What a fall from grace for Jack Colback.
The final nail in the coffin of Colback’s time at Newcastle looked to have been hammered home by manager Rafael Benitez this week.
Colback has fallen out of favour at St. James’ Park since the summer and has been recently reduced to lining out for the Magpies’ Under-23 side.
The midfielder, who is reportedly on around £45,000 a week, rejected the chance to move Hull and Wolverhampton Wanderers in the transfer window despite a clear message from Benitez that he was not a part of his plans for Newcastle’s return to the Premier League.
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Newcastle held their annual team photo shoot earlier this week and Colback’s absence did not go unnoticed by supporters on social media.
And ahead of an emotional welcome for his former side Liverpool on Sunday, Benitez has explained why Colback was not included in the photograph.
“It’s simple. We had decided the squad before,” Benitez said, via Chronicle Live.
“He is not training with the team and we didn’t change our position on that.
“It made no sense to change things again just because we’re taking a team picture.
“It has to be consistent.
“We have to be consistent in terms of our ideas as professionals and the way that we want to manage the squad.”
