Eddie Howe press conference breakdown before Birmingham City vs Newcastle United

NewcastleWorld

Charlie Bennett gives a breakdown of Eddie Howe’s press conference ahead of Newcastle United’s trip to Birmingham City

Transcript

00:00Hello everybody, how's it going? I'm here at Newcastle United's media centre, just that

00:05building over there where the press have been speaking at Eddie Howe ahead of tomorrow's

00:09game against Birmingham. But truth be told, I don't think I've ever been in a press conference

00:14where the game itself has sort of taken a back seat to, you know, what the reporters

00:19are actually asking, what the fans want the manager to talk about. Of course that is Wembley.

00:25The other day, Newcastle United booked the second cup final in two years, three seasons.

00:31Putting Arsenal away really, 2-0 on both legs. Setting up a clash against Liverpool who did

00:37the same against Tottenham last night in comfortable fashion. Fans are already up a height, people

00:41are talking about tickets, when they're going to get released, hotels, some of them were

00:45prudent enough to book a long time ago, travel, how we're going to get there, who's coming.

00:50You know how it goes by now, but yeah, I mean, he was asked about the questions, well, about

00:56the questions, about the cup final. I think every reporter in the room asked him something

01:01about the final. When I put him up, I asked him, look Eddie, you know, it's been 70 years

01:07without a domestic trophy for Newcastle. Everybody's aware how much it would mean to the fans.

01:12How much would it mean to you, Jason Tindall and your coaching staff to be that man, because

01:17many have tried, many have failed, Kevin Keegan, Sir Bobby Robb, loads, Rafa Benitez, many

01:23have tried, everybody's failed since 1955 to lift domestic silverware. What would it

01:29mean to you to be that man to get Newcastle over the line? And he said, you know, he said

01:35that was his goal on the first day of his reign at Newcastle United. You know, if you

01:41take your mind back to November 2021, a couple of weeks after the takeover, when Howard was

01:47appointed, Newcastle were sitting 19th, hadn't won a Premier League game all season. And

01:50Eddie Howe was already talking about it there, you know, so to be in this situation again,

01:56Newcastle look a lot more measured compared to two years ago. Last year, everything was

01:59new. Everyone was bright eyed and bushy tailed, you know, first final for 20 odd years. This

02:05time it seems a little bit more measured and I got that vibe from Eddie Howe the day. Now

02:09on to the game itself. At the start of the video, I said it took a little bit of a backseat

02:13role this one. And I think that's dangerous. I think that has the chance to be a little

02:19bit of a banana skin for Newcastle. Birmingham, when you're playing against a winning team,

02:24full of confidence and scoring goals and Birmingham are at home, you know, the top of Leave One

02:29are. Newcastle are expected to make a lot of changes. We'll get on to injury news and

02:33everything else in a second. I think this has the potential to be a bit of a banana

02:37skin. Now, I'm not being a negative Nancy. I'm not being a doom mongerer. I still think

02:42Newcastle will win the game. I just think from the high of the other day, to come crashing

02:47back down against a game that Newcastle are expected to win, they're going to have a few

02:52changes in the team. I think Newcastle really need to go down there at the moment and do

02:56a professional job because like I've mentioned, Birmingham are bang in form, top of League

03:01One. They're going to have the home fans behind them. Yeah, Newcastle need to put on a show.

03:07On to the team news, we'll get the bar out of the way first. Sven Bott, when he came

03:11off the other night late on against Arsenal, I think it was a challenge from Kai Havertz

03:16that annoyed a lot of Newcastle fans online. It was he's injured his knee and we know Sven

03:20Bott would miss the bulk of last season with an ACL injury. Anyhow, actually confirmed

03:25to the press today, it's the opposite knee that he's hurt. He doesn't expect the injury

03:30to be serious. He says there's going to be further assessments next week. So fingers

03:34crossed for Newcastle's sake that Sven Bott will come back because when he's on form,

03:39you know, he's entering the prime of his career. Big money sign and he is probably

03:43the Newcastle's best option at centre half and he was classic against Arsenal in both

03:47legs before obviously picking up that knee injury. But yeah, he's expected to be out

03:51tomorrow. On a good news, on a good injury front, Callum Wilson. I can almost feel he's

03:59down at the end of the screen there thinking, oh, Callum Wilson, Callum Wilson. He's had

04:04a torrid run of injuries since he's there, since he's came to Newcastle. I don't need

04:08to go over and read out the stats of his injury record, but he came on in the closing

04:14stages against Arsenal the other day and reading between the lines of what Eddie Howe said,

04:19it sounds like he's going to be thrown into the action tomorrow against Birmingham. That

04:23will give Alexander Isak a much needed rest. And yeah, I mean, everyone's going to be rooting

04:29for Callum Wilson. People may be a little bit nervous if he ends up flying into 50-50s

04:34or if a Birmingham defender sticks one on him. But yeah, this is a big test for him.

04:41Eddie Howe said that the thought of helping in big games towards the back end of the season,

04:46you know, the Cowboy Cup final, having that vision in mind, sort of motivating him to

04:50get back when he was having dark times on the treatment table. So fingers crossed he

04:55can come through with flying colours and chipping away a few goals from now until the end of

04:58the season. Another question that I asked Eddie Howe today, it sort of put him on the

05:02spot, he had to look to his press officer on the right, was about the transfer situation.

05:07So you know, again, I didn't want to be a doom-monger, but the transfer window shut

05:11over the other day. I thought it was a perfectly legitimate question to ask Eddie Howe. You

05:15know, it's a bit unfair on you every week to be sat here in front of the media, you

05:19know, answering questions, deflecting questions most of the time about PSR. And we're going

05:25to speak to somebody above him soon, as the press are going to speak to Darren Eales,

05:28Paul Mitchell, and they're going to come out and explain the PSR situation, the Almiron

05:32sale, the Kenny sale, and what this would mean for the club going forward. I thought

05:35it was a perfectly legitimate question, and yeah, I got the response. I picked a little,

05:39detracted a little bit of information there. It was confirmed that, you know, the club

05:44are preparing to speak to, sorry, to put Eales or Mitchell in front of the press soon. So

05:51happy days. Yeah, that's it for me today, everybody. Big game tomorrow for Newcastle.

05:57It would be Newcastle's, Newcastle's sort of luck, wouldn't it really, to not win a

06:02domestic trophy for 70 years, and then like buses, two come up on us. So we'll see how

06:07they get on. I'll be going down there, I'll be going down there with my colleague Jordan

06:10Cronin, giving you full match coverage before June and after, and happy days. I'll see you

06:15later.

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