Newcastle v Wolves - Liam Keen and Nathan Judah preview
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00:00Hello, I'm Nathan Judah, that is Mr Liam King, Wolfhampton Wanderers reporter, we are
00:14here at Compton Park, it is the Vito Pereira's press conference, I don't know what manager
00:19it is, head of the Newcastle game, tomorrow night, buzzing for that trip, can't wait.
00:24Yeah, nice and easy trip isn't it? Nearly four hours, a couple of service station stops?
00:29Maybe one. Let's go one and a half, I don't know how we're going to do the half but we'll
00:32figure it out. Drive for coffee. Right, good news, let's start with the good news, and
00:38Pereira had plenty of it in terms of players that will be available tomorrow night. Yeah,
00:43so we obviously asked them after the Bristol game about Totti, about Samedo and Dorset
00:48with their injuries, and he said that we expected all of them to be unavailable, he did say
00:53that they're not going to make it to the game on Wednesday, a few days later it's all changed.
00:58It looks like, according to Pereira, Samedo and Dorset will travel with the team. On Totti,
01:05the injury is slightly, which is a hamstring injury, is slightly more serious than they
01:09first thought is what he said, albeit he did say, he seemed relatively optimistic that
01:13they'd have him back sooner rather than later, so hopefully not too far. He didn't give a
01:17timeline, he was asked but didn't give one, so we'll see how he gets on. And then with
01:21Kunya, we obviously went off at half time against Spurs with a sort of precautionary
01:25issue and it's been suspended since then. No-one's expected him to be injured, we know
01:31he's been training here, but Pereira was a little bit coy, he did say, look we need to
01:36be a bit careful with his minutes, we know he's an important player, we don't want him
01:40to get injured. He did say that he's had a couple of issues with that setback at Spurs,
01:45now maybe I'm being slightly too cynical here, it feels to me like it might be a little bit
01:50of mind games, a little bit of mind games ahead of what is a very big game against a
01:54very good side in Newcastle. I could be completely wrong, but I would suspect Kunya still starts
01:59the game and if he needs to come off, you get as many minutes out of your best player
02:03as possible. So you're thinking probably like a 60 or 70 and see how he goes? Yeah, I think
02:08so. I could be totally wrong. Probably. It's very possible. At the same time, as I say
02:14it might be mind games, he's totally fine and plays 90 minutes. But with the other two,
02:19Dawson and Sameda, who he says will travel, I would hedge my bets and say maybe the bench,
02:24it's a tough one. It's a car for Dawson and a hamstring for Sameda, so particularly with
02:28the hamstring, he's come back slightly earlier than they expected is what Pereira said, so
02:32perhaps they don't want to risk him. Yeah, I mean, Craig Dawson, I think he will replace
02:37Alfie Pond on the bench, so you'd have thought that Craig Dawson probably wouldn't get into
02:41that back three that played against Bristol City, so that's not too much of a concern.
02:44Nelson Sameda, big boost, but with the way that Rodrigo Gomez played on Saturday, maybe
02:51he didn't need to be rushed too much into the side, and like you say, you've got to be
02:54very careful because the last thing you want to do, and we have seen it before, and Sameda has
02:58had hamstring issues in the past as well, is you lunge or you come back too quickly and you
03:03stretch and all of a sudden you're losing for five or six more weeks in what is a very difficult
03:07upcoming fixture list. Exactly that, and if he does go onto the bench, he's replacing Pedro Lima,
03:11who, as much as we're both big fans of his, is an 18-year-old kid who's only played one
03:14Premier League game, so I don't think having him on the bench rather than starting is necessarily
03:19a bad thing, particularly with the way Rodrigo's playing at the moment.
03:22Yeah, another person who is available for selection, now whether he is on the bus,
03:26which is to the right of us now, and I believe that Wolves are flying to Newcastle tonight,
03:32we didn't get that, didn't get that invitation. No, no, it wouldn't have been nice, but we'll
03:35speak to Pro, we'll get it sorted, he'll sort us out. Yeah, buzzing for the nine-and-a-half-hour
03:37round-trip. Mario Lamina is available for selection, now does that mean that Mario Lamina
03:43will be travelling? Does that mean that if he's not in this squad, you can read between the lines
03:48as to his imminent future? It's an interesting one. Where do you think he was going with that
03:54potential message or information? So, missed the Bristol City game with illness.
04:01Illness. I don't have any evidence to say it's not illness, but illness.
04:09Anyway, moving on. Don't watch this, Mario.
04:11Swiftly. Look, he wants to leave, he wants to leave the club. It's pretty clear,
04:16Pereira's basically said it in there, look, that he, you know, I know what he wants,
04:20he needs to solve this issue with the club, it's between him and the club, I'm not getting involved,
04:23etc. What does he want, though? I didn't get that, I didn't understand that. What does he want? Does
04:27he want a big new contract and promises and guarantees, or what? No, I think it's pretty
04:32clear that he wants to move on. There's been obviously well-documented interest elsewhere,
04:37the reasons for that I'm sure we can dissect over the coming weeks and months, if it happens
04:41between now and January. It may not, of course, but that's where Wolves are currently. Now,
04:47he made a point of saying he's available for selection. Again, maybe it's the cynic in me,
04:52but it feels that he's made that point deliberately because he's probably not going to be in the squad
04:56tomorrow. If he isn't in the squad, who does he replace? He probably replaces one of the forward
05:01players, a forward to Delegarde maybe, and he drops onto the bench as an extra midfielder.
05:05I find that unlikely, to be honest. So, I would suspect he isn't there, but we will wait and
05:11see how this team will be leaving on the coach relatively soon, see if he's on that coach on
05:16that flight. I just heard on Mateus Cunha and the situation, he hasn't signed his new contract yet,
05:22of course, but great to have him back. At the same time, Arsenal have just lost Gabriel Jesus,
05:27I'm sure those rumours will ramp up, and when he doesn't sign that deal, when we know that
05:32obviously Wolves are hoping for him to sign this month, but if it goes on and on and on,
05:37then those question marks will continue. Yeah, of course they will. Until February 3rd. Yeah,
05:41exactly. He's not going to leave Wolves in January, or February for that matter, in this window. He's
05:47not going to leave this club. It would take a monumental offer for that to happen. Of course,
05:51Wolves want to sign on to the contract, reward him for the cash, of course, with extra cash,
05:57sort of protect their asset, their financial asset, and of course, a fantastic player,
06:01but the likelihood is eventually he will move on if a big club stumps the money up.
06:05There are big interests in him. I suspect he will sign this contract. He's got nothing to lose,
06:10really, signing it, getting more money and putting himself in the shop window still, so
06:14I suspect it'll happen, but Pereira was asked about it, as we expected from him, really, quite coy.
06:18He'll have to ask Mateus, he'll have to ask the club, not one that he's going to lose sleep over.
06:23Different systems tomorrow night, really. It'll be interesting to see if Wolves do play that back
06:26five. A lot of pressure on the wing-backs for me, Ryan Aignori and Rodrigo Gomez, if they start,
06:33but you've got strength and depth for Newcastle, haven't you? You've got Hall
06:38and Gordon down that left-hand side, you've got Liv Romento and Jacob Murphy down that right-hand
06:42side, you've got Wolves' midfield two to Newcastle's midfield three, but interesting difference in
06:48style. Yeah, they've got a lot of threat, Newcastle, they really do, particularly, as you just
06:52mentioned, they are out on either flank, so it's going to be really important, particularly for the
06:57wing-backs, that they do both sides of that job. They've got to be disciplined. They have to be
07:00disciplined, and Rodrigo Gomez is very good at doing that, so if he does play and does start,
07:05I suspect... This will be the biggest test for Rodrigo Gomez. Without a doubt. If he starts that
07:10game, this is his biggest game in a Wolves' show, undoubtedly, but what he has to do is get back
07:14into position quickly, and he is very good at that, but he has to continue that, and Aignori,
07:18as good as he is going forward, he's got to be disciplined at the back, and he has had some
07:21very good games defensively, but this is going to be a real test, because they are some very,
07:26very tricky, fast, technically gifted wide players, and it gets much easier as soon as the
07:31ball comes into the box, they've got no-one in there, apart from Isaac, who's scored with every
07:35touch of the moment. He's a terrible player. So, they've got a lot of quality, we know it's a
07:39difficult place to go, but this Wolves team are capable of producing special moments, and I think
07:44it would be a pretty special win if they managed to go there and do that, because it's eight wins
07:48in a row, this Newcastle side, and they are absolutely flying at them. I mean, all these
07:51next five games, they've lost against all five of them, so it can only get better, hopefully,
07:55you don't want to be equalling that record. Yeah, Isaac, slight injury doubt on him,
07:58but it's expected him to play, same with Sven Bottman as well. It's going to be a difficult
08:02game. In terms of the Bristol City match, do you expect just the two changes, Cunha to come back
08:07in and Jose Sarr returning on goal? That's what I predicted, so undoubtedly it would be wrong,
08:11as I say that every week. It would hinge on Samedo, probably, being another one to come in.
08:17I think you're right, even if Dawson is ready to start, I do think he'll be on the bench anyway.
08:22So it's probably that Samedo for Rodrigo situation over on the right,
08:26but otherwise that's all I can see changing, really.
08:29Prediction? We haven't done it yet, so far. We didn't do one in the podcast.
08:32Of course we didn't. So let me have a think. It's going to go well.
08:36I mean, I've already got mine. I've got mine. Shall I do it first?
08:38Yeah, go for it.
08:42Desmond.
08:44Little Desmond.
08:45I would bite your hand off for Desmond.
08:47Buzz off a Desmond.
08:48I love a Desmond.
08:48Buzz a Desmond.
08:49Particularly on this game.
08:51Unfortunately...
08:52Just forget.
08:54We'll see you all tomorrow night.
08:56Ryan's coming now. He's probably going to have heard us slagging off his defendant.
08:59Ryan? Is that Ryan's friend?
09:02Ryan. This same guy.
09:07Split your prediction in half, but it's not 1-1, it's 2-0 Newcastle.
09:11Split my prediction in half?
09:13Yeah. Take two of the goals away. There's two goals there.
09:15Oh my god. When do you go to school?
09:18What are you talking about?
09:18Split in half.
09:20Split in half for one.
09:21No, there's four goals, then I'm taking that to two goals. That still adds up, mate.
09:25You can't tell me the two is not half of four.
09:27Myself and Liam Keane will be at St Jefferson's Park tomorrow night.
09:29After all the build-up on this summer, make sure you log on to expressandstyle.com.