Dominic Scurr reflects on Jason Tindall's Newcastle United press conference ahead of Sunday's match against Manchester United at St James' Park.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Back here at the Newcastle United Media Centre where we've been speaking to Jason Tindall rather than Eddie Howe this morning.
00:08The Newcastle head coach, really poorly this week as described by his assistant manager, hasn't taken training.
00:15Jason Tindall's been filling in on the training ground and indeed this morning at the Newcastle United Media Centre
00:21for the press conference duties ahead of Sunday's match against Manchester United at St James' Park.
00:27Big question, will Eddie Howe be in the dugout for that game?
00:30Jason Tindall certainly seems to think so, though he did say it's unlike Eddie Howe to be in a situation where he feels too ill to come to work.
00:39You remember maybe previously the last time Jason Tindall took a press conference ahead of the Luton game last season,
00:46Eddie Howe still took the training sessions and he was in the dugout for that match.
00:50Just a bit of illness, but this one slightly more serious.
00:53Hopefully, get well soon, Eddie Howe, and he'll be in the dugout for the Manchester United game on Sunday,
00:59which, of course, always a big game, but has a different feel to it, really, in recent years.
01:05Newcastle won for the last five against Manchester United.
01:07It's almost unheard of form.
01:09They'll do, if they win on Sunday, a first league double over Manchester United in almost 100 years.
01:15So, it's a bit of a turning of the tides, really, when it comes to these teams going head-to-head.
01:22And a win for Newcastle on Sunday would also say they'll move 18 points clear of Manchester United in the table with a game in hand.
01:30Pretty much guarantees, mathematically, that they'll finish above Manchester United for a second successive season,
01:36having done so last season for the first time ever in the Premier League.
01:40So, yeah, it has a different feel to it.
01:41Newcastle going to the game as favourites, looking for a fifth successive win in all competitions,
01:47continue that good form, continue that push for Champions League qualification,
01:51which got confirmed as being slightly easier this week,
01:54with fifth place now guaranteed to qualify for next season's Champions League group phase.
02:00So, yeah, boost for Newcastle.
02:02They're looking at the table now.
02:03They sit fifth with a game in hand on the teams around them,
02:06thinking just how high can the finish, given the Carabao Cup win in the form that's followed that,
02:12or either side of that, really.
02:14So, yeah, can they carry it on against Manchester United?
02:16It's always a big game, always a tough game as well.
02:19But Newcastle have certainly got the better of Manchester United in recent seasons.
02:24In terms of the team news, like I say,
02:25Eddie Howe is somewhat a fitness doubt, if you like.
02:29But in terms of the actual players, Anthony Gordon will be assessed.
02:33He's been back on the grass this week.
02:34Still, by the sounds of it, not training fully.
02:37Jason Tindall said he'll be assessed to see whether he's on the bench.
02:41So, that's the absolute best case scenario for Anthony Gordon this weekend.
02:46Obviously, we've got Joe Willock out with a concussion.
02:48Sven Botman out still.
02:50Lewis Hall and Jamal LaSalle's also out.
02:53Alexander Isak, another player, Jason Tindall was asked about.
02:56But Eddie Howe will be also hoping he can prove his fitness as well,
03:01having gone off the last two games with a little bit of a feeling in his groin.
03:08Eddie Howe said after Leicester that he expects Alexander Isak to be 100% fit for the Manchester United game.
03:14And that was sort of reiterated by Jason Tindall.
03:16He said he expects him to feature and lead the line against Manchester United on Sunday.
03:23So, yeah, all in all, not an awful lot changed.
03:26Would expect Newcastle once again to line up in a very similar way.
03:30They've named an unchanged line-up for the last four games, resulted in four wins.
03:34So, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
03:36So, that is the situation from Jason Tindall's press conference this morning.
03:41And we'll be back at St James' Park, ahead of Newcastle United's big Premier League game against Manchester United.
03:49In the meantime, you can catch all the coverage from myself at DomSker on X,
03:53as well as shieldsgazette.com, where all the reaction, all the fallout from Jason Tindall's press conference,
03:59as well as all the preview looking ahead to Manchester United on Sunday, can be found.
04:04Thanks for watching.