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Steve Diamond makes bold Premiership prediction after first win
By Chris Jones
Newcastle boss Steve Diamond is adamant his players will not finish bottom of the Gallagher Premiership after ending a run of 25 successive league defeats as the “pressure cooker blew” with the win over Exeter Chiefs.
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Diamond saw his men, who remain bottom of the table, end their dreadful run with a 24-18 win to leave Exeter as the only winless team in the league this season and said: “I thought we played reasonably well and I have never seen a changing room like it. The pressure cooker blew its lid and there was more a release than a celebration – people looked at their mates and said we are not as useless as we appeared to be.
“I have never heard Blaydon Races sung (after a win) and I have it on my top hits and that compilation is available for sale. It was a release of emotion, tension and stress after the Exeter win and while they weren’t jumping around in the changing room as if they had won a cup, it was what Callum Chick (the captain) had said would happen if they stuck to the plan. I have not asked what they got up to at the weekend but I think they enjoyed themselves.
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“There is no fabrication – we have been a terrible side and have not been able to do anything for whatever reason. What I bring to the party is some realisation that we have to get the standards right behind the scenes it will permeate into the team.
“They are as good as any bunch I have had in conforming and doing what we ask them. If they continue in the same trajectory we won’t finish bottom of the league.”
Outside-half Brett Connon and lock Seb de Chaves are fit to join the match-day squad to face Gloucester at Kingsholm on Saturday after recovering from injuries and Diamond has targeted the misfiring lineout for special attention this week.
He admitted: “The line out didn’t function against Exeter and that has not been swept under the carpet and we have had a serious word (with the players) and they are the core basics we need to get right to be in this league.
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“We are a poor team in attack at the moment and Gloucester are a dangerous team with ball in hand and we have to continue to get our breakdown work right and we only gave away six penalties against Exeter. We had six turnovers by half time and we have to get into the scrap in these games and then it becomes a lot easier. If we allow Gloucester to get five or six phases and broken field they will kill us.”
Diamond will rest some players for the first round of the Premiership Rugby Cup but he intends to “go strong” in the competition to try and build a winning momentum. “We need to build momentum and we did that at Worcester and got a lot out of the cup and we will go strong in it. We will also go strong in Europe and I am not going to put a young team out.”
Diamond last week revealed “hawks” had been circling his club hoping to sign key players and he has started conversations with player agents in a bid to keep his squad together. He said: “That is going to be a crucial part of moving forward (keeping the team together). I have spoken to the agents who represent most of our players who are out of contract and said to them that before you engage with others will you give us the nod. Hopefully, that will happen.
“If any of the players are going to be offered deal-changing money it will be difficult to keep them but we have said honestly and candidly what we are trying to do over the next five years is rebuild a sustainable business.
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“I am confident that I can keep the majority of my players here and I am also confident that my second round of recruiting will see players like Sam Arnold, Connor Doherty and Alex Hearle model where they were warehoused at other clubs – stuck in the system – at 23, 24-years-old and want to play. I know I can build a highly competitive team with those players of that ilk.
“We will be looking to strengthen and even though we are not spending what some other clubs are spending we still have enough in the pot if we need to go into the market – the loan market for one or two players.”
