Newcastle United were put to the sword by Celtic on Saturday on the Scottish Champions’ home turf, suffering a 4-0 defeat at Celtic Park.
Only a couple of players really came out of the game with any dignity for Newcastle United as Bruno Guimaraes looked lively, as did Will Osula, albeit still lacking in front of goal, and in a dire second half, Anthony Elanga showed early promise before fading away, while youngster Alex Murphy looked ready to make a point.
On the other end of the spectrum was, well, pretty much everyone else, and while most players had their head-in-hands moments, which is understandable in an early pre-season friendly, the one that stands out was the Nick Pope howler that gifted Celtic their second goal.
Rushing off his line and out of his area, Pope completely misjudged the flight and bounce of the ball, allowing it to loop over his head, allowing Johnny Kenny to latch on and stroke the ball home.
Nick Pope’s howler gave us huge cause for concern
Our immediate thought was, ‘Just give Burnley the £40 million and get James Trafford through the door now’. We’re sure we weren’t alone in that thinking either, but it seems like Newcastle have other ideas if Craig Hope is to be believed.
I’m told Newcastle are prepared to move on from their interest in Burnley’s James Trafford with a deal still not agreed
It’s not dead yet, and a 12-month pursuit shows how much they admire the player, but I understand the club are also comfortable with their current GK situation. It wouldn’t necessarily be a case of identifying another GK target
Let’s see what happens, but the vibes on this for the past fortnight have been less positive than they once were. Man City interest also a complication, although I’m told that’s been in background all summer
NUFC & Burnley still not commenting
Newcastle United may be comfortable with our goalkeeping situation, but we’re not
How they can have seen that yesterday and feel comfortable with the goalkeeper situation, I do not know. Yes, it was one mistake in a pre-season friendly, and perhaps we’re making a bigger deal out of it than we should, but it’s not just the waning confidence in Nick Pope; it’s the club’s whole attitude when it comes to transfers.
We’re like a spoiled brat who takes their ball home the minute something goes against them. Only in this case, they’re hurting themselves more than the other party. Our obsession with paying below the selling club’s value is costing us massively. We understand why they’re doing it, but at a certain point, they must realise the damage it’s doing.
As we’ve already pointed out this summer, the new rules coming into effect next season are going to force goalkeepers to have to be more creative with the ball at their feet, and that puts us in a very delicate situation as Nick Pope has hooves.
He may be a good shot stopper, and he showed that yesterday with a superb reflex save to tip Fabian Schar’s error round the post, but Pope’s decision-making and footwork are a major cause for concern, and things that James Trafford is already better at.
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