in week out."

Looking back, it is clear that he has succeeded in what he set out to achieve given the substantial decrease in injuries in comparison to last season. Although our lack of European football this season will have also contributed to our success in avoiding injuries, the decrease in injuries has been more drastic than any Newcastle fan could have wished for.

With a largely unchanged starting 11 week in week out, Howe has brought back the style of intensity we know and love, and this style is a notoriously taxing one to perform at a high level. The fact our first team squad has remained mostly fit with no major issues is miraculous, especially during the congested festive period in which we have displayed our best form of the season so far.

Isak has only missed two league games all season, due to contact injury (broken toe) not a muscle issue. He felt tightness at Arsenal last week, but it was a smart shift in approach that he and others were totally rested against Bromley, with Botman another who has been carefully and effectively managed.

Bunce will almost certainly have a harder job on his hands next term, with Newcastle's current form propelling us into the European football places in the league table, but so far his appointment appears to have went under the radar as a complete masterstroke from the club hierarchy. Lets just hope that I haven’t jinxed us by mentioning how well it’s going!