TIM KRUL insists he has left Newcastle United with extremely fond memories of his time on Tyneside, but is looking forward to being part of Chris Hughton’s “mentality of sticking together” at Brighton.
Despite having been Newcastle’s number one goalkeeper for more than five seasons, Krul was frozen out of the first-team picture by Rafael Benitez.
Having sustained a serious knee injury while on international duty with Holland, the 29-year-old shot-stopper was sent on loan after returning to full fitness, and was forced to train with Newcastle’s academy set-up this summer as Benitez made no attempt to hide his desire to force him out permanently.
His move to Brighton enables him to join up with his former manager, Chris Hughton, and while he has only signed for the Seagulls on loan, the fact his Magpies contract is due to expire next summer means he has almost certainly played his final game for Newcastle.
He has been careful not to explicitly criticise Benitez since moving to the Amex Stadium, but while the current Newcastle boss was happy to divide his squad into those he wanted and those he was happy to disregard, Krul is looking forward to experiencing a more unifying approach under Hughton.
“A manager is very important, and I know what I am going to get with Chris,” said Krul, whose first Newcastle appearance came in a UEFA Cup game in Palermo, way back in 2006. “He gives everybody their fair share of opportunities, and I like that about him.
“At Newcastle, he built a togetherness, which is very important in the Premier League. You also need a mentality of sticking together, and he definitely managed that really well when we won the Championship with Newcastle.”
Krul spent more than a decade with Newcastle, and while the final 12 months of his time might have been intensely disappointing, the vast majority of his time on Tyneside was a hugely enjoyable experience.
“It’s a massive part of my life,” he said. “My wife and little girl were born there, so I always have that connection there, but sometimes you have managers that like to go in a different direction.
“They decided they wanted to go in a different direction, which was a shame, but I always have a positive view of Newcastle because they brought me everything I could wish for. I don’t have any regrets and had 11 beautiful years there, but Brighton is another family club and have got a great set-up.”
Two of Newcastle’s players impressed on international duty over the weekend, with Mikel Merino scoring and providing an assist in Spain Under-21s’ 3-0 win over Italy and Aleksandar Mitrovic scoring for a fifth international appearance in a row as Serbia closed in on a place at the World Cup finals with a 3-0 win over Moldova.