Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe spoke to the press ahead of Monday’s trip to Leicester City.
The Magpies have a lot riding on the game, with Champions League qualification still up for grabs. However, they may be forced to play the game without some of their key players.
Alexander Isak is a doubt for Leicester after picking up a groin injury in Newcastle United’s win against Brentford on Wednesday night. Isak made history for Newcastle by becoming the first player to score 20 goals in consecutive Premier League seasons, but is now at risk of missing Monday’s game.
Kieran Trippier also hurt his groin in the latter stages of the Brentford win, forcing him to come off. Eddie Howe has confirmed he will be assessing everyone who picked up knocks ahead of the trip down South.
While it has not been a problem for them as of late, Newcastle have had their struggles with VAR this season. Newcastle were denied a penalty against Tottenham after Anthony Gordon was left battered and bruised following a coming together with Dejan Kulusevski. The decision not to give a penalty was labelled as ‘poor’ by former Premier League defender Stephen Warnock.
The winger was also involved in a controversial decision last season when Sofyan Amrabat was shown to have dragged his studs across his Achilles during Newcastle’s 3-2 loss to Manchester United. Gordon ranted about VAR following the decision not to award them a spot-kick, claiming he “doesn’t see the point” in the technology.
Now, Howe has weighed in on his feelings about VAR with the impending arrival of semi-automated offside.
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Eddie Howe slams VAR after Ange Postecoglou complaints
Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur side were on the receiving end of two lengthy VAR checks which meant there was a staggering 12 minutes of added time. One particular VAR check lasted six minutes, a move which Postecoglou claimed is ‘killing the game’.
One of the lengthy checks was for an offside call against Chelsea midfielder Moises Caicedo. The decision was confirmed to be offside, but not before a review that lasted several minutes at Stamford Bridge.
The PGMOL announced that semi-automated offside will be in effect in the Premier League from April 12th, so Newcastle’s first game with the technology will be against Man United in just over a week.
During Howe’s pre-match press conference, the Toon boss was asked for his opinions on the VAR checks and Postecoglou’s comments.
“I always look at it from the supporters’ perspective,” Howe said.
“I don’t think you want VAR decisions to take that long genrally. I think we want a quicker process – six minutes is too long.
“I didn’t actually see the incident at the time, but yeah, that’s too long for me.
“I feel for the supporters more than anybody.”
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Newcastle have benefited from VAR this season
While other Premier League clubs have struggled with VAR throughout the campaign, decisions have seemed to go the way of the Magpies in recent months.
Most recently, Thomas Frank suggested Brentford should have had a penalty in their defeat to Newcastle on Wednesday. Bruno Guimaraes came together with Mikkel Damsgaard inside the penalty area, but the decision was waved away by Peter Bankes and VAR.
Mark Clattenburg suggested VAR was in Newcastle’s favour for their historic Carabao Cup win in March. Federico Chiesa scored late in stoppage time, but the goal was subject to a lengthy VAR check, which Calttenburg believes allowed Newcastle to regroup ahead of kick-off.
Elsewhere, Newcastle were told they should not have had a penalty against Southampton by former footballer and pundit Efan Ekoku, who believed Howe’s side were ‘gifted’ a spot-kick against the Premier League strugglers.
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