Dominic Scurr reflects on Eddie Howe's Newcastle United press conference ahead of Brentford.
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00:00Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the Newcastle United Media Centre.
00:04It's been a while, it's over two weeks since we last spoke to Eddie Howe
00:08ahead of the Carabao Cup final.
00:10And since then, well, history, Newcastle United have changed
00:14as a football club, winning the Carabao Cup.
00:17But that has to be shelved.
00:19Eddie Howe recognised that.
00:21It's back to Premier League action.
00:22Ten huge games left to play.
00:24Champions League qualification on the line.
00:27And as much as Saturday, the Carabao Cup win was so important,
00:32so huge for Newcastle United.
00:35If you're looking at things like the boring stuff like balance sheets, PSR,
00:39long term success of a football club, Champions League football is something
00:44that if you talk to the people in the boardroom, that's important.
00:48That's the sort of pinnacle for Newcastle United in terms of continuing
00:53this trend, this upward trend the club want to be on.
00:57So, yeah, 10 games to go.
00:58Newcastle, one point outside the Champions League places.
01:01Fifth place, almost certain to get Champions League qualification
01:05this season under the new UEFA rules.
01:08And Brentford up at St James' Park on Wednesday.
01:11And Eddie Howe recognised that the Brentford game back in December
01:15in the Premier League, the away game, got beat 4-2.
01:18Almost a turning point in Newcastle's season because it was like
01:21almost potential wheels coming off sort of situation for Newcastle.
01:26But they turned things around brilliantly, won nine games in a row,
01:29reached the Carabao Cup final.
01:31And then, although the league form has been a bit up and down since,
01:35and Eddie Howe recognised that, managed to get the job done in the Carabao Cup.
01:39And historically, after this March international break,
01:43they go to Dubai and they tend to end seasons very well.
01:46So we'll be looking to do the same again, galvanised by a Cup win as well.
01:52And in terms of the team news, I think very little will change.
01:55Anthony Gordon, obviously injured from international duty,
01:59very close to a return, but is suspended for the Brentford game.
02:03And then the likes of Sven Bottmann, probably another month
02:05on the sidelines for him.
02:06Jamal Lascelles may not see him again this season.
02:10Touch and go by the sounds of it, based on what Eddie Howe was saying.
02:15Lewis Hall will be out until pre-season.
02:18So, yeah, in terms of players returning, we would expect a very similar squad
02:23to what we saw at Wembley just over two weeks ago.
02:27So, yeah, in terms of what Eddie Howe was saying in the press conference itself,
02:32I think the focus was just how great Saturday was.
02:36But now it's about using that, harnessing that good feeling
02:40and really making this a season, it's already a season to remember,
02:44but in the Premier League, at least, carrying on that momentum
02:47and making, just building on the Cup win as such.
02:51And Champions League football important to that,
02:53because Newcastle have already got European football,
02:55at least with the Conference League, but Champions League football
02:58would very much be the icing on the cake.
03:01And a sort of newsy line to come from the press conference
03:06actually came from a question I asked towards the end of the press conference,
03:09which was, OK, Eddie Howe spoke about Jamal Lascelles
03:13and whether he potentially played his last game for the club,
03:16how important he was in terms of celebrating the Cup win,
03:20despite being out for a year, but defensively as well,
03:24Fabian Scherr, such an important player,
03:25he's been one of the most used players under Eddie Howe
03:30and has played such a key role in the Cup win, recent seasons as well,
03:34out of contract in the summer, 33 years old now as well.
03:38I asked, what about his contract situation?
03:40And Eddie Howe said, well, he's signed a new deal,
03:43or if he hasn't, it will be happening imminently.
03:45So Fabian Scherr, in terms of a breaking news story from Eddie Howe this morning,
03:50Fabian Scherr set to sign a new deal at Newcastle United.
03:52So good news, I'd say.
03:55Fabian Scherr's form has been a bit up and down this season,
03:58considering the very high bar he'd set under Eddie Howe previously.
04:02He's been such an important player for Newcastle over the years
04:06and will go down in history as one of the best ever signings the club have made.
04:10£3 million, he's made 220 appearances for the club,
04:14starting defender in the Carabao Cup final to end a 70-year domestic trophy drought.
04:19I mean, what more can he do?
04:22But yeah, another year of Fabian Scherr, not a bad thing.
04:26Whether he takes a more backseat role next season,
04:29because the club will be looking to sign a defender in the summer too,
04:34with Jamal Lasalle potentially going out,
04:36there's no real right centre-back backup to Fabian Scherr.
04:41Emile Kraft can play there, of course,
04:43but is more of a right-back and more of a utility man defensively
04:46in terms of a natural backup to Fabian Scherr
04:49or a natural upgrade on Fabian Scherr.
04:51Of course, he is 33 now.
04:53There isn't that player in the squad.
04:56So Newcastle will be looking to address that in the summer,
04:58as well as various other areas of the squad.
05:01But you just see the scenes on Saturday through the city centre.
05:05Who wouldn't want to be part of that?
05:07And that was something Eddie Howe was asked about as well.
05:10And although he couldn't answer whether Saturday's parade would help attract players,
05:14it would certainly help keep the current group united closer together.
05:19It was a city, a club, united from top to bottom.
05:22And Eddie Howe said that is arguably one of the most important things to Newcastle's success,
05:27everyone being together, pushing in the same direction.
05:31And right in this wave, because although the home form,
05:35the Premier League form has been a bit up and down in recent months,
05:39probably since the turn of the year, really, since that nine-game winning run,
05:45you see the likes of the Liverpool game in the Carabao Cup final,
05:49the semi-final games against Arsenal,
05:51probably Newcastle's three best performances of the season,
05:54all resulting in, I was going to say two no-wins, but the final was 2-1 in the end.
05:59But really top-level performances against the two best teams in the country.
06:03If you can just harness that, go into ten games, final ten games,
06:08they've got some favourable fixtures as well,
06:11a game in hand on the teams above them as well.
06:13Who knows where Newcastle can finish, but it is very, very tight.
06:18You go down probably to 10th in the table, around where Brentford are actually,
06:23who are there, away form is very strong now as well.
06:27So it's going to be an interesting end to the season.
06:30Who knows what's going to happen from here on out,
06:33but Newcastle have a really good opportunity to build on what will be,
06:37or what will go down as one of the best seasons,
06:40if not the best season in recent memory for Newcastle United.
06:43But can really still add to it and put the cherry on the top of the cake,
06:48put the icing on the top of the cake, and qualify for the Champions League,
06:52which is very much achievable with ten games to go.
06:55But in order to do that, they need to be winning these home games,
06:58need to get their home form back on track in the Premier League,
07:01and what better chance to do it against Brentford on Wednesday evening?
07:05And I'll be there covering it for the Shields Gazette with my colleague Joe Buck,
07:09and we'll have all the fallout from Eddie Howe's press conference today as well.
07:13As well as all the build-up to Wednesday's game,
07:15and all the reaction to come from that over on the Shields Gazette.
07:19So yes, I've been Dominic Scurr.
07:21Thank you for watching, and make sure to check out the Shields Gazette
07:24for everything we'll have to say about Eddie Howe's press conference
07:27and looking ahead to Brentford.
07:29Cheers.