A Newcastle United player has a little window of time to return to action this season, but his boss has given him optimism.
Jeff Hendrick, a midfielder for Newcastle United, was left off of the Owls’ 25-man EFL Registration List earlier this year and hasn’t played for Sheffield Wednesday in the league since early December. Hendrick relocated to Hillsborough in the summer to train with the team that had just been promoted by Xisco Munoz. The Spaniard left in October, having managed just one victory in his 10 games.
Munoz was replaced by Danny Rohl, and although things have improved for them on the pitch, Hendrick has not played a significant role in that change. In 2024, the international player for the Republic of Ireland has made just one appearance, substituting in the second half of their 4-1 FA Cup Fourth Round replay loss to Coventry City.
The Owls have until Wednesday at 5 p.m. on March 28 to submit their final 25-man roster. Until then, they can sign and register any free agents to enhance their roster. The Star spoke with Rohl, who acknowledged that it would be “difficult” for the team to hire someone right now and bring them up to speed quickly enough to have an impact. Rohl gave Hendrick a potential route back into his plans: “At the moment there is nobody more,” Rohl said.
“In the coming weeks, we’ll reach a point where it stops working. They would need to acclimatise a new hire to the football philosophy and style in just a few short weeks. They would find it more and more difficult to move in the same direction and on the same page. I hold my guys in the highest regard; they are resilient and possess a strong mentality. It’s encouraging to see.
It is challenging to get a player to enter this circumstance and have an influence. There aren’t any other competitors on the market right now. If something does occur, then fine, but as of right now, I’m not really sure that there are and
more players to come in.”
Hendrick, who turned 32 in January, is out of contract at the end of the season and hasn’t featured for Newcastle United since December 2021.
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