What's gone wrong for sluggish and lethargic Callum Wilson?

There is no sense of crisis at Newcastle United, you cannot even suggest anything serious is going wrong for a team that sits in the top four of the Premier League and has reached a domestic cup semi-final for the first time in 18 years, but if there is a cause for concern, it is Callum Wilson.

Wilson looked sluggish and lethargic during the goalless draw against Crystal Palace on Saturday. Everybody has off days and every centre forward plays badly every now and again but this performance was in keeping with recent form. He does not look sharp, he does not look up to speed and he does not look clinical.

Wilson has now gone eight games without a goal for the Magpies, his longest barren run since he signed from Bournemouth in the summer of 2020. In all, it is now 10 games for club and country without a goal. Wilson has not scored since Oct 29th.

For so long the star man, for so long the bright spark amid the gloom of those relegation battles under former manager Steve Bruce and even last season, when Eddie Howe initially struggled to pull the team clear of trouble, Wilson has been bulletproof. He was and, in many ways still is, Mr Untouchable.

Even this season, Wilson started superbly. This correspondent and many others covering Newcastle, along with the likes of former England captain and BBC pundit, Alan Shearer, waxed lyrical about his all round game and goalscorer’s golden touch.

Everyone said Wilson deserved to go to the World Cup with England and, amid much anticipation, Gareth Southgate agreed. Wilson went to Qatar and made two substitute appearances, even getting an assist when teeing up Jack Grealish for the team’s sixth goal in the rout of Iran.

That appears to be where the problems began. To boil it down; to be direct and blunt, Wilson has not looked the same player for Newcastle since he returned to his club after the World Cup. There are others scattered across the Premier League who, having gone to Qatar as a squad player, have not looked as fit or sharp since. It turns out a mid-winter spell in the desert, sitting on the bench and training with far less intensity during a tournament than they would have done with their club sides has disrupted more than just the domestic football calendar.

At Manchester City, Pep Guardiola even ran the risk of insulting Kalvin Phillips by questioning his diet, as well as his fitness, calling the £50 million summer signing from Leeds too overweight to play.

Wilson has also been ill with a virus since returning from the Middle East. He was left out of the side that thrashed Leicester City on Boxing Day and had to be eased back into action after it. He has not looked as fast or as sharp since.

Wilson has looked static, easier to defend against. The runs down the channels that stretched defences are coming less frequently and as teams start to work out how to shut Newcastle’s offence down, he is finding it tough to get into space to do damage.

Like Miguel Almiron on the right-hand side, everything seems a lot harder now that Newcastle are no longer taking anyone by surprise.

Howe: Knowing Callum as I do the goals are just around the corner

It raises a difficult question for Howe? With club-record signing Alexander Isak fit again and already replacing Wilson when he comes off the bench, does the Sweden international start against Southampton in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final on Tuesday?

And as Newcastle start to look a little predictable and clunky in the final third - they have scored just one goal in four league games - is it the right time to bring his most explosive and creative player, Allan Saint-Maximin back into the side and risk losing some of Newcastle’s defensive solidity after a sixth successive clean sheet against Palace?

Wilson has missed chances in the last four games, too many of them and it is only reasonable to argue that, for the first time as a Newcastle player, the 30-year-old is under pressure to justify his place. A player with so many injuries over the second half of his career, will always face accusations he is not fully fit.

“He’s had very limited training time,” said Howe at Selhurst Park. “He had an illness (after the World Cup). With Callum, he’s missed big chunks of training, and I think that always affects your sharpness as a player, regardless of position. Callum’s worked really hard for the team, and knowing him as I do the goals are just around the corner.”

For Newcastle’s sake, with the cup semi-final now occupying people’s minds, supporters can only hope the manager’s continued faith in his No9 does not prove to be misplaced.