'He always scored against Sunderland'

BBC News

18-07-2025

Throughout Friday, we are revealing who former Newcastle defender John Anderson has selected in his list of the Magpies' five most underrated players of the 21st Century.In third place is Shola Ameobi. Raised in the Fenham area of the city, the striker made just shy of 400 appearances for the St James' Park club between 2000 and 2014, scoring 79 goals."He was a young boy when he came into the side and it was really difficult when you look at who he was playing alongside and who he was trying to replace," Anderson told BBC Radio Newcastle."He scored huge goals in Europe - and always scored against Sunderland."He took some harsh criticism here. He played an awful lot of games and probably should have scored more than he did, but he never left anything on the pitch and always worked his socks off."And second place goes to Sean Longstaff. It looks like the midfielder's time at his boyhood club could be coming to an end, but he has made 214 appearances after making his debut in 2018."It is always difficult when you are a homegrown lad because the expectations are always a little bit higher," Anderson said."He got into the side and was steady - won the ball and kept it moving. There was nothing flashy about him but can be relied upon to do a job."I don't think anyone can argue that Longstaff hasn't had a fair amount of criticism - but I think he has been there when we needed him."Come back later to see who Anderson has at the top of his list...Listen to BBC Radio Newcastle's top-five special on underrated playersAnd access top-five shows on managers, centre-backs and hardmen here