Jonas Gutierrez has spoke out about THAT famous goal in May 2015 and the celebration that followed in front of Mike Ashley – saying “I wanted to hear what they are going to say about me now”.
It’s now four years on from his fairytale display in the win that kept us up against West Ham, a game where he not only scored but ran over towards the directors’ box, cupped his ears and stared up at Mike Ashley.
This came after the club notified him that he’d be released at the end of the season – despite the fact he had only recently made a full recovery from cancer.
Here’s what the Argentinian international – who still plays in his native country – has had to say about the moment itself during his brilliant chat to the Chronicle:
“I celebrated like that because maybe I did not have the support I wanted from the board so maybe it was something like that.
“I wanted to hear what they are going to say about me now..”
Jonas then reflected on the game itself, saying it was ‘like a dream’ and the perfect moment to end his seven years at the club – although he does insist in the interview that he never wanted to leave:
“I always remember that moment. It’s happiness, it’s like a dream. If you had to choose one moment, one time, when you have to leave this club after seven years, I think it would be like I did it. Scoring that goal when we were fighting relegation in my stadium.”
“It gave me the power, strength to go forward. The only thing I can say to the fans is thank you because they were unbelievable.”
“I always think about the last game. I still want to play in that shirt. That black and white shirt is the best shirt I ever wore,”
“It was hard (to leave) because I wanted to keep playing for Newcastle but you’re not always going to get what you want in life so when it happens, you have to take the positives and look forward,”
Brilliant from ‘Spiderman’, with him getting his own form of vengeance – something which seems all the more sweet after an employment tribunal found he’d been dropped because of his cancer diagnosis, making it impossible to activate an appearance-based contract extension.
He wasn’t the most talented football in the world, but he is the very definition of a ‘battler’ – both on and off the pitch.
Played with his heart on his sleeve every game
Cc(Quote)
He really did. Great bloke too who continues to root for NUFC.
Olly Hawkins(Quote)
Everything that Newcastle fans want to see – a trier!
Personally I think Ashley was shafted there. While Jonas may have put 110% in, one and a half goals a season just wasn’t what we needed at the time, and to be honest I was disappointed when he took the club to the tribunal.
What’s next? Diame didn’t get a contract extension. Tribunal for racism?
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