Former Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neill has spoken about Newcastle United’s win over his former side and singled out Harvey Barnes for praise.
TalkSPORT recently spoke to Martin O’Neill after seeing his former club humiliated by Newcastle United on Saturday.
While O’Neill has been out of the picture at Aston Villa since 2010 he still holds an affinity for the club having arguably his best spell as a manager with the Villans.
Martin O’Neill was impressed with Harvey Barnes on Saturday
O’Neill didn’t let that affinity stop him from praising Newcastle man Harvey Barnes for his impact on Saturday with his goal and assist in less than 30 minutes of football.
Speaking on talkSPORT (h/t The Chronicle) O’Neill said about Barnes: “Harvey Barnes is an excellent footballer, he’s got a little bit of pace and scored one of the goals coming on as a sub. You expect him to make a mark there.”
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Following Harvey Barnes’ £39million move to Newcastle from Leicester he has already shown why Eddie Howe pursued him for so long and singled him out at Leicester’s danger man before the two sides met last season.
Barnes may have to wait to make his first start for Newcastle
Barnes bagged two goals in one game in pre-season against Villarreal at St James’ Park in the Sela Cup, followed by a goal and an assist in his Premier League debut against Villa on Saturday,
Eddie Howe now has to choose between Barnes and a much-improved Anthony Gordon to patrol Newcastle’s left-wing with neither player being a bad option.
I expect Howe will name an unchanged side against Manchester City this weekend after such an impressive win on Saturday, so Barnes may have to wait to get his first competitive start for the club, but I can’t wait to see what he does when he gets the nod.