F365’s 3pm Blackout: Hatters heighten Howe sack talk, Nuno woe, history at Fulham
How much longer can Eddie Howe and Newcastle put their fingers in their ears? That and the refs at Forest and Fulham are discussed in the 3pm Blackout…
KINDRED SPIRITS ANGE, DYCHE SERVE UP BREATHLESS THRILLER
“My type of guy, maybe we can crack a cold one open,” said Stone Cold Sean Dyche before dragging his Everton players to north London in hopes of stomping a mudhole in Spurs.
Ange Postecoglou has followed that natural course of someone once held as refreshing, beloved and wholly positive in an crushingly depressing industry, soon becoming mocked and derided and false, hollow and inauthentic.
But the Dyche seal of approval stands for a great deal arguably now more than ever, the manager having rebuilt Everton in his glorious, gravelly and often confounding image. They were the Premier League’s form side going into this weekend, with four consecutive wins – clean sheets kept in each – eradicating a points deduction which seemed to energise and recalibrate the club’s focus.
There was little chance of that series of shutouts extending against Spurs, who stretched their run of scoring in consecutive Premier League matches to a round 30 when Richarlison – who else but? – opened the scoring.
James Tarkowski’s decision to momentarily not track his former team-mate’s movements would have been perfectly understandable in any other month of Richarlison’s Tottenham career, but not these prolific weeks of December 2023. Less easy to grasp was why Dwight McNeil simply stopped running when Spurs played a short free-kick on the edge of the Everton box, resulting in Brennan Johnson’s cheap shot being parried for Heung-min Son to score.
Surprising as Richarlison’s recent form has been, the sight of Andre Gomes topped it. His first Everton appearance since May 2022 was eventful enough: setting up a Dominic Calvert-Lewin which was disallowed because of his apparent foul on Emerson Royal in the build-up; then sparking hopes of a revival with a delightful strike from a corner.
The Portuguese was brilliant in his cameo. That he only came on because Idrissa Gueye injured himself getting a booking for fouling Richarlison made it even better.
Everton had around 15 minutes to find an equaliser and their inability to do so was not for lack of trying. An Arnaut Danjuma goal absolutely dripping in narrative never quite did come, even if in half an hour he had the most shots of any player for either team.
“He doesn’t want to be known for how he plays, he wants to win. That seems like my type of guy,” Dyche said of Postecoglou in the week. The pair will no doubt enjoy a beverage while picking the bones from a breathlessly brilliant game.
HATTERS CHANNEL EMOTION INTO PILING MISERY ON HOWE
The criticism has been described as external negativity both by Eddie Howe himself and those reporters closest to this stuttering Newcastle project. But the longer this goes on, the darker that looming Jose Mourinho cloud becomes.
In the space of a little over two weeks, Newcastle have been knocked out of the Champions League, seen the gap for qualification to next year’s tournament increase from four points with a game in hand to at least seven points having played the same amount of fixtures, and been eliminated from another eminently winnable cup competition.
The 54-year trophy drought continued in midweek and their risible form on the road resumed at the weekend. Newcastle are 17th in a Premier League away table, level on points with Nottingham Forest and above only Sheffield United and Luton. Not only did they fall to the Hatters, but they gifted them a first Premier League clean sheet in their entire history in a limp and entirely deserved defeat.
It was always going to be a difficult assignment. Howe addressed the challenges posed by an “emotionally-charged game” in the build-up, with Luton still reeling from the collapse of captain Tom Lockyer against Bournemouth. The Hatters were indeed inspired in their first match since and Newcastle lacked that ruthless edge to stop them.
Shortly after firing a wayward shot which eventually fell through a hole in the roof of the stand, Andros Townsend scored against his former club when Ross Barkley’s header from a corner found his fellow erstwhile England international at the back post.
Kieran Trippier was the Newcastle defender in the closest proximity but it would be harsh to apportion too much blame to a defender in the midst of a miserable run of personal form; Townsend was Lewis Miley’s man if anyone’s.
Perhaps that played on the mind of Howe when he made a double substitution after 38 minutes. The removal of Jamaal Lascelles was enforced through yet another injury, but the sight of teenager Miley trudging off for Alexander Isak so soon into the game was bizarre – and a stick with which Howe will undoubtedly be beaten for potentially scapegoating an excellent young player.
It hardly sparked a response either. Barkley hammered the crossbar before the changes and Martin Dubravka had to save smartly from Elijah Adebayo. Howe sent his players out early for the second half and probably didn’t envisage Jacob Brown hitting the crossbar within four minutes of the restart as the desired reaction.
Isak did get his goal on the hour but it was correctly ruled out for offside and would have represented a point that display hardly deserved. Newcastle were better in the second half but Luton, particularly in the circumstances, were phenomenal.
No longer can Newcastle simply brush this off as simple outside noise. The injuries have been unrelenting but with ambitions as grand as theirs, afternoons such as these are becoming unacceptably frequent.
Report: Luton Town 1-0 Newcastle: Howe sack talk to grow after Townsend’s header downs the Magpies
10 – Dominic Solanke v Nottingham Forest is only the 10th time in Premier League history a player has completed a hat-trick with a 90th-minute winner, and first since Diogo Jota for Wolves v Leicester in January 2019. Magic. pic.twitter.com/UhkkITFxcS
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 23, 2023
SOLANKE, REF MAKE NUNO SUFFER ON FOREST BOW
All eyes were on Nuno when he emerged to take charge of his first game as Forest boss. By the break, the focus had shifted sharply to another bungling referee, even if, by full-time, Dominic Solanke sought to steal the spotlight with a brilliant second-half hat-trick.
If Forest hoped a change of manager would prompt a change in fortune, they were wrong. Nuno certainly sparked an improvement but Forest’s good work was wasted on Solanke and Rob Jones.
Nuno’s immediate priority is to up Forest’s potency and the new boss named an attacking side featuring both Divock Origi and Chris Wood, though Origi was stationed on the flank. At least for 26 minutes.
Origi was one of the victims of one of the worst refereeing decisions we’ve seen in a shocker of a season for officials. Wily Boly deserved his first caution after only five minutes. His second came as a consequence of being fouled himself.
Going to ground, Boly played the ball with one foot well before Adam Smith arrived on the scene. The Bournemouth full-back subsequently stood on Boly’s ankle and hit the deck. Ref Jones’s eyes deceived him, and having seen something entirely different, he marched Boly down the tunnel.
Of course, one of the many quirks of VAR is its lack of jurisdiction when it comes to red cards as a consequence of two yellows. A caution can be upgraded; a dismissal cannot be downgraded, even if it is as ridiculous as Boly’s.
Which is clearly a ludicrous state of affairs. Some issues with VAR are not quick fixes. This one is and it has to be rectified at the earliest opportunity.
Whenever that is, it will be too late for Forest. Origi’s work was done a few moments after Boly’s; Nuno’s attacking intent had to change; and Bournemouth finished the first-half having enjoyed 76 per cent of the possession.
Still, Forest took the lead – but Anthony Elanga’s goal just after the break only served to poke the Bournemouth bear. Dominic Solanke’s equaliser was a brilliant header but his second, from Nuno’s perspective, was entirely preventable. One poor defensive header; another aerial duel lost; and Solanke allowed to ghost in behind to beat Matt Turner.
Forest put up a fight and levelled through Wood. They weren’t done there, with a flurry of set-pieces causing the Cherries plenty of grief. But the brilliant bonce of Solanke again found Turner’s left-hand corner in the fourth minute of added time.
Crushing though it may feel right now, Nuno and Forest can take great heart from a spirited performance in the face of more dubious officiating.
BURNLEY JOY WHILE WELCH BECOMES LOW-KEY HISTORY-MAKER
A momentous afternoon at Craven Cottage, where Rebecca Welch became the first female to referee in the Premier League.
The Washington official was even afforded a warm welcome and a ripple of applause when she led a warm-up for herself and her assistants. After that, though, Welch would doubtless have been happy to concede the limelight to either Fulham or Burnley. With a huge victory, it was the Clarets who seized it.
The first-half was generally even. Burnley started well; Fulham gained control and perhaps ought to have been in front. But they were made for wasting their half chances within two minutes of the restart.
Wilson Odobert’s opener wasn’t even a half-chance. The winger picked up a loose ball midway inside the Fulham half, bounced it off Mike Tresor and unleashed a beauty that bent around Bernd Leno.
The chasm in Fulham’s midfield was even greater when Sander Berge carried possession unchallenged between the halfway line and the arc of the penalty area before driving a low shot in the other corner.
For Burnley, it is a Christmas gift, especially given Sheffield United’s point at Villa and Luton’s triumph over Newcastle. A reality check for Fulham, who looked toothless once more after scoring 10 in their previous two home games. And for Welch, a mercifully quiet afternoon of history-making.
Report: Fulham 0-2 Burnley: Clarets move off the bottom as Kompany’s side earn vital win at Craven Cottage
