Kieran Trippier: Players need to take responsibility for Newcastle's awful form

Eddie Howe is under immense pressure as Newcastle United boss at the moment after a run of horrific form and seemingly no idea of how to stop it.

As it so often does in football, all the pressure is falling at the feet of the manager, and while Eddie Howe is far from blameless, there are 20-odd players working with him who aren't pulling their weight either.

It's those players who are out there on the field, actually doing the work, or not as the case may be. Yes, Howe selects them, he tells them where to go and what to do, but if they don't listen, or they don't put in the effort, somehow it's still all Eddie Howe's fault in the eyes of some fans.

Again, we're not saying there's no blame to be had on Howe's part because clearly there is, and plenty of it, but there's a lot of emphasis on the players who aren't playing being used as a stick to beat the gaffer with, but not enough on those who are playing, not pulling their weight.

Kieran Trippier is a true leader

Kieran Trippier is in a unique position as he is one player we all know isn't going to be here next season, and yet he seems to be the only one, other than Bruno Guimaraes, who actually cares.

That was evident in his post-match interview with the official site yesterday, where he admitted that the players need to face up to the criticism, and he even tried to take the heat for them.

"I'm not going to stand here and criticise my teammates, but it has been a common theme and it's us players who need to take responsibility for the results, and me as a senior player, I'll take all the criticism as well.

"There's five remaining games and every one of them is like cup finals. We've got to start getting wins and fast."

We are really going to miss Kieran Trippier

It's this level of leadership, this ability to face up to the bad times, that's what we're going to miss about having Trippier around next season.

Trippier was one of the better players for Newcastle when he came on at half time, and then he gives an interview like this. It really sets him apart from the other players who seem to have thrown in the towel on this season.

We keep saying that replacing Trippier on the field is one thing, but replacing him in the dressing room is what's really going to test the recruitment team this summer. When he goes, our leadership group looks a lot weaker.

Jacob Murphy proved last week that he's no leader. He may be a popular figure in the dressing room, a Newcastle supporter and the longest-serving player, but he's not a leader, and he showed that again yesterday when he let Adrien Truffert skip past him on his way to scoring the winner.

We need leaders. We need grafters. We need winners.