'Not the first': Alan Shearer says Eddie Howe has a 'big decision' to make on Saturday
Newcastle United threw away another lead on the road, leading to a defeat after a moment of madness from Nick Pope allowed Marseille back into the game on Tuesday.
It's not the first time that Nick Pope has been at fault for a goal which has shifted the balance in an away game.
Many fans have had enough and want to see a change in goal going forward, with Eddie Howe not convincing anyone that he's going to make that change in his press conference on Friday morning.
We can't help but shake the feeling that Howe was trying to justify keeping Pope in goal at Everton on Saturday, which is bound to upset a lot of people.
Alan Shearer feels Eddie Howe needs to make a big call on Nick Pope
Former Toon skipper Alan Shearer may be among those people who would be upset to see Nick Pope's name on the team sheet on Saturday, given his comments when discussing the Marseille defeat on the latest episode of The Rest Is Football podcast.
“Another error from Nick Pope.
“Not the first this season.
“He’s got a big decision to make now, Eddie, at the weekend, because Pope’s done three or four mistakes that have cost Newcastle.
“It was disappointing. I thought after Saturday and the performance against Man City, I thought here we go, we can expect this all the time. But away from home, they’ve got to find the balance.”
Nick Pope will know why he's being dropped, it won't be a surprise
As we have said many times, mistakes happen in football, and a goalkeeper's mistakes always look a lot worse; it's the nature of the beast. But when mistakes become regular and as costly as the ones Pope has made, it's inexcusable.
Nick Pope is a strong character; if he's dropped, he'll certainly know why, and he'll work on his game to come back stronger, but the bottom line here is, he has to be dropped.
Even if he doesn't take it well, it has got to happen. Newcastle need to get their season on track, and we can't do that when the goalkeeper isn't inspiring confidence. It's as simple as that.
