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His footballing qualities have been overshadowed by the lack of Premier League experience and chronic absence of discipline, so the fans were suspicious. With their beloved club having struggled for years in the striking department, they had every right to feel that way.
Alan Shearer left the legacy so great that most of the players would be afraid to even think of replicating, but Mitrovic wasted no time by announcing upon his very arrival the desire and hope to become the club’s new legend and Shearer’s worthy successor.
His pronouncement to the Premier League world was rather extraordinary. Two yellow cards in his first two games for Newcastle, a booking after only 13 seconds in a 2-2 home draw against Southampton, and another one only three minutes past his introduction from the bench in 2-0 away defeat to Swansea were early warning signs.
Desire to succeed was exposed in the wrong way, Mitrovic’s greatest problem has always been discipline. Confrontational, provocative and easily picked on Mitrovic has been an easy target, and the red card against Arsenal took no one by surprise.
However, behind all the aggression there stood determination, will and courage Newcastle fans haven’t seen from their players in a while. Steve McClaren promised revolution, Mitrovic is the man to bring it to realization. Together, they form an unlikely partnership.
“Steve McClaren will keep me out of trouble”, says Newcastle striker who indeed looks revamped following his suspension after Arsenal game.
Newcastle boss has done wonders with the 21-year-old. Aleksandar Mitrovic looks mature, fully concentrated on his job on the field. McClaren succeeded in what most of the managers before him failed, he taught Mitrovic self-control.
Serbian fans remember it well, Mitrovic was proud to compare himself to Mario Balotelli in his early days at Partizan Belgrade, and he did it not because he was fascinated by the Italian’s football qualities, but because of his antics. More interested in goofing around the pitch than in making a real impact on his team’s play, Aleksandar Mitrovic received a lot of criticism at the beginning of his career under the coach Vladimir Vermezovic.
Fans and pundits were suspicious, doubting that he would be able to fulfill his huge potential.
He silenced the doubters in his first ever game for Partizan, in a Champions League qualifier against Valletta, bagging home nine minutes after coming on from the bench. His rampant scoring continued and by the end of his debut season, young Aleksandar Mitrovic was Partizan’s top scorer with 15 goals in all competitions.
Despite the displays of controversial behaviour, Serbia knew right from the start that a genuine striker was born, a forward which, similarly to Newcastle, Serbian national team has been lacking for years. With McClaren doing his part and with Mitrovic all tied up, both Serbia and Newcastle are fairly confident that Serbian striker will come good and prove his worth.
