In advance of tomorrow’s Premier League encounter at St. James’ Park, Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has addressed the media.
Howe is a likable and charming man, and as one would expect, he went out of his way to speak positively about West Ham when discussing his opposition. The Toon manager’s charm offensive began with him saying, “West Ham are a very difficult team to play against, a dangerous team. They have done well in European competition and found some good Premier League form during the season, but we are back at home.”
I honestly wouldn’t expect him to say anything different, but the Newcastle gaffer is a man under pressure to ensure The Magpies qualify for Europe again. Much like our own David Moyes, Howe will be judged on his previous successes, and much like our manager, the Toon boss is missing key players.
While new signing Harvey Barnes and captain Kieran Trippier might grab more headlines, Howe is concerned about the loss of defender Sven Botman. “It’s a big blow. It’s a complex story around Sven this season since he got his knee injury. We sought specialist opinion on that injury, and there were conflicting reports on what he should do next,” said Howe.
“Ultimately, our medical team advised him to get surgery. He wanted to carry on playing, and we’ll always try to guide and help the players, but it’s their bodies, and they have to make the final decision.”
Newcastle dealt bad news on record transfer
It’s not all doom and gloom for Newcastle, however. Howe is hopeful of welcoming back some key players from injury, and he was delighted to see Anthony Gordon make his senior international debut for England last weekend.
The Newcastle United FC news has been dominated by the announcement that Sandro Tonali has officially been charged with misconduct by the Football Association for alleged breaches of betting rules. Eddie Howe has urged the FA not to hand out further punishment to Tonali after the NUFC midfielder was charged with potential new breaches of its betting protocols.
To hope that ‘Tonaligate’ will be a distraction for Newcastle ahead of tomorrow’s game is probably wishful thinking. Howe has managed just fine without his record £70m signing for most of the season, so I can’t see it making much of a difference.
