Dan Burn is one win away from the most perfect week of his life. The 32-year-old Newcastle United defender earned a surprise England call-up on Friday morning ahead of starting the Carabao Cup final for his boyhood club on Sunday.
Newcastle hasn’t lifted a domestic trophy for 70 years and no United captain has touched silverware of any kind since 1969, when Bob Moncur raised the Inter-City Fairs Cup.
It’s something Burn is acutely aware of. “It’s been such a long time since we’ve won something, that I’m not surprised that people say that [the club is cursed]” he explained to journalists at the North East Football Writers Dinner this month.
History won't repeat itself vows Burn
Burn was named North East Personality of the Year at a dinner at Ramside Hall just hours after Newcastle suffered a bruising FA Cup Fifth Round defeat to league rivals Brighton, the club Burn left in 2021 to sign for the team he supported as a boy.
“We’re full of confidence going into the final. I don’t think it will be the same as last time [when Newcastle lost in the final of the 2023 Carabao Cup].
"It was very emotional two years ago, not just for the players but also for the whole city. It might have been a bit more of a surprise that we got there, whereas this time around, I feel as though we believe that we should be doing that on a regular basis.”
Two years ago the consensus was that too much pressure was placed on the players with extra media duties, requests for tickets and emotional messages from their friends and families all contributing to a meek performance on the Wembley pitch vs Manchester United.
“It’ll be much more ‘business as usual’ from our side. I know there’ll be a lot of external noise, but internally, we’re just treating it like any other game.
"We’ve got full belief that we can go there and get the job done.”
Getting the job done will require big performances from Newcastle’s big players, in particular Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton and Alexander Isak, who holds the record for being Newcastle United's record signing.
The latter in particular could hold the key to Newcastle extracting the trophy monkey from their back.
“In my opinion, Alex is probably the best striker in the world at the minute. I feel he’s got everything.
"His finishing is unbelievable, but he also drops in to link play. You can go long to him if you have to.
"You can see that he’s full of confidence, which is great for us.
"I can’t speak highly enough about Alex, he’s done so much for the team."
Isak is in the form of his life, having arrived at the club at the end of the 2022 summer window.
“I’ve said it before, but I feel as though when players first come to this club, it takes time to understand what the manager wants from you, in possession and out of possession. I feel as if he’s really got a grasp of that now, and he’s reaping the benefits.
Burn’s opinion is interesting as a player who has to defend against Isak in training on a daily basis.
“Oh, it’s easy to play against him in training, he never gets past me! I feel as if when you’re playing against these players all the time in training, you can pick up little tells and stuff.
“It’s a bit different. But when you come up against them on a weekend, and you’ve not had that experience, you can see why he has so much joy there. Alex is a very good player. He’s very hard to play against.”
Speaking before news of his England call up, Burn acknowledged that cup final week was already set to be a huge one for him and his team-mates.
“To be honest, I couldn’t really put into words what it would mean to be part of the team that actually won something. I’ve been asked the question when I’ve spoken to the lads about it before.
I couldn’t really put into words what it would mean to be part of the team that actually won something
“I just think the team that finally gets it over the line will become absolute legends, and rightly so. I feel as though, now, we have a squad where we should be doing this regularly. It would be a real shame and a massive disappointment if this group of lads couldn’t be the ones that finally ended it.
“It’s not a novelty this time. I think, last time, there was maybe a bit of that. I think it came as more of a surprise two years ago. It’s not something that, as a club, we really expected. But since we’ve done that once, it’s now something that we feel as if we should be doing regularly.
“As Newcastle fans, when it’s going well, we think that we’re going to win the league and we’re the best team in the world, but when it’s going bad, we’re suddenly the worst team in the world. I feel like it’s always been like that. When I went and watched, it was exactly the same.
“I don’t want to take that away from anyone. I think it’s good that, as fans, we should have that hope and then be disappointed if we’re not winning.
“But I also feel that the reality is normally more somewhere in the middle, and I feel as though we’re doing well and we’ve got a lot to look forward to.”
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