Nick Woltemade: Why the Newcastle striker is not a ‘tall camel’

This belief served Waltham well after he was dumped straight at Newcastle.

Newcastle intended to facilitate the new arrival at the start, and work on his fitness between matches to prepare him for the English match.

But striker Yoan Wisa’s knee injury disrupted those plans and Woltemade ended up starting five of the seven matches he played for the club.

He hit the ground running, but there was still no adjustment.

Although the Bundesliga is a strong league in its own right, the English Premier League is particularly fast and Woltemade have also faced strong defenders.

He actually scored more headers for Newcastle than he did at Stuttgart throughout the whole of last season, but the towering striker won just 27.8% of his aerial duels in the top flight.

Just as Newcastle are adapting to Woltemade’s strengths, the new signing is also adapting to a demanding role – having suffered a cramp on his goal-scoring debut against Wolves.

There has been a greater emphasis on getting into the box and being in the right place at the right time, as was the case when he turned a Sandro Tonali shot into the net with a smart move against Union Saint-Gilloise in the Champions League earlier this month.

But his desire to learn and help the team impressed the staff, along with his mentality.

Howe had a gut feeling that Waltham could handle the pressure of playing in the No. 9 position for Newcastle when he first spoke to him, and his head did not drop after wasting two chances against Nottingham Forest earlier this month.

Instead, he grabbed the ball, after his side had been awarded a penalty, and curled home a convincing penalty kick in front of the Gallowgate End.

“We expected a lot from him and we signed him because we believe in him,” Howe said. “We think he can move from another league, but it is still very difficult to do without training and immediately after being pushed.

“He barely knew the names of his teammates while he was playing. Then you are immediately judged on whether you are a success or a failure. It is difficult.

“But he made a positive impression around the training ground, through his interactions with staff and players, and performed well on the pitch. Under a lot of pressure, he performed very well.”