A tasty round of Premier League fixtures and a Carabao Cup final saw Newcastle lose another Tyne-Wear derby and Man City beat Arsenal.
Current Newcastle boss Eddie Howe tried to find excuses following the loss, while former Newcastle boss Alan Pardew took umbrage with Rayan Cherki’s showboating following the final.
Rant Sport writer Joe Jones talks us through the fallout of this weekend’s derby & final.
Eddie Howe’s self-pity party
Following the Magpies’ 2-1 defeat to Sunderland at St James Park, Eddie Howe blamed FFP for his poor squad building at the post-match press conference.
“We don’t have the revenue of other clubs… the rules have made it very difficult.”
“Losing Alex [Isak] last summer was a considerable blow,” were his final words on the matter.
I don’t feel like Howe can criticise the spending of other clubs without looking inwards at his own first.
Anthony Elanga has three goals in 43 games, despite costing £55 million. Yoanne Wissa, Nick Woltemade and Jacob Ramsey cost a combined £160 million and have scored 15 goals between them.
Of their summer signings, only Malick Thiaw for £35 million seems like a good deal, even though he is part of the defence who have conceded the most goals of any side in Europe’s top five leagues in 2026.
Newcastle spent a whopping £250m on these players last summer. Even if some could turn out to be good signings, blaming FFP for the team’s poor form in derby games is nothing short of shameful.
Newcastle have been anything but short of spending money in the time Howe has been on Tyneside.
The excuses, unlike their bank account, are running dry.
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Pardew’s arrogance
Alan Pardew made an appearance on talkSPORT following the Carabao Cup final between Arsenal and Manchester City.
A clip has circulated of the former manager criticising City’s Rayan Cherki for showboating during the game.
He called the player naive and said that “juggling the ball like that is an insult in the pro game”.
“If you’re a pro footballer, it’s a no-go.”
I am amazed by Pardew’s comments, given the lack of class he showed throughout his managerial career.
Infamously, he headbutted Hull’s David Meyler and danced during an FA Cup final (that he went on to lose). But now we have an issue with showboating?
Rayan Cherki is a maverick player, a dying breed in the beautiful game.
Skilful players showing flair and their ability is never a bad thing. Would he have done this 20 years ago and criticised Ronaldinho and Jay-Jay Okocha?
The answer is no.
So why moan about something during a game that actually had little to no impact on it? Pundits have been moaning for years about players becoming increasingly robotic
And now, when someone steps outside the perceived norm, everyone criticises the player for showing individuality and breaking the mould?
Hypocrisy at its finest.
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