00:00Well, hello and welcome back to the Magpies Nest Newcastle United podcast with myself
00:16Daniel and my co-host Joe Buck from the Shields Gazette. Joe, how are you this morning?
00:20I'm good, thank you. As we said, just off-air, just before we start recording, it's much
00:24better to be talking to you after a win than a defeat like last week. So yeah, I'm happy.
00:28Yes, Newcastle did get back to winning ways in the Premier League, a 3-1 win away at
00:33bottom side Southampton. Two goals from Alexander Izak and then one from Sandro Tonali. Got
00:39the win on the south coast. Now Joe, you were there, so I'll come to you straight away.
00:43What was it like? And obviously we've all seen the highlights, but I'm not sure Newcastle
00:48were overly brilliant as they can be, but against the Southampton side who leave a lot
00:54of space, a lot of wide open gaps, they just sort of did what they had to do.
00:58Yeah, exactly. I think it was very much like the win over Wolves two weeks ago. They don't
01:04have to be at their best to beat teams like Southampton and Wolves anymore, which is good.
01:07I think that shows the level of quality from Newcastle that they don't have to put in 8
01:12out of 10, 9 out of 10 performances to get comfortable wins. And that's what they did
01:17the weekend. Obviously, the early setback was far from ideal. You know, the defensive
01:22laps, I think, from Dan Byrne and then obviously a big defender just got above Tino Liberomento.
01:27But from that, even before that, they were on top. That was Southampton's one chance.
01:31And then after that, they were really good clinical. You know, the penalty, it didn't...
01:37I was in the away end, so I was in the press box, so I didn't see the penalty until afterwards.
01:42But it didn't seem a penalty from us, but we were on the other side of the ground. But
01:45as soon as you see the replay, you see it catches the leg and it's a definite penalty.
01:49And then from then, you know, Isak put that away. And then his second goal was brilliant,
01:53his touch and Murphy's pass. And then even the third goal was fantastic. So yeah, a little
01:57bit towards the end, a little bit of nerves. I think if that goal hadn't have got ruled
02:00out for offside, it would have been a nervy five minutes. But yeah, it was a very, you
02:04know, standard performance from Newcastle, got the win, and that's all they needed to do.
02:08After Bournemouth, we spoke last week, they just needed to get a win. And now it's 10
02:12from 11 games, it's a brilliant form. And yeah, got the win. That's all they needed to do.
02:16Yeah, just interestingly on that last point there regarding the goal that Southampton
02:22scored their second, that obviously was ruled out for offside. It's a bit of a theme at
02:25Newcastle, obviously playing very well, as we know, but they do tend to tip their foot
02:29off the gas a little bit in sort of the last 15-20 minutes. Is this a bit of an issue in
02:33your opinion?
02:34I don't know. I think it would have been an issue had they conceded that and gone in the
02:39last five minutes one behind. I think for me, it just seems that they're just trying
02:43to control games a bit better than they did last year. I think a lot of things with injuries
02:47and, you know, they weren't in control of any games, even the ones that won, they were
02:50barely in control of it. So I think that's a style that Eddie Howes tried to implement this year.
02:54One player who of course came on towards the end of the Southampton game was Miguel Almiron,
03:00in what was probably his last appearance in a Newcastle shirt. Nearly got a goal at the
03:04end as well. It would have been a fitting finale for him. But now it would seem that
03:09his move back to Atlanta United in the MLS is going ahead. Joe, it's a case of Miguel
03:15Almiron where a really likeable person, character, always gave 100%. Of course, looked like a
03:21world-beater when he first came in under Rafa next to Perez Rondon, then had the purple
03:25patch under Eddie Howe in the Champions League season. But for the most part, despite the
03:31hard work, his end product never quite matched up, did it?
03:35No, it didn't, you're right. The fact he had to wait sort of 11 months for that first goal
03:39suggests that, you know, that was a warning sign early on. But yeah, as you say, he's
03:43a likeable player. As you saw the scenes at the wee end, you know, with Eddie Howe pushing
03:47him to the front to get all the plaudits, it was really good scenes. And you could see
03:50that the 3,000 fans there were appreciative of everything he's done for six years. You
03:55know, he came in as the club's record buyer. Obviously, it didn't last long. Joe Linton
03:58came in sort of six months later for £40 million. But at that point, he was the most
04:02expensive transfer. And, you know, for £20 million or £21 million, the signing for six
04:07years, I think it's been a good deal. They're going to get sort of £10 million back as
04:10well. I think it's good. He'll be remembered fondly. I think, as you say, his goals and
04:16assist stats maybe don't tally up to what you might have expected, but he always give
04:21his all and that's what you hope from any player. And as you say, it would have been
04:25fitting on Saturday had he scored. It would have been, I mean, if he'd scored that with
04:29his right foot, that shot, that would have been, it would have been a bit weird. It would
04:32have been like, where's this armour I've been for six years? But yeah, he'll be someone
04:36that's looked back on, I think, semi-fondly. I don't think he'll go down as one of the
04:40club legends, but he might, you know, people will appreciate what he did for the club.
04:44And as you say, you'll always have that month, that October 2022, where he was unplayable.
04:49So yeah, very good servant, always give his all and Newcastle have done well to get the
04:54money. You know, they're going, he'll leave with his head high and, yeah, with the best
04:58wishes of most fans.
04:59Indeed, yes. Now, I mean, if you look actually at some of the goals he's scored, I think
05:03it's about 30 goals he's scored for Newcastle in his six years there. Some of them are really,
05:07really good goals. And you'd think if you take that in isolation, you think, well, blimey,
05:10what a player he was. And then of course, you've got that moment against Paris Saint-Germain,
05:14you know, the first goal back in the Champions League for so many years. So there are some
05:18moments of him where you just have to stand back and applaud because fair play to him.
05:23Right, if we move on then, next fixture for Newcastle is back at St James' Park against
05:28Fulham, who have had a decent enough season. They did get beaten by Manchester United at
05:32the weekend, though, which is probably quite a disappointing result for Marco Silva's side,
05:36actually, given how well they've played against other sides this campaign. So for Newcastle,
05:41I think it's very much a case of just putting the Bournemouth Blues behind them and getting
05:46another win. I know obviously we say this, but it is just a case where the league is
05:50so competitive around those European spots where every three points, every win, every
05:54victory matters so much now. And yes, Fulham are a good side, but it's a team that Newcastle
06:00need to just show their quality against, isn't it?
06:02Absolutely, especially at home. They haven't had a brilliant record at home this year compared
06:06to previous seasons, but they need to just get back, again, what we said last week, just
06:10get another win on the board. Their performance at Fulham back in September was probably their
06:16worst of the season. I don't think they've played worse than that over 90 minutes. I
06:20include Bournemouth in that. Bournemouth were just much better than them on that day. Fulham
06:24were better than Newcastle on that day, but Newcastle were really bad. So they'll want
06:26to put that right. But they'll have nothing to fear against Fulham. As you say, they're
06:30a good team that can cause you problems. They've got good players. Someone like Emile Smith-Rowe
06:34had a field day against them last time, but I told them they would fancy themselves to
06:38get that win. And then if they can't get that win against a good team, that'll give them
06:41all the confidence in the world going into the two Cup games next week.
06:45Yes, yes, indeed. Just on Fulham, I think, clearly Marco Silva's a talented manager and
06:50he has a lot about him. And Fulham have some good players, but as I mentioned there, Newcastle
06:55do have more quality. So again, obviously, we mentioned there that killing games off,
07:02it's a game where you just like Newcastle to go out and get the job done nice and early,
07:05I think, isn't it?
07:06Yes, absolutely. A hundred percent. If they can get a couple of goals lead and then do
07:11what they did, whether you manage. I mean, that was a luxury on Saturday. He didn't seem
07:14too happy about it when he came off, but taking Bruno off and being able to e-sack off a sort
07:18of 15, 20 minute spare is a good thing. You can keep them fresh. And yes, if they can
07:22do that Saturday, that will be ideal. Of course, I don't think it'll be that. I think it'll
07:26be a close game. I don't remember, it could be against Fulham, you know, they were very
07:31lucky not to get a point with the e-sack sort of last minute goal. I think it'll be a similar
07:34game with that. I hope that Newcastle have got enough and that, as you say, they can
07:37go a couple of goals up and be able to rest these players. But yeah, it's going to be
07:41a tough game.
07:42Indeed it is, yes. And of course, after that, you go straight from Fulham, you go straight
07:46into what is probably Newcastle's biggest game of the season so far to this point, at
07:51least. Of course, the second leg of the League Cup semi-final against Arsenal, 2-0 ahead
07:58after the first leg. What a night that was at the Emirates for the black and whites.
08:01But nothing is guaranteed yet, but they are putting themselves in the best possible position
08:07to go through. So Joe, it's going to be a nervy night, isn't it? I think from everyone's
08:13point of view. But I think Newcastle just need to come out the blocks absolutely flying
08:18in that game. The atmosphere needs to be electric because Arsenal, they're not going to hold
08:22anything back. They're going to go straight in for it. They know they need to go and score
08:26straight away or at least as early as they can to have any chance. So if Newcastle can
08:31match that intensity that Arsenal might bring and get an early goal, because of the advantage
08:36they've got, Newcastle could kill this tie in the first half if they go about things
08:39in the right way.
08:40100%. I think the atmosphere starts from the fans. I think it needs to be a bit PSG-like.
08:45It needs to be everyone up for it and really make it uncomfortable for Arsenal. It's weird
08:50because you are 2-0 up and I know Newcastle fans were just bred into it. The fact that
08:54something's gone wrong is going to happen. But that game against Arsenal was a completely
08:59different against United. It was a really good performance in the first leg and hopefully
09:03they can do it again. The worry with Arsenal is the fact that they are good from set pieces
09:06and you can dominate the ball and all that, but all it takes is for them to put a corner
09:10in and then all of a sudden it's nervy again. But as you say, I think the start's going
09:14to be really key. If they can get the first 20 minutes, half an hour, if they can be on
09:18top and maybe even get a goal, then I don't think they'll have too many problems. But
09:23it's going to be, I'm hoping it's going to be a memorable night and one that people look
09:27back fondly on, like the PSG game and like the others. And it feels a bit different.
09:31I think the last semi-final against Southampton and even the Leicester games felt like an
09:37occasion like, oh, we don't do this often, so let's enjoy it. But now it seems very clinical,
09:41like the win against Brentford last month and even the one against Chelsea. It felt
09:45like this is actually what Newcastle do and this is what they need to do. So I'm hoping
09:48that that's the atmosphere on Wednesday, that actually it's not just, oh, we're here
09:52against Arsenal too and the little business, it's great. It's actually, no, we're here
09:55at the win. We're going to get a Wembley again and then hopefully they can continue that
09:58attitude if they get to the final next month.
10:01Yeah. As I say that, I think they could make it very easy for themselves, Newcastle. If
10:06they go and score early, if they go and maybe get one, even two goals early, the tie is
10:10dead by half-time. Arsenal aren't coming back from 4-0 down on aggregate at all. Well,
10:17you've made me doubt myself now, but I mean, on paper, at least, you wouldn't expect that.
10:24But you are right, Arsenal are dangerous from set-pieces, of course they are. Newcastle,
10:28though, they've shown they can beat Arsenal. They've beaten them twice this season, both
10:32home and away in the Premier League and the League Cup, so clearly they've got something
10:36over them and if they can repeat what they did, perhaps, at St James' Park back in November,
10:41Isak got that early goal in that game and yes, Arsenal had moments after that, but never
10:47really, again, looked like scoring too much.
10:50And as you say, because of the 2-0, if you get an early goal, you're right, Arsenal are
10:54going to score three. That's probably not going to happen, I say that, then they probably
10:58will, but I think it's one of the ones, as you say, the start is going to be really important
11:03and hopefully they can get confidence from a good start.
11:07Indeed, yes, that is key, the first 15-20 minutes are key in that game and if Newcastle
11:12can get that all-important third goal on, I think it might just be enough for them,
11:18to be honest. Even if Arsenal were to get one at some point of the match, you've still
11:21got another two-goal advantage, that's the thing.
11:23So yes, that is all for now, though we'll be back, not next Tuesday, obviously at the
11:28time of recording, we'll be back next Thursday, actually, because, of course, the League Cup
11:34Semi-Final is on the Wednesday night, so we'll be looking back at that and then looking ahead
11:38to a trip to St Andrews in the FA Cup. As you said before, Joe, two cup games in a row,
11:44Newcastle, no Premier League action after Fulham for at least a little bit of time.
11:48So yes, that is all for this time, thank you Joe once again and we'll be back after Arsenal
11:52to see whether Newcastle have made it to Wembley and whether they've got three points against
11:56Fulham. But until then, thank you all for watching and we'll see you next time.
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