Newcastle stars locked in feisty training ground inquest this week and some could be dropped
Newcastle United held their own dressing room inquest at Benton in the aftermath of the shocking 3-1 loss against Fulham last weekend.
Head coach Eddie Howe also had assertive words to say to his players with some of them going into today's game against Manchester City knowing they may only have one more chance to impress or face being axed. Howe is aware of some suggestions from the fanbase and the media that some players are deemed "undroppable" such as Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton and Anthony Gordon, but as Newcastle head into October without finding their A-game, he is prepared to turn to drastic measures if needs be.
Only Harvey Barnes fronted up to the media - after a broadcast interview - after Fulham and Howe did not disguise his words on the eve of the visit of Man City. He said candidly: "Given a blank sheet of paper and you say ‘Go on, write down what your best team is’, I don’t think that would be difficult for me.
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"The problem is you have to justify your selection, so those players have to be in their best moment and best form. What you can’t do is pick that team if it doesn’t deserve to play. I hope you follow me.
"I’m a big believer in rewarding people that are playing well. I’m a big believer in there’s no set team, everyone has to earn their place. If you’re not earning your place, you can’t play.
"So we’re in that moment, early season, where players haven’t been in their best form. It’s difficult to pick players if they’re not playing continually well. I’m at that stage now where I’m going to have to make some difficult decisions, I think."
Toon players sit through an uncomfortable video review of Fulham farce
Newcastle would not have had time to go through the defeat at Craven Cottage had they been facing Wimbledon at Plough Lane on Tuesday night.
But a hasty rewrite of the week's training schedule at Benton was drawn up on Monday morning and it included a video session in the club's plush auditorium at their Tyneside HQ. Speaking about the harsh video verdict, Howe felt it did some good for his players and reflected: "We reviewed it and we didn’t like ourselves, so there’s been some honest conversations this week, and hopefully there’ll be a response."
Jonathan David talk intensifies once again
Newcastle were linked with Lille striker Jonathan David in the summer and the race is now for a clutch of teams to sign him on a free transfer.
The Canadian goal-getter is allowed to discuss pre-contract arrangements from January and is not set to sign a new deal with Lille. A transfer fee of £30m was demanded for the 24-year-old last summer but now he is a sought after freebie.
One of the stumbling blocks on David last summer was the eye watering demands of his agent who wanted close to £10million in total to get the deal done. That would have to come down for Newcastle but there is more room for negotiation now he is set to be a free transfer.
West Ham, Juventus, Brighton, Chelsea and Aston Villa are also credited with an interest.