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Newcastle United’s reserves were put to the sword by the A-League All Stars on Friday at Marvel Stadium in their second match of the Melbourne Global Football Week.
Thrashed 8-0, many supporters, and neutral fans, would have liked to see some of Newcastle’s first team players feature. Kieran Trippier, Elliot Anderson and Lewis Hall were on the bench but didn’t come on, with Eddie Howe opting to give the younger players (and goalkeeper Mark Gillespie) the opportunity to prove themselves.
Amadou Diallo was the stand-out performer but none of the players did anything to suggest there was any real future for them at a club who have aspirations of winning trophies and have big money to throw around.
Throughout the side that Newcastle fielded on Friday, Garang Kuol was by far the most well-known, not just in Australia, but throughout the world.
Returning to Australia with his clubside, Kuol came off the bench in Newcastle’s game against Tottenham Hotspur at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, before playing the full 90 minutes against the All Stars.
Spotlight came on Kuol after his time playing at the 2022 World Cup for Australia but his appearances in the last few days show that, in reality, he is miles away from being a part of Newcastle’s first-team plans.
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Loaned out to Heart of Midlothian, before being loaned to relegated Eredivisie side Volendam, Kuol struggled to live up to the hype at either side.
It looks like history could be repeating itself for the Kuol family. Garang’s brother, Alou, was rated highly and signed from Central Coast Mariners by VfB Stuttgart in 2021. Alou struggled to make an impact at Stuttgart and was loaned to SV Sandhausen. He made one appearance for the team playing in the second tier of German football, where he was sent off.
After returning from a mostly fruitless loan spell, Alou played one game for Stuttgart and ending up re-signing for Central Coast Mariners just two years after he had left with aspirations of being one of the few Australian players to make an impact in Europe.
While harsh to say, there have been many players who have come to Premier League clubs as youngsters and failed to make it. Newcastle are a side who are progressing at the minute and based on Garang Kuol’s poor performances in the games over the past few days, it will take an amazing transformation for him to be featuring for Newcastle in any kind of competitive football.
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