Dominic Scurr reflects on Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe's pre match press conference ahead of the trip to Manchester City in the Premier League.
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00:00Hello everyone, Dom Square here, outside the Newcastle United Media Centre where we've been
00:04speaking to Eddie Howe ahead of Newcastle United's trip to Manchester City in the Premier League,
00:09return to Premier League action after back-to-back cup wins for Eddie Howe's side,
00:14but the Premier League, I mean, generally speaking, in a great run of form, won 12 of the last
00:1914 in all competitions, but lost two of the last three in the Premier League as the wind
00:24just picks up here. Trying to shelter myself from the wind inside the dugout, but
00:29we'll see how things go. But yeah, Manchester City, not a happy hunting ground for Newcastle,
00:34but I'll tell you what, if you were offered being level on points with Manchester City,
00:38with only goals scored separating the sides 24 games into a Premier League season,
00:43you absolutely would have took it. You would have assumed something had gone very right.
00:46As it happens, Newcastle are probably there or thereabouts where you'd expect them to be
00:52in the league this season, and Manchester City have underperformed by their standards and
00:57we saw against Real Madrid in the Champions League in midweek how vulnerable they can be,
01:01particularly defensively. I mean, you look at that third goal, Jude Bellum's goal for Real
01:07Madrid in particular, it was just a catalogue of errors, and that's something Newcastle,
01:11if you put Manchester City under pressure, capable of exposing, but historically,
01:18yeah, the Etihad, Newcastle have never won at the Etihad in the league. I think the last point
01:22they picked up was back in 2007, so yeah, a lot of defeats. You can cling to that Carabao Cup
01:292-0 win back in 2014 with Orlando Aarons and Rusescu Zocos going, but yeah, still 11 years ago,
01:35so yeah, it's going to be an interesting test for Newcastle, interesting battle between two sides in
01:41I'd say contrasting run of forms, but having different sort of seasons, really, Man City way
01:46off where you'd expect them to be, but still a very good team in their own right, but Newcastle
01:52will go into this game, okay, lost two of the last three in the Premier League, but their away
01:56form is excellent, they've won the last six in a row in all competitions away from home, which
02:01considering all their talk last season was about their away struggles, certainly something they've
02:06addressed, and if you go into those six games, they've beaten the likes of Manchester United,
02:12Tottenham, Arsenal, all the way from home. Their last away defeat came back against Brentford,
02:18which is, I mean, almost two months ago now, actually probably is two months ago now, so yeah,
02:24going into the game, Newcastle, in terms of injuries, there was a bit of an update from
02:29Eddie Howe on the injury front, Anthony Gordon should be fine for the game, has returned
02:33to training, Dan Byrne should be very close for the game, positive results on a scan on his groin
02:41after going off at Birmingham City, so positive news for him, again, is probably still technically
02:47a doubt, but Eddie Howe said he's very close, and said Sven Botman wouldn't expect him to be
02:53available, so hadn't completely ruled out Sven Botman, but saying it's probably unlikely he will
02:59feature, so yeah, Anthony Gordon, okay, Dan Byrne, nearly said Dan Botman, Dan Byrne, likely,
03:06Sven Botman, unlikely, so no players ruled out for the previous injuries, the pre-existing injuries
03:14to Harvey Barnes, Joe Linton and Jamala Sells, but yeah, no player completely ruled out,
03:19Sven Botman looks like he probably will be, Dan Byrne looks like he may make the squad,
03:24and Anthony Gordon could even start the game after missing the Birmingham game, so yeah,
03:28positives, and a big talking point, actually, particularly from a national perspective,
03:34something the likes of Sky Sports and the national papers were keen to ask about, was this sort of,
03:40not rivalry, but the two best strikers in the Premier League going head-to-head in terms of
03:46Erling Haaland and Alexander Isak, they're sort of traditional number nines, leading the line,
03:51scoring goals, very different players in their own right, but yeah, two real world-class strikers
03:57were blessed with in the Premier League this season, or in recent seasons, and Eddie Howe was
04:01asked outright, would he rather have Alexander Isak or Erling Haaland, and I think you wouldn't
04:07be surprised to know he did pick Alexander Isak, just naturally, he said Pep Guardiola would pick
04:12Haaland, because these are the players you work with, and I wouldn't swap Alexander Isak for any
04:16striker in the world, so yeah, it's an interesting debate, who would you rather have, I'd say at the
04:23moment, and based on what I've seen from Alexander Isak the past 12 to 18 months, you'd rather have
04:28Isak in terms of what he offers away from goals, I think creatively, the way he drops deep, brings
04:34players into the game, and some of the passes he's grabbed, the assists over the past couple months,
04:39been very, very impressive, and I think he leads the line, and offers so much in an attacking
04:44sense, and has brought his game on, I think he's improved this season, Alexander Isak, from already
04:49a very high level, where he scored 25 goals last season, I think from that creative standpoint,
04:55and also take nothing away from his goals as well, I think he's really taking things up a level this
05:01season, and yeah, I would agree with Eddie Howe, I wouldn't swap him for any striker in the world,
05:07I think he's on current form, possibly the best striker in the world, so yeah, that was an
05:12interesting talking point, which I'm sure I will rumble on, but important to stress at the end of
05:19the press conference as well, Eddie Howe said, look, in terms of Alexander Isak's future, determined to
05:25keep him, he's the type of player Newcastle need to keep hold of, in order to get where they need
05:29to be, so yeah, shuts down or plays down any sort of potential exit talk, Newcastle obviously keen to
05:36get Isak tied down to a new deal, but again, there's no real rush for that, because he's
05:41under contract till 2028, but obviously when you've scored what will likely be
05:48potentially 50 goals over two seasons for the club, then you get rewarded for that, or you should
05:56get rewarded for that, and he'll feel the same way, and Eddie Howe will be keen to to get Alexander
06:01Isak committed long term to Newcastle, beyond the next three years potentially as well, because
06:08Erling Haaland's obviously signed a very long contract at Manchester City, Newcastle probably
06:12not quite that long, but certainly reward Alexander Isak for what he's done at Newcastle, particularly
06:18over the last 18 months, or since he's signed really, but obviously slight slow start for him,
06:23given his initial injury troubles, but yeah, world-class striker Newcastle are blessed with,
06:28and hopefully you can fire them to a rare three points against Manchester City, or first ever
06:36three points against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium this weekend, and we'll be covering it
06:41every step of the way, all the reaction from Eddie Howe's press conference over on the Shields Gazette,
06:44as well as all the fallout and coverage, player ratings from the match at the Etihad Stadium
06:51at three o'clock on Saturday afternoon.