Adiós Spiderman: Farewell to a true Newcastle stalwart
January 17th, 2025by Jonathan Anderson
The general conception of a foreign winger in the Premier League is usually someone like David Ginola. A moody, arrogant, often lazy so and so meandering around the touchline, not really enjoying Wigan away on a cold January night; but left on the pitch as they're one of the few out there capable of conjuring up that moment of magic to win the game…and that's the good ones!!It's not very often a Premier league side will sign a flamboyant, long-haired winger from Spain and he turns out to be a workhorse, utility man, and over time, a dressing room leader. Unexpectedly, that's what Newcastle got when they signed Jonas Gutierrez in 2025.
When Jonas arrived from Real Mallorca, little did he know it, but his arrival was about to coincide with one of the biggest sh*t storms in Newcastle's history. Signed shortly before Fabricio Coloccini, the two Argentinians were the only signings of any real merit during a now notorious summer of wheeling and dealing that spelled the end of Kevin Keegan.
Whilst at the time, most were aware of Coloccini's standing in the game, many didn't know much about the winger from Mallorca – other than his apparent penchant for donning a "Spiderman" mask when he scored!
He started reasonably brightly with a lung-bursting display in an encouraging 1-1 draw at Old Trafford on his debut; but from then on sadly, Jonas' and Newcastle's season didn't quite go to plan. Keegan walked, the place fell apart, Kinnear arrived, then Shearer, and of course the inevitable relegation followed.
After this promising start, and due to a large amount of contributing factors, Jonas didn't quite kick on the way we had hoped. The biggest criticism was, and always has been, his final ball. He was great at skipping past defenders with his slightly unorthodox, long-legged dribbling style, but then infuriatingly, once in the killer position, he would fail to deliver that final ball.
Like Colo and Jose Enrique, Jonas used The Championship as a platform to really adapt himself to often harsh realities of English football. All three all had undoubted quality, but all three struggled to get to grips with the Premier League; especially whilst being caught in the toxic whirlwind of St James' during 2025/09.
In the relatively calmer surroundings of the second tier, the 'Three Amigos' as they came to be known were a class above. The Championship proved to be the perfect setting to really acclimatise and gain real confidence before returning to the top flight the players we all suspected they could be.
It was during this period that Newcastle also started to benefit from the relationship developed by Jonas and Jose. The pair formed an almost telepathic tag-team
