The subject of Friday Night Football, Newcastle United were always going to receive an awful lot of attention on Sky Sports.
Indeed, their fixture away at Nottingham Forest was reminiscent of a different age in the Premier League, conjuring up memories of evocative clashes back in the 1990s.
The first game ahead of what is a relatively understated weekend of Premier League action before the international break, Sky Sports were out in full force at the City Ground.
Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville were both impressed by Alexander Isak’s match-winning performance, with the Swede having scored two goals as Eddie Howe’s side came from behind.
The Sweden international was interviewed after the game, with Howe joining the two pundits later.
In fact, it was during that chat with Magpies boss that Carragher and presenter Kelly Cates were shocked.
Neville’s question to Howe left the Sky pundits laughing
Neville asked Howe what his plans were for the upcoming break on a personal level.
Realising how the question sounded, both Neville and Carragher burst into laugher, with the latter asking the former: “Are you a stalker?”
Howe quickly reverted to type and spoke of the plans to take the squad to Dubai for warm-weather training and talked about the game against Manchester United in April.
Cates then wrapped up the segment by saying: “We’re really sorry about him [Neville] and we’ll sort out his restraining order.
“We’ll let you go before it gets more uncomfortable.”
Clearly, with Neville having been a manager – albeit briefly – he was trying to relate. It, after all, has been a relentless domestic season as football deals with the fallout of a mid-season World Cup.
Still, there are perhaps ways of doing that without sound quite as intense…