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