Saturday night’s trip to Bournemouth was not particularly pleasing viewing for Newcastle United fans.
A bad week for Eddie Howe and his side got an awful lot worse in a rather drab 2-0 defeat on the road.
Throw in Miguel Almiron’s injury and Kieran Trippier’s heated exchange with a supporter after the full-time whistle and it all makes for a fairly miserable way to head into the international break.
Context, of course, must be applied. Newcastle are dealing with a horrific injury crisis and are trying to compete on a number of fronts.
Indeed, pundit Les Ferdinand was keen to point out a positive too.
Newcastle vs Bournemouth: Les Ferdinand impressed by ‘brilliant’ £10m player
Speaking on Sky Sports, the former Newcastle striker was full of praise for Nick Pope.
“They [Bournemouth] were able to press from the front and they did extremely well,” he said.
“As you said, they created chance after chance and Pope was brilliant for Newcastle today.”
The England stopper made eight saves (via FBREF) on the south coast, even if he was criticised by pundit Ashley Williams for his role in Bournemouth’s first.
Without him, the situation could have been an awful lot worse.
Nick Pope: A reminder of Newcastle star’s quality
By and large, Pope has been an excellent signing for Newcastle after a £10m move from Burnley.
Still, there have been times this season where his quality has been called into question. He is perhaps not convincing quite as much as last time out but the same could be said for the defence as a whole.
Pope may not be perfect but Newcastle have far bigger problems right now than him. When the chips are down, Howe needs a player like that to keep his team in games.
Saturday night would have been a lot worse without Pope.
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