Stan Collymore raves about Newcastle United’s Jamaal Lascelles

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Stan Collymore has showered praise on Newcastle United defender Jamaal Lascelles.

Stan Collymore in his column for The Mirror has spoken about the importance of a good captain in the team.

The former Liverpool striker says that he has been fortunate to have played under great captains during his playing career.

Ahead of Newcastle United’s Premier League clash against Liverpool, Collymore has showered praise on the Magpies skipper, Jamaal Lascelles.

The 23-year-old defender has been leading by examples this season, and his leadership and quality has impressed everyone including Collymore.

The former Aston Villa striker notes that Lascelles “demands standards” from his fellow teammates and he is showing that leadership is an important quality in the team.

He says that Lascelles has stepped up this season, and his leadership qualities will be loved by the Newcastle fans.

Collymore believes that Lascelles is fortunate to have a manager like Rafael Benitez around him who has previously worked with arguably Liverpool’s greatest ever skipper, Steven Gerrard.

He says that Benitez can teach him how Gerrard used to handle the dressing room. Collymore adds that Benitez will be very pleased if he has found a “lite version of Gerrard” in the Newcastle skipper.

“That is one of the reasons, if not the main reason, Jamaal Lascelles has impressed so many people – me among them – with the way he ­conducts himself at Newcastle,” wrote Collymore for The Mirror.

“He is happy to call himself out, happy to call out team-mates and his club, if he needs to. He demands standards, he is not afraid to ask questions and is a reminder that leadership is always an important quality.

“Lascelles has recognised that and stepped up – and the Geordie ­nation will love him for it.

“And where Lascelles is fortunate is that he has a boss in Rafa Benitez who worked at Liverpool with ­arguably the best captain in England – and maybe even the world – during the past 20 years.

“Undoubtedly, Benitez would have put an arm round Steven Gerrard from time to time at Anfield and said, ‘Keep your eye on so-and-so’, ‘Let me know what’s happening with such-and-such’, ‘He needs a rollocking, give him one so I don’t have to’.

“And he will have recognised how Gerrard managed Liverpool ­dressing rooms, something he can pass on to Lascelles. If Benitez has found a lite ­version of Gerrard in the Newcastle ­skipper, he will be very, very pleased.”