00:00Eddie, you've lost a remarkable game trying to win it, you must have very mixed feelings.
00:06Yes, very mixed feelings. I thought it was a great performance from us.
00:12It wasn't perfect of course, but it was very good in the first half, very dominant, very us really.
00:20High-octane, front foot football. The only thing missing in that really strong start to the game
00:26or middle period of the first half was goals.
00:29I conceded a poor goal, first time in the game really, where we're not quite aggressive enough.
00:35And then the second half was of course a very different game, a very different plan,
00:38but really well executed by the players in spite of the fact that we went 2-0 down
00:42and right at the start of the second half, massive challenge for us.
00:46So I can't fault the players at all, I thought they gave so much to the game.
00:52Absolutely gutted for them that we have nothing to take from it.
00:57I realise this is the last thing you probably want to talk about with the reports today that the owners have met Alex.
01:03Is there anything you can tell us about?
01:05Yes, I'm not aware of that, but I've not been party to talks on this for a long time now.
01:10So I've been preparing the team, giving all my energy to the players that want to play for Newcastle.
01:15I think that's where my energy is best put at the moment.
01:21Eddie, you're running the last few days at the window now.
01:25Is there a danger that you could get pulled into perhaps signing a player that was nowhere near the top of the list at the beginning of the window?
01:34Well, I think your names at the beginning of the window and the end of the window are always very different
01:41because a lot of the players will have moved.
01:43So naturally I think that's always the case if you're still active in the market, which we are.
01:50But as I've said all through the window, we have to be careful.
01:55We don't make a decision that impacts the long-term and future windows and gives us big problems.
02:00So any decision we make will always be based around controlling PSR, good financial decisions,
02:07but also against our need, and our need is there.
02:12So let's see what happens in the next few days.
02:14Do you still retain any hope that you could perhaps keep Alex at this call?
02:19Yeah, as I say, I'm not party to the talks that have been happening,
02:22so I've got no idea where that stands right this second.
02:26I'll go to Luke, George and then Dominic, please.
02:30Luke?
02:31Yes.
02:32Anthony Gordon's red card, I presume you don't have any,
02:36any complaints about it.
02:39Have you seen it back?
02:40Yeah, I've seen it once and very rushed.
02:42It was as the game was going, as the game had restarted.
02:45So naturally I wanted to see it and then wanted to move on very quickly.
02:48I think there's no intent for him and he's gone in, of course, probably too quickly.
02:54I think he's tried to pull out and not commit any damage to Virgil as he's gone into slide.
03:01It's an unfortunate one, I think he's slightly unlucky with it.
03:04Everyone's told me it's a clear red.
03:07My first opinion was slightly different, but maybe I've got the wrong angle.
03:10So I've got sympathy for him.
03:12The chairman is here, he has the final say on everything that happens at this football club.
03:17Is it time for him to make that decision on Alexander Isak's future?
03:22Presumably that's one of the reasons why he's here.
03:24I don't know why he's here in a sense, if that's the main reason he's here,
03:31obviously to watch the team, support the team and show his presence,
03:36which is much appreciated from my perspective and much loved by everyone when he's here
03:43and connecting with the players.
03:45Yes, you're right, he's the owner.
03:47He's the most important person in terms of directing which decisions we make.
03:52But as I said, I'm not party to any conversations that have happened today,
03:55so I've got no idea what direction that's in.
03:57It's been a very draining, very distracting saga for everybody associated with the football club.
04:05Does it make sense to make a definitive answer on what's happening before September 1st
04:10rather than drag it out right until the end of the window?
04:13Yes, I think that's the ideal from everyone.
04:16Our side, Newcastle's side, is we want clarity.
04:19We want to move forward.
04:20We want the narrative to change because we're in the start of the season now.
04:26We're into the action and we've got to get results and we've got to try and focus on what we can control.
04:32We've given two really, really good performances.
04:34We've ended up with one point.
04:36That's tough for us to take, especially in this moment where you're looking for positive to cling to.
04:43But we battle through and we now go on to Leeds.
04:47George?
04:48Eddie, you now lose Anthony, who's your stand-in striker, for three matches.
04:52Doesn't that make it even less possible, the idea of using your actual centre-forward?
05:00Yes, of course.
05:02If you do the maths, we're running out of options in that position.
05:07But again, I have to look at positives.
05:10George, when I'm sat here now, in this moment, I can't go to the negative world.
05:14Willisula came on today, scored a goal, did well.
05:17I was very pleased with him.
05:18So, it's a big opportunity, potentially, for him.
05:21I'm sure there's a lot of devastation in the dressing room after the game ends like that.
05:25But it must be kind of galvanised as well by the two performances.
05:29All the noise around the club at the minute.
05:31At one point, it doesn't feel like a great reward for those two matches.
05:35There must be a real sense of defiance after a game.
05:38Yeah, well, you hope so.
05:40And I think that's what we have to make sure comes out of it.
05:42Because we've given two great performances, I think.
05:46And we've shown our togetherness and unity.
05:48We've shown our fighting spirit.
05:50We've shown that we have put the distractions around us away.
05:54But you'd just like a bigger return to sort of show ourselves
05:59and show the rest of the world that that is the case.
06:01Sometimes football doesn't give you that.
06:03And I do believe, though, you'll get your rewards longer term
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