Eddie Howe makes concerted effort to address negative narrative surrounding Anthony Gordon's involvement against Barcelona
Anthony Gordon came in for a fair bit of flak on Tuesday night after sitting out much of the game against Barcelona, after it was reported that the Newcastle United winger was feeling ill.
The ringleader for the criticism was none other than Mr Alan Shearer, helped in no small part by Wayne Rooney, who both said that no illness would have kept them off that pitch.
It came after the team sheet was revealed and Anthony Gordon was listed on the bench despite being Newcastle's best performer in the Champions League.
It was then reported that Gordon had felt ill in training that morning, but felt he could give 20 or 30 minutes.
Alan Shearer was a bit harsh with his criticism of Anthony Gordon without having all of the facts
Alan Shearer said on Amazon Prime Video before kick-off on Tuesday that it would take something extraordinary to keep him out of the game.
"Maybe I’m old school but if you’re fit enough to train in the morning, and I know he doesn’t feel well, but this is Barcelona at Newcastle for a place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League
"It would take something extraordinary to keep myself out of this game tonight.
“And then to come and say ‘I might be able to give you half an hour at the end’, I don’t know, give us half an hour at the beginning and if you’re feeling alright, you get through to half-time."
Eddie Howe confirmed that it was his decision not to start Gordon on Tuesday night
Aware of the criticism, Eddie Howe made a point to address it in his pre-Chelsea press conference on Friday morning, clarifying that Gordon actually missed training that day but was absolutely willing to play.
"I do have to clear something up with Anthony Gordon. So he was absolutely willing to play in the game, there have been a lot of comments.
"It was my decision not to start him based on the fact he'd been ill that morning and not attended the training session.
"He was prepared to play but in consultation with the medical team we didn't think he was fit."
We feel that was a good move by Howe as he'd picked up some criticism for not defending Gordon at the time, too.
