Champions League: Howe insists Newcastle’s delayed arrival into Milan ‘no big deal’

The Independent

Eddie Howe has insisted the weather which delayed Newcastle’s arrival in Italy will not derail their Champions League adventure.The club’s European mission hardly got off to the most auspicious of starts when, having been given special dispensation to train on Tyneside on Monday morning rather than at the San Siro later in the day, they remained on the ground for more than two hours.However, speaking at a press conference which finally got under way at around 9pm local time when it had initially been scheduled for 7pm, Howe was adamant preparations for a tough opening encounter with AC Milan would not be hampered as a result.

Transcript

00:00 Hi Eddie, as Lee said, you guys are delayed by a couple of hours.

00:06 Can you give us an insight into what's happened there and why you're in this situation?

00:12 I believe it's a weather problem, so we were delayed taking off,

00:16 so sat on the runway for quite some time.

00:20 It's out of the ordinary really for us.

00:23 We do a lot of travelling in the UK and that can happen from time to time,

00:27 but we're here and apologies for being late.

00:30 So you sat at the runway back in Newcastle?

00:32 Yeah, for some time.

00:35 Will that affect preparations?

00:36 I guess it's not ideal for the players to be sat in that situation.

00:41 Yeah, but it's just part and parcel of the job that we do.

00:45 It's not out of the norm that that can happen.

00:48 Air traffic control, etc.

00:50 This was a weather problem, but we've been in similar situations.

00:54 Yeah, no, I've never attended one.

00:55 I've always been too busy working to take one in.

00:59 But it's not something I've given any thought to.

01:02 It's a game of football.

01:03 And yeah, I think it'd be a proud moment for me.

01:07 I think it'd be a proud moment for everyone connected with Newcastle

01:09 to be back into the Champions League after a long period away.

01:15 But it is a game of football and I think that's just how we have to approach it.

01:18 Yes, it's a special game and we have to be at our best.

01:20 There are slight differences in terms of where we've travelled,

01:24 but the game will be the same, but it will be a very difficult one.

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