Bournemouth bring Magpies back down to Earth: The Magpies’ Nest Newcastle United Podcast

National World - LocalTV

Daniel Wales and Joe Buck discuss Bournemouth’s victory at St. James’ Park, the Magpies’ January transfer window exploits, and preview Newcastle’s tie away against Southampton.

Transcript

00:00Well, hello and welcome back to the Magpies Nest podcast. It's been a little while since

00:16we recorded one of these, but I'm joined by my co-host Joe Buck from the Shields Gazette.

00:21Joe, how are you this morning?

00:22I'm good, thank you Dan. I think it'd be better if we'd done this a couple of weeks ago, where

00:26we could talk about nine wins in a row, but you know, timing as it is.

00:31Yes, perhaps not ideal in Newcastle United terms of course, as you mentioned there. But

00:37I think that nine game winning streak had to come to an end at some point. It was just

00:40a bit of a shame in the manner that it did come to an end at home to Bournemouth, a 4-1

00:46defeat. Not the best. It seemed a game when Newcastle just were devoid of ideas. They

00:51looked very tired, they looked fatigued, as if it was perhaps a game too far for them,

00:55you know, having not really changed the starting XI an awful lot during those nine games where

00:59they did keep on winning. And Bournemouth, if anything, were just really good and played

01:04Newcastle at their own game.

01:05Yes, absolutely. I think you've got to start off by giving credit to Bournemouth, because

01:10they were brilliant. They have been brilliant every time I've seen them, but I think, I

01:15mean, you look on the matches, I've obviously gone to all the matches this year. They are

01:18the best team I've seen against Newcastle. They were really well drilled. Their tactic

01:23against Newcastle, I thought, and considering they only had sort of 11 first team players,

01:28you know, it was a very good effort from them. But on Newcastle, yeah, it was an off day

01:32for them. I think it had been coming, as you say. I think a lot of people thought that

01:35game might have come against Arsenal, sort of, in the Carabao Cup, but they managed to,

01:39you know, with Bruno not there and Cher not there, but they managed to overcome that.

01:42And yeah, it was a defeat coming and it felt like one game too far. And yeah, it just happened.

01:47I think from early on, if you remember, Lewis Hall, I think, got beat really early on in

01:53the first sort of minute and that scene has set the tone. And yeah, it almost went downhill

01:57from there. And 4-1 probably was actually the right margin of victory. I think, I know

02:02the two goals came late in stoppage time, but Bournemouth is so much better than Newcastle

02:07on that day. And yeah, a disappointing one. And as you say, the run had to come to an

02:11end, but to lose 4-1 at home against anyone is disappointing. So yeah, lots of things

02:15for Eddie Howe and his team to think about, I think, this week.

02:18Certainly, it doesn't do the goal difference much good, but I think you're right in saying

02:23it was an off day and obviously they'll have to bounce back from now. We'll get into Southampton

02:28in a little bit, but just looking at the manner of defeat, I mean, are there any players in

02:33that side who can really hold their head up high? And I've seen some suggestions of Bimmy

02:37Sanderton already did okay for large parts of that game. And to be fair, at 1-1, he probably

02:41thought Newcastle were back into it and they actually looked okay for that sort of little

02:4510-minute spell until another silly error let Bournemouth back ahead again. So yeah,

02:51anyone who really stood out for you from a Newcastle perspective or was it really a collective

02:54display of, let's be honest, just not very good at all?

02:57Yeah, I think it was definitely a collective display. I think Tonaliah Wright was the only

03:01one, but again, he's the only one. If you're going to mark it out of 10, you know, he's

03:04probably a six, maybe. It wasn't a brilliant performance from him, but yeah, everyone just

03:08had an off day. And you see, as I say, with that second goal, Bruno giving the ball away

03:11and a couple of other individual errors. And even someone like Fabian Scherr came on

03:16at halftime, he looked sort of off it. And when he played, Isak obviously scored eight

03:21in a row, or eight games in a row in the Premier League. He was marked out of the game by Howison

03:25at the back. So yeah, it was an off day across the pitch and one that, as we say, hopefully

03:30they get right this weekend. But yeah, there was not very many in the black and white shirt

03:34that could come off with their head held high.

03:35To me, that game signalled, or at least I thought it showed, that as good as Newcastle's

03:41starting XI has been for the last, you know, few weeks, winning all those games, they do

03:46struggle a lot in terms of depth. Their bench is not brilliant, to be honest. No real players

03:51who were on the bench could make any impact. Obviously, I know you're missing Callum Wills

03:55and I know you're missing Harvey Barnes. And when you sort of take those out off the bench,

04:00you're left with not an awful lot. Even Joe Willock, who you would normally turn to, hasn't

04:04been in the best of form of late. So does that show to the likes of Paul Mitchell and

04:08those on the Newcastle board that, yes, I know they want to wait for the summer because

04:13they'll get a PSL sort of lift in the sense of the money will drop off in the last three

04:20years and perhaps they'll have more spending power. But is it not better to strike while

04:24the iron is hot a little bit after they've had just a nine-game winning run and invest

04:30a little bit now, maybe, and maybe just compromise the summer just slightly, just to make sure

04:34they get in those European spots come the end of the season?

04:38Yeah, it's a really hard dilemma because, you're right, I think they're 18 and their

04:43sort of matchday squad are 20 now. It's probably, you know, they've probably got five or six

04:48world-class players, certainly. Then you've got a middle bit and then you've got, as you

04:52say, the bench wasn't brilliant. It is a hard one because you're right with PSL, but if

04:56you're going to buy anyone in January, you're probably going to pay more than you would

05:00expect to in summer or any other time. So I think you're always going to overpay and

05:04that's the gamble they've got to make, whether a little bit of overpayment now. As you say,

05:08it could be the difference between qualification for the Champions League, Europa League, or

05:11nothing as last season showed. It is a really hard one and I do think the bench needs strengthening,

05:16but unfortunately there is very little they can do and if they get rid of players as much

05:22as that will weaken them further, they might feel that actually it's a gamble worth taking.

05:27I think you're right in terms of Joe Willock, his form has dropped. I think it was a difficult

05:31game for him to come in at the weekend because Bournemouth obviously, I don't say they sat

05:34back because there weren't 11 men behind the ball or anything, but he didn't have much

05:38room to work in on Saturday and he couldn't show his best form. But yeah, the bench is

05:43a worry and then you come back to the injury issues of Wilson and Harvey Barnes. We might

05:49be talking about this in a month's time and they're back and then all of a sudden it's

05:52absolutely fine and they're having to leave people off the bench. So it's a really hard

05:56one right now and I think if them injury issues hadn't happened, they wouldn't have been in

05:59so many conversations about should they go for new players now or not. So yeah, it's

06:04a real big debate for them and it's one that I would say delayed all summer, but that comes

06:08with a whole load of issues and as you say, if you miss out on European football because

06:12you haven't got that extra player in, then it's all a bit pointless anyway.

06:16Exactly. It is such a hard one to call because you think, well, daring enough, if they hold

06:20off now, they'll have a big summer most likely because they'll have a lot to spend when other

06:25transfer previous years have fallen off the PSR calculations, but you are taking that

06:29risk of having a third window in a row without really any major investment and that's a worry

06:36in my opinion. So it's one they have to negotiate and obviously there's a couple of weeks left

06:40of January, so certainly something to think about. If we look at the other end of it though

06:45in terms of outgoings, there probably are likely to be a couple of outgoings at Newcastle.

06:49Certainly there's been a few go out on loan so far. Of course, Alex Murphy has departed

06:54on loan for Bolton and the main one probably is Miguel Almiron at the moment, most likely

06:59going back to Atlanta United in America. Also Lloyd Kelly being touted a lot in the Italian

07:04press as well, although that seems to be more their side, touted again more than the English

07:09press at least. So thoughts on those Joe? I mean, Almiron seems like a one where getting

07:1510 million for a player of his age now going back to where he came from seems like a good

07:21deal. Yeah, definitely. He hasn't played much this season, so as much as he will, Eddie

07:27Howe will be reluctant to lose him because that's another body he's not going to have

07:30to call on. He's barely played this year, his goal contributions, he hasn't scored since

07:35December 2023, so you're probably not losing much output-wise. As I say, to get 10 million

07:41is a really good deal for him. That's the money they can use obviously on transfers.

07:47So I think that's a good deal and one that will suit Almiron going back to a team he

07:50knows well, a place where he's adored really. He's one of the legends there, so that's a

07:55good move for him. Lloyd Kelly, as you say, was linked with Fenerbahce. That again and

08:01Juventus, as you say, both, all them links seem to be coming from the buyer's side rather

08:05than Newcastle. Fenerbahce just bought Diego Carlos from Aston Villa, so that one looks

08:10unlikely for him to go to Juventus. It's an interesting link, I don't think I would have

08:16ever said Lloyd Kelly and Juventus together. But again, that's a really hard one. I think

08:21that's a more difficult one because you've got him for free in summer, so whatever you

08:24make is profit and if they can get upwards of £15-20 million, you've got to look at

08:30that really seriously. But then again, you're losing the body and you're losing someone

08:34who Eddie Howe knows from his time at Bournemouth. Eddie Howe has a lot of faith and there's

08:38a reason they bought him to Newcastle in summer because they believe he can either be a starter

08:42option or a very good option from the bench at centre-back or left-back. We haven't seen

08:48it yet. I think he's been harmed by Lewis Hall becoming one of the best left-backs in

08:53the Premier League. But yeah, is that a deal that will be revisited in summer by Juventus?

08:58Maybe not. They'll probably see a lot more options and is this the time, as you say before,

09:04with the buying players, is this the time to strike while the iron's hot and potentially

09:07get money for Kelly when they can't? So that's another one they're going to have to take.

09:12If you ask me now what will happen in two weeks' time when the transfer window's closed,

09:16I do think Lloyd Kelly will still be a Newcastle player. But obviously, who knows by the time

09:20when, if Juventus get more desperate or if Newcastle's more up into a sale.

09:25Now, moving swiftly on, though, we do have another game at the weekend, of course. No midweek game

09:29this week, which is probably a blessed relief for Newcastle, given the bit of fatigue they

09:33were showing towards the end of that Bournemouth game. But if you were wanting to pick any game

09:38you'd like to bounce back in, it would be against this week's end opposition in Southampton,

09:43who are having a, let's be honest, dreadful season. They go to St Mary's Newcastle on

09:50Saturday, three o'clock kick-off, and it's just one where they just have to really just go there,

09:55no fuss, no sort of issues, just go and get the three points, don't they?

09:59Absolutely, yeah. A 1-0 win would be enough, as you say, just to get over that Bournemouth

10:05one, and I'd say it's the perfect opponents. We might look silly, again, saying this, but it does

10:09feel like the right opponents. They've got a good record, a recent record, at St Mary's as well.

10:14So, yeah, it's a game that they'll be happy with and they'll hope and then come back with

10:18three points. And, yeah, they need to. I think it's weird because you say Saturday was a disastrous

10:24result, but they've also, if they win on Saturday against Southampton, that's 10 wins in 11, and

10:29you know that's an incredible run for any team. So, yeah, if they can get back with a win on

10:34Saturday, they'll be really happy, and they should do. As I said, Southampton haven't really done it,

10:37and they give Man U a scare a little bit, but who doesn't these days? So, yeah, it is a perfect

10:43game for them, and hopefully they come back with three points. And all they have to do, really,

10:46is just play like they have done for the last other nine games. Forget Bournemouth,

10:50if they can put in a performance like they did against Wolves, even, they'll have too much

10:53quality for Southampton on the weekend, I'm sure. Indeed, and to be fair to Southampton, they did

10:58also give Nottingham Forest a little bit of a fright towards the end of that game as well,

11:01but for the most part, they're not a great side. I think a lot of teams have exploited this

11:06season, and Newcastle, having had a full week to prepare, you know, they're not sort of in and out

11:12of games this week at all. They've had a full week of training. I think they've just got to go there,

11:17and they've shown their quality, make sure they're fully rested and prepared for this game, and just

11:21go there and defeat a team who, let's be honest, on paper at least, they should be defeating, they

11:26should be putting to the sword. I know they played them at the start of the season, and they only just

11:30about won 1-0, having of course been sent off, but in that game, Newcastle weren't really, there

11:35was still issues going around at the club at the time. That's changed since then, so it just has

11:41to be a game where they go out and get the job done. But thank you all very much for listening,

11:45that is all we have time for on this occasion on the Magpies Nest podcast. We're back next week

11:50to dissect what happened at Southampton, and then look ahead to the home match against Fulham. But

11:56thank you Joe, and thank you all very much for watching and for listening.

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