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- [00:00]
Chris Woff
Morning Zoe.
- [00:01]
Ollie K
Got donuts.
- [00:02]
Chris Woff
Jeff Bridges why are you still living above our garage? Well I dig the mattress and I want to be in a T mobile.
- [00:09]
Ollie K
Commercial like you teach me.
- [00:11]
Chris Woff
So Dana oh no, I'm not really prepared. I couldn't possibly at t mobile get the new iPhone 17 Pro on them. It's designed to be the most powerful iPhone yet and has the ultimate pro camera system.
- [00:24]
Ayo Akimolere
Wow.
- [00:24]
Chris Woff
Impressive. Let me try.
- [00:26]
Ollie K
T Mobile is the best place to.
- [00:27]
Chris Woff
Get iPhone 17 Pro because they've got the best network.
- [00:31]
Ollie K
Nice.
- [00:32]
Chris Woff
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- [02:26]
Ayo Akimolere
Welcome to the Athletic FC podcast with me Ayo Akimolere. Life after Alexander Isak has been hit and miss for Newcastle. But in Nick Volta Mada have they already found the key to their success this season? All right, let's get into this because with me today we've got Chris Woff. We've also got Ollie K as well.
- [02:49]
Andy Jones
Chris.
- [02:49]
Ayo Akimolere
We have to start with a 30 win over Benfica in the Champions League. I mean wow, what an emphatic win in the end. Some great moments, some great assists and also contrast in the league form. Champions League seems to be quite fruitful for Newcastle at the moment.
- [03:05]
Chris Woff
Yeah, I'm pleased you picked a day to get me on because over the last six most of the time you brought me on post Cup Final it's been fairly miserable in terms of tournament Newcastle and I and it would have been even if we'd been speaking on Monday rather than on Wednesday. But yeah, big win for Newcastle in the Champions League. Back to back victories in that competition for them. Seven goals scored, non conceded puts them now in a fairly strong position to hopefully progress into the latter stages of the competition which really they need to do. They couldn't get out of the so called group of death two years ago when it was the old format and they had sort of European heavyweights of AC Milan, Paris Saint Germain and Borussia Dortmund which was the glam dramatized but actually meant that Newcastle finished bottom of the group in the end. Slightly unluckily. But this time the focus is not is on progressing and to have had Union San Jose away and then also Ben Figure at home. Those ties have come to a very nice moment and the hope is that they can start to translate some of the form, particularly the goal scoring form of their wingers from the Champions League into the Premier League because they are struggling in that regard.
- [04:03]
Ayo Akimolere
Yeah I got to say though Benfica looked like they were up for it especially in the first half in general. But it's great to see Newcastle really finding their feet. Especially some great assist and saves from. From Nick Pope as well.
- [04:14]
Chris Woff
Yeah the. The Pope assist. His first ever in professional football. More than 400 games and he really struggles with his feet.
- [04:22]
Ollie K
And the.
- [04:22]
Chris Woff
The irony is that during the. Even during the game last night against Benfica at one point he. He was under such pressure. I felt himself under such pressure that he managed to kick the ball out for a Corner to Benfica. So he does struggle with his feet but he has always been very good at distributing actually with his hands. This was remarkable. I've never really seen anything live like this. Where actually Newcastle played Arsenal a few weeks ago. And Pope took a lot of criticism afterwards because he tried to play out when it was 1:1. And Newcastle were trying to search for for a winner when Arsenal had come back into it. And Pope took a lot of flack for not managing the game correctly. At this point it was a slightly different game moment but Newcastle were only 1 nil up. They really needed a second goal to kill the tie off. And it's something that spoke to Harvey Barnes afterwards. He said we didn't practice this Eddie. How admitted afterwards. This is not something we've we've ever done before. P manages to launch the ball into the opposition half. Benfica defender misses the ball. Barnes goes through. And it's actually a really wonderful finish from Barnes which gets overlooked a little bit because of the. The unique nature of the assist. But yeah quite the moment for him. And also at the other end he's been fantastic. Newcastle have kept seven clean sheets in 12 across all competitions this season. He made two big saves in the first half which which sort of kept Newcastle level at that stage. And so many question marks about his long term future. Do Newcastle need a goalkeeper who can play better with his feet? But actually as the fundamentals of a goalkeeper I think he's absolutely ideal. And he wins Newcastle points.
- [05:41]
Ayo Akimolere
Yeah. After the match Ollie. High praise from Jose Mourinho on the other side saying we could not compete with their horsepower. The man of the match was Anthony Gordon. Their wingers have pace and power and they have four of them. I mean do you agree with with his deduction of that?
- [05:56]
Ollie K
I do. I, I, I feel you would very often when you cut their absolute best you would often say that the decisive thing in their team is there the midfield trio of Joelinton, Bruno Moraes and and Tonali. Last night it was obviously a slightly different midfield. They all played well but it was the wingers who really came to the party. And as Chris says, the performance and particularly the output from the wingers has been a concern in the Premier League. At the start of the season. It's looked like perhaps with a slight change of direction, a sort of overhaul of the forward line with he who Cannot Be Named leaving and and Volta Marder coming in. They've played a slightly different way. I don't think it's got the best out of the wingers in the League games but it's certainly working very well for them. The Champions League Gordon really showing what he's all about. And Harvey Barnes play the best I've seen him play for for. For a long time. So that. Yeah. I. I think although you would say the. The real bedrock of their team is. Is normally the central midfield. I think Mourinho is right to say that the wingers made a difference last night.
- [06:59]
Ayo Akimolere
Yeah. All right. Let's. Let's bring the turn down slightly. Chris, as we talk about Newcastle's Premier League form right now. Currently 14th in the table after the defeat against Brighton last weekend. From your honest perspective where do you see the issues at right now with Newcastle?
- [07:16]
Chris Woff
Fundamentally the issues are an attack and it's the well documented exit of Alexander Isak. Newcastle fans don't like to talk about him. Obviously Oli didn't mention his name earlier. A lot of them refused to mention his name or use quite derogatory. And there has undoubtedly been teething problems post that Newcastle signed Nick Voldemorta and Johan Whisser. And the initial idea was that Johan Whissa Premier League experienced and probably more stylistically similar to Isaac would have played a lot of minutes. Instead he gets injured on the in the first international break before he's even trained with his teammates. He hasn't yet played a minute for Newcastle. Instead Nick Voldemort has come in and he's hit the ground running in terms of goals. Five goals for the club. Four in the Premier League. One in the Champions League. Some of them quite spectacular flick against Brighton. But basically he's been scoring just about every chance that he has had. It's not as if he's missing loads of opportunities. He hasn't been in the box against Benfica. He only had one touch in the opposition box which in the 52nd minute when he had a shot and which was blocked and in. But beyond that there was some lovely flicks in the middle of the pitch. There was some lovely interplay. He's massively involved in the third goal for Newcastle when he sort of back heels it to to Gordon to then Leon Harvey Barnes. But he almost looks like more of a number 10 in some capacity than than a center forward despite being 6 foot 6. Despite the the sort of cliche of he's got really good feet for. For so big man and so Newcastle have had to adjust the entire way that they attack. They were built around Alexander Isak and laying him on. Nick Voldemort is a very different player and it's almost been Learning and evolving as they go. And so the wingers have found that transition difficult certainly in the Premier League. But Gordon I spoke to after the game last night as well and he said that in some ways Voldemort in time will be the ideal center forward for him. We saw moments of that against Benfica. Someone who can come inside and get beyond him and that's what he's going to need. He needs to get in the box more. But he also. Newcastle need to adapt to him and they need to come deeper. They need to get players coming off him. And so attacking wise, there just haven't been. Not just scoring goals, haven't really been creating enough in the Premier League. It's still a work in progress and that was always likely to be the case, particularly given the SAC saga dragged out throughout the entire summer.
- [09:19]
Ayo Akimolere
Okay, Ollie, we, we should talk about Voltamada. I've really enjoyed watching him so far. And you think about all the high profile names that have gone to teams from Jokeares to Shesco to Manchester United to the name we probably won't mention until later, who went to Liverpool. He looks like the, the one that's actually firing five goals in nine games across all competitions. But not just offering goals as we saw last night against Benfica. He's quite a good link up player as well.
- [09:46]
Ollie K
Oh, he's a really good link up player. I, I think he's. I think he's more of a link up player really than a, than a goal scorer. He's not somebody who you would necessarily bank on scoring Alan Shearer, Andy Cole type numbers in front of goal. But, but his link up play really is. Really. Is excellent. He's. I mean that old cliche of great feet for a big man. Well, he's got, he's a big man but he's got great feet. For any player. And anyone who watched him in the under 21 Euros or in the Bundesliga last season, he's got that, he's got all of that in his lockies. He's very.
- [10:16]
Ayo Akimolere
I think he finished out a top scorer as well, didn't he?
- [10:18]
Ollie K
I think, yeah, yeah, I believe so. But. But he's also got a lot of adapting to do what I think is really impressive about him. And this time last year he was sort of in and out of the team. He was on the bench more than he was in the starting 11 in the first few months of the season. So if you consider how far he has come in a really short space of time, I think it's really impressive that he out of all of the. Well not out of all of them but more than most of those big money striker signings in the summer, he's hit the ground running at his new club in the Premier League. Just to have adapted mentally and adapted to his new surroundings and not looked in any way phased or unsettled by. By adjusting to the Premier League. I think he's really, really impressive.
- [11:02]
Chris Woff
Just just to pick up on that. The one thing, I mean what Voldemort was not top of the list in terms of initially who Newcastle were looking to bring out this summer. You've mentioned most of the names you've mentioned. Shesco, Ekatika. They were the strikers Newcastle were looking at early on. But Voldemort, partly because they didn't think he was available, partly because they thought he may end up with Bayern Munich, but also because he is that different profile. But when he came in, the one thing speaking to people before he even started playing the Newcastle was that they were confident that he would be able to carry the price tag of being the Castle's record club record signing. Of all the expectation that was there just because of the way that he is. It's almost the description they gave was because he's always been unorthodox in terms of the body type for his ability and what not what you'd expect from it from a center forward or an attacking player in terms of being 6 foot 6 but actually not dominant in the air. Despite the fact that he scored a couple really good headers early on at the Castle. Despite being sort of thin and tall. He's really good with his feet. And because he's. He's just. It almost like brushes off that sort of. He. He doesn't take himself too seriously. He doesn't really feel the pressure in that sense. And you can. You certainly get that from him. He seems very relaxed. He seems confident in what he can do without. Without being arrogant in the way that he took a penalty a couple weeks ago. Ultimata from the spot in front of the Gallagher. You don't say those. I've never really seen a technique like the, the. The sort of. It was almost like a golf swing to. To really put the ball in the very top of the net at some power. And. And that sort of sums him up I think really that he. He's very confident and comfortable in his own skin and that has probably helped with this rapid adaptation period he's had so far.
- [12:34]
Ayo Akimolere
Yeah, all the things you're saying there. I'm just thinking how, how he's Connecting to the Newcastle fans. I was watching extended highlights of the match last night and there were moments where he was there rousing the crowd. Up that connection already. I guess this cult like status is slowly emerging, isn't it Chris?
- [12:49]
Chris Woff
Oh, very much so. He's already. He's. They have chance for him already and they really do love and embrace that. And. And I think because he is different in some ways or looks different and plays in a completely different manner, usually fans will grasp on that. But because he also. I mean he's really into fashion. He posts loads of things on Instagram about that. It's just some of his expressions and the way that he acts on the field. Yeah, he's very much already been adopted in that way. And I think also because because of the win, a lot of Newcastle fans felt beyond bruised by Alexander Isak's actions. Their former hero and how he left in the summer to have someone who they can really engage with and embrace. I think that has helped them as well. And it's just been almost that perfect alchemy coming in at that period. And for Newcastle fans to really want to. To have a hero again. And because he started so well, that's only added to that.
- [13:34]
Ayo Akimolere
Yeah. Okay. Quickly. Ollie. I just want to talk about this squad. How important it is to keep predominantly the most of last season's players in this season. I know Newcastle aren't doing that well in the league so far, but that consistency has to be solid. That has to be good. Understanding how Eddie Howe wants to play. That real structure, that spine must be key to Newcastle moving forward.
- [13:57]
Ollie K
Yeah. If you look at the players they. They signed. Look at the players they signed in the last few transfer windows. Not. Not many of them have been sort of signed with a view to going instantly into the starting 11 and making a. Making a dramatic impact. I mean Alanga, you'd say for the price tag maybe you'd expect him to do that. But I think. I think he was always going to be competing with. With Murphy and Barnes and Jacob Ramsey similar competing. Malik Tior is beginning to show his quality, a real quality. But. But I don't. I don't think Eddie Howe necessarily was planning for him to oust Cher or Botman when fit. From start to season. I think he's been building around a core that has worked really well from over the last few years. I think there's probably a balancing act where you can be in danger of being too reliant on the same core of players for a long time or you can try and change too much too quickly. I think Newcastle. I think the way they've done it. Considering all the criticism of Newcastle's strategy and so on in the summer where you know they were getting rejected by all these centre forwards. I look at their business and think well it's pretty. It's pretty good. You were really improving a good squad. And I think the ESAC situation was so far from ideal. You don't want to be forced in that position. And probably made the best of a really really horrible difficult situation. I like the direction that Newcastle have taken from the start under Eddie Howe. And I guess it's just a case of whether. Whether they can keep improving and. Because the midfield. The defensive foundation. Excellent.
- [15:34]
Ayo Akimolere
Yeah. That midfield's really important isn't it Chris? Just keeping hold of those key players. Gimanes Tonali and Joe Linton to a certain degree as well.
- [15:41]
Chris Woff
Yes. And we've just written on the Athletic this afternoon actually that Sandro Tonali who is the big question mark for a lot of Newcastle fans that he. When he initially signed from AC Milan he signed a deal until 2028. And the thought was that could there be another Alexander Isak situation with Tonali. Is he. Is he the one who Newcastle may end up losing in the not too distant future. Now what revealed is that actually when he was going to be suspended for. For 10 months for his. For his gambling ban in 2023. He offered to take a voluntary pay cut. And also Newcastle extended his contract by another year to 2029. Also within that there is a option to extend that by a further 12 months. So Newcastle and it's. It's in the club's favor. So Newcastle essentially have Sandro Tonali tied down till 2030. That doesn't stop talk of his future. That doesn't mean that someone else cannot offer him very high wages potentially that Newcastle can't match. He is one of their. Their highest earners. But it does make that the need to. To set time to a new deal. It isn't as immediate as it once felt. And it feels big for Newcastle. They managed to do that and that's actually a positive move for them. That and it actually happened two years ago in secret. But. So that's hopefully a bit of a boost for Newcastle as they. They look to. To keep hold of Sandra tonight who's probably become their most important player.
- [16:53]
Ayo Akimolere
Okay. Well let's move on because. Cover your ears. Chris. We're going to talk about that man himself. We're going to talk about Alexander Isak at Liverpool.
- [17:03]
Chris Woff
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- [19:12]
Ayo Akimolere
All right, time to talk about that man himself, Alexander Isak. Start at Liverpool after that record breaking £125 million summer move. Let's bring in Andy Jones here, part of the walk on crew. Andy, so good to have you with us. I don't want to start so negatively, but I'm going to throw some stats at you, mate. 382 minutes, 105 touches, 11 shots. Just one goal. I mean, this is not the ESAC we're used to seeing, is it? Not to say it's not going to get better, but are you worried about.
- [19:42]
Andy Jones
These stats it's not great, is it? I mean I was half tempted after listening to the fact that Isaac sort of become Hugh must not be named. I was half tempted to do a Unai Emery Marco Bezos style interview and just come on and just say his name repeatedly because it's quite painful to talk about Liverpool at the moment. But now it's not what, what anyone was expecting or hoping. You know, Liverpool fans had to wait a long time for them to come with the saga that they rumbled on all the way. And it still feels like we're waiting to sort of see exactly what, what Isaac's going to become. I mean there's loads of factors, you know, behind that we were at the athletics sort of explored and some of them, sure we'll get into plenty of them. But I mean ultimately at the moment he's feeding on scraps in a team that aren't functioning very well at all. And but the problem is when you come in with a price tag like he has the chance he gets against Manchester United for example, where he goes through on goal, you know, ultimately you've got to sort of be putting those chances away and while he's not getting loads of chances, you know, he's not finishing the ones that he is getting. So yet it's, it's been far from the, the ideal star for him.
- [20:41]
Ayo Akimolere
Well, on a slot, the head of the Manchester United game said Isak had had the time to catch up after missing preseason. I mean I'd love to know exactly what Liverpool have done with him Andy, in terms of integrating him into this team.
- [20:55]
Andy Jones
I mean the main thing is that they've been playing him ultimately because they could have sort of fed him in but they've tried to give him as much football as possible. I think the general feeling is he settled, he settled well. You know he sort of, he's got in with the, the group of players. I think van Dijk's been quite important in trying to help him settle and you know he threw himself into the fitness program that Liverpool sort of set up for him to try and get him up to, up to speed as quickly as possible. But yeah, because he was, he was.
- [21:19]
Ayo Akimolere
Trained at saucy dad. He was also training at Newcastle before the move.
- [21:21]
Andy Jones
Yeah, exactly like he'd had no pre season and the slot was, was very, very keen to point that out. I mean he, you know, he said, you know, we're not signing for the, for six weeks, we're signing for six years type thing. And you know there was an expectation that you know might be slow to start off with and he does get a goal against Southampton and you think maybe that's you know he's going to kick off on from there but so Liverpool's general problems have not helped them. They've gone behind in the first 15 minutes of the last four games and that never helps, it's never helpful. And when you sign a build attacks and against teams who've now you know can sit in on a one goal lead and you know we've got something to really hold on to and take less risks and stuff like that. So it can be trickier but. But yet ultimately you know they've tried to integrate him as quickly as possible and build the on on pitch relationships by by playing them and it doesn't look like he's still fully sharp but it they feel like he's at the level now where it's a case of trying to build the on pitch relationships now. And the sort of the not out of pre season is sort of less in it is now a less of a reason as to why you might be struggling.
- [22:20]
Ayo Akimolere
Ollie, can a change of environment be something that we can think about here? Obviously there's a strike at the backs himself. We saw what he did at Newcastle but he's now in a team where he's not the main man necessarily in that way. And can that play a part as to whether or not he flourishes? Does he feel out of depth? Does he feel nervous? Who knows. I mean I'm just picking at things here but I'm just really fascinated.
- [22:43]
Ollie K
Yeah it certainly can. I mean the difficulty he had as well as the sort of self inflicted one or self chosen one where he, he'd effectively denied himself a pre season was that Liverpool had already signed another center forward Ekatike who by the time, by the time Isak was signed had really hit the ground running and really impressive and he was the one who was sort of making a seamless transition into Liverpool team into the Premier League seemingly with a bigger adjustment to make. I think it looks a bit confused really what Liverpool are trying to do. You know you had Florry Wirtz starting the first few games and then, and then he's the last few games he's been on on the bench more. Perhaps it should have been the other way around. I think they've tried, they've tried to give Isak as much playing time as they can probably to try to build him up to fitness and by doing that they've probably in some ways played Ekitike out of fitness. It felt to me like the impact Ekitike had made early on probably reduced the pressure on Slot to throw Isek straight into the tee. But also increase the pressure on Isak to make an impact when he did. Because you know they've got two sets. Forwards sign for big price tags and Ekatike is the one who's hit the ground running. Generally speaking those players who sign for big money they find it hard. You know. Jack Grealish seemed to be somebody who spent all but about a few months at Man City looking like he'd rather be a. A bigger fish in a smaller pond. And it can be difficult. Not just the sort of external focus on a player but the internal focus. What a teammate's thinking. What are you yourself thinking? So there are numerous challenges for Esac and it's not started the way anybody would have wanted. Apart from perhaps Newcastle fans.
- [24:33]
Ayo Akimolere
Any lessons here Chris from how we started life at Newcastle? Because it didn't start all firing, did he?
- [24:40]
Chris Woff
He didn't know. I'm not sure that the two situations are directly comparable though. I mean yes he came as a club record signing for Fornia Castle. But he wasn't the Alexander Isak. This world renowned striker arguably one of the best in the world at that stage. He came in as full of promise and. And he got an injury early on at Callum Wilson. It wasn't. It wasn't necessarily expected that he was going to immediately come in and hit the ground running in that same regard. So I think it's. It's a different situation. Newcastle eventually built a team around him. I think that's what Liverpool. I haven't seen loads of Liverpool when I have it. The problem he's going to have as you mentioned earlier Mo Salah is going to get the ball in certain positions. It almost feels like that. That it's not set up for Isak and for releasing them in exactly that way. That's partly why Newcastle have struggled an attack post. Isac was the. He was the. The final part of that jigsaw and it was built to facilitate him. Now he's not there. Newcastle are trying to work out how to facilitate someone else and play a different way. Liverpool are obviously playing in a very different way and it isn't just built for him. Jacob Murphy laid on seven goals for Isak last season. It was the. The highest assist to striker to goal score a combination and that. That he needs to build those relationships again. Murphy was basically there to lay on Alexander Isak. I do think that this is a Lesson to be learned that Isak himself. Yes he may have felt he had to act in the way they did to leave Newcastle. But he's also had a detrimental effect on his own fitness and his own time of hitting the ground running. Because he Newcastle regularly asked him if he wanted to come back to train. Regularly asked him if you're playing games he didn't want to do that. Felt that he needed to. To push his way out of the club. But. But that. That has had a negative impact on his own physical fitness and then his ability to. To immediately step up to the highest level which at Liverpool is even higher than Newcastle United. So he will come good in time because he's far too good a footballer. But I think that there could be a bit of a transition season for him in Liverpool in that regard. Yeah.
- [26:25]
Ayo Akimolere
Who is feeding him? Andy? You look at Mo Salah on one side. We know he loves a goal. He does like to assist. But he's got an eye for goal gap over that game against Manchester United. He was the one, you know, the post going in for those shots as well. I mean is that quite difficult when you're a striker who obviously from a previous setup has people to feed you?
- [26:46]
Andy Jones
Yeah, I guess. I guess the catering stuff is probably the answer at the moment, isn't it? Because as you say it's in terms of Gakpo and Salah. They are goal scoring wingers rather than creative wingers. Now Salah's assist numbers are excellent and he is a creator himself. But ultimately he's a. He's a goal first. There's also 10. Alexander Arnold no longer. You haven't got his creativity anymore. You know, you can imagine that sort of his crosses and, and. And passes. Isaac diving off. I think, I think the general problem maybe that hasn't really been discussed as much is that I mean since Arnold slots come in it's. It's not. Number nine has not been an easy position to play in for Liverpool. A lot of it has been geared towards the wingers. You know, neither Diego Jota or Darwin Nunes were particularly prolific when they played in that number nine role. They ended up, you know, shifting to Luis Diaz. And while Lewis Diaz did a lot of good things there, there wasn't actually that many goals that he scored from that position. It was, you know, largely it was Mo Salah but also Gakpo on the other side and. And Diaz a number of goals but you know, a large portion of them were from the left as well. So Ek was almost booking the trend a Little bit in that he was being you know an effective number nine and, and getting goals and yeah, I think, I think it is. It's a difficult position to play in and bring in soon. Big number nines in proper number nines is a shift for Liverpool. You know it is, it is about building those relationships ultimately and finding the right runs and when it. I think what's interesting is for the piece that I did on Isaac with, with Greg, Greg Evans is I went back and just watched everything he'd done so far for Liverpool and what stood out was that he had one really good relationship immediately and that was with Florian Vert. In that Athletic Madrid game. There was you know, a number of really good link up play between them. Couple led to Isaac shots. One led to Vert getting in behind and that was him playing as 9 and a 10. And they haven't played from the start I don't think since that. Since then in that 910 they've had obviously started a palace alongside Isaac. But Verta was in that left sided role that didn't really work and he was you know, sort of all over the place in terms of his position. But then since then Vert has obviously been dropped in the league and when he played in the Champions League against Galatasarayaka, TK started. Maybe that's where, that's where the answer might be is that getting flying Vert back into the team and they've took them out and they're not winning. So it's. I think there's loads of different things and ultimately Liverpool feel that you know, they're building relationships but there's a lot of relationships being built at the moment across the pitch. You know, Salah's playing with loads, you know, a newer fullback, a different number 10 and all that. There's loads of new relationships being built and, and that's what can happen when you, when you change so much is that can't. There can be too much change and you know, but you hope that and you feel that the quality will, will eventually show through and it'll all sort of work itself out because they've got too many good players to sort of continue in this, in, in this way.
- [29:23]
Ollie K
I, I would totally agree with Andy and in terms of the way Liverpool are playing and watching Liverpool this season there is a lot wrong with the team. So when people are rushing to blame Wirt or Isak or even Salah or whoever, there are so many players who are out of form or struggling to find that cohesion or those relationships from being such a sort of stable, settled, structured team last season. Everything seems new, everything seems unfamiliar and nothing is really working at the moment. So that obviously makes it really a lot harder. Also interesting when Ali says that they've got too many good players not to get it right. Is there a danger that they've got too many good players in attacking positions? Is there a danger that in order to get their best out v Sec, you're going to end up marginalizing Ekatike or marginalizing Gakpo or marginalizing Salah? The job at Liverpool for honor slot is a lot more complicated than it was last season. He made things look really easy last season. A lot of people would look at the money they spent this season and say wise it's going to be a lot easier. But it rarely is easier when you spend loads loads of money.
- [30:30]
Ayo Akimolere
Okay Andy, we better let you go. I know Liverpool have got Antwerp Frankfurt in the Champions League later on today. So good luck with watching that and also in the Premier League as well. Brentford away. It's not going to be easy for Liverpool. Enjoy yourself, sir.
- [30:49]
Andy Jones
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Chris Woff
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Got donuts.
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So Dana oh no, I'm not really prepared. I couldn't possibly at t mobile get the new iPhone 17 Pro on them. It's designed to be the most powerful iPhone yet and has the ultimate pro camera system. Wow, impressive. Let me try.
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T mobile is the best place to.
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Andy Jones
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Chris Woff
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Ayo Akimolere
Off at one of their car vending machines.
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Chris Woff
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- [33:00]
Ayo Akimolere
Well Chris, lots of change for Newcastle off the pitch as well. They've got a new sporting director, a new technical director as well. Chris, who are the decision makers right now at Newcastle?
- [33:13]
Chris Woff
Well it has been a second summer of upheaval at the club and Newcastle outgoing. Well CEO left Darren Eels unfortunately had to step down because he had a long term illness and so he served out his notice. It took far too long to get a replacement from CEO and David Hopkinson came in to replace him. He was announced in September and then in October Paul Mitchells who was the previous sporting director, he'd left at the end of June. And finally Newcastle brought in Ross Wilson from Nottingham Forest. It was sort of the worst kept secret in football that he was going to come in as Newcastle spawn director. So he's been through the door for basically 10 days or so as this stage and then Newcastle, while they didn't have those sort of two figureheads, one on the business side and one on the football side. And some also made a few changes. Jack Ross, former Sunder manager who'd been working behind the scenes for quite a while at Newcastle took up a new role of head of football strategy. And they also brought in Suds. Everyone refers to him in Suds within football as a. As a technical director. He arrived from Adelaide, had been at Benfica previously and basically his rule is to come in and really revolutionize Newcastle's use of data. They foresee. Certainly this comes down from the very top Saudi Arabia's public investment fund, Newcastle's 85% majority. Owners believe that this is the real gap Newcastle need to bridge if they're going to catch up with the very best clubs in the world. Liverpool, Arsenal, even Brentford and Brighton are renowned for their use of data and their ability to to use that largely within recruitment but also across all facets of the football club. Sports science, recovery, decision making at the academy level, where to send players on loan and the like. And so basically Suds, his role is to make sure that he builds a team who can sort out the algorithms and the use of AI and the data models that Newcastle can use to make it bespoke for them and for their needs and demands going forward. And so it's an area where they're investing a lot of money having not previously had had too much investment in it before and that they really think that they need to do that to be able to have any chance of catching those clubs as they really want to and sort of join that elite of the footballing world.
- [35:21]
Ayo Akimolere
Yeah, we're seeing obviously what Newcastle are doing back in the Champions League again. Chris, I'm just wondering from Suds perspective and actually from Newcastle's owner's perspective he's been signaled as best in class. I know he started off at Microsoft as well. How much does this show the urgency of the ownership to bridge that gap between Newcastle and the bigger clubs globally and also within the Premier League?
- [35:45]
Chris Woff
It, it shows that that is the priority that they Yasser or am I in? The chairman has said before that the desire is to be number one and in given psr. Given that Newcastle can't just spend what they, what they theoretically can in terms of the means of their owners on players. What they have to do instead rather than spending £55 million on a striker in, in Yuanbissa over the summer is to find more efficient ways of, of bringing in players and to bring in their own players through in the academy or to finding all these marginal gains that you can get through the use of data. Now the, the thing with Suds is interesting is that you mentioned he comes from Microsoft. He, he's not a stereotypical footballing technical director. I mean you look at technical directors across Europe quite often they are people who essentially are sporting directors or they're heavily involved in the negotiation of transfers. That's not what he's up Newcastle for. He is, he is below Ross Wilson the sporting director in the hierarchy. He's not there to say this is who Newcastle need to sign, this is the deal they're going to do. But he's there to try and basically better inform everyone. PIF are huge at sort of using data throughout all of their other companies and they want what they see to be a degree of a greater degree of objectivity added in the decision making process everywhere. And the way that they see that scientific way of doing that is to have better data More precise data data models which can predict things as well rather than just be reactive with data. Be proactive with data. And so if Newcastle are going to bridge that gap this is precisely one of the areas they need to. To to invest more and they need to improve in every single area really. But for. For the how far behind they are in this regard. That's why bringing in someone to head up that department and to sort of build that out across every other department in the club is absolutely essential.
- [37:24]
Ayo Akimolere
Yeah Ollie, from the outside looking in do Newcastle look like a club that are heading in the right trajectory as as in does it look like they are going to bridge that gap between them and obviously the more established elite clubs more quickly? Because what's to say Voltimar does a good season this year and someone else comes picking him off again and they have to start all over again.
- [37:46]
Ollie K
It's difficult. It's not as easy as it was. I mean look, I don't think it was necessarily easy for Manchester City to do what they did nearly 20 years ago but man City didn't have PSR to contend with in the early years of that Newcastle have. So when Newcastle sort of spent a lot of money very wisely in the first couple of transfer windows to go from being a relegation threatened team to suddenly being a top four top six team there wasn't really much left to spend. They've been frustrated by that. They've also I think been a little bit careless in terms of the growth of the club. George Caulkin are our wonderful beloved colleague wrote it in the summer about how Newcastle the team has grown a lot quicker than Newcastle the club. There's been a sort of strategic void executive void at times and I think the appointments that they've made. Ross Wilson is a really bright guy. I think he will give. Give them something that they hadn't got. And I think if you what was notting Forrest's decision making like when he was there sort of April 2023 to effectively this summer when he was effectively replaced by Eddick. That was the one period in the last sort of probably 30 years when nothing forest had made really good decisions, really good signings. I think that should reassure Newcastle fans that they've got a guy who knows the market. He's not you know, he's not magician. It's not going to just transform Newcastle's sporting operation overnight but I think he's capable of. He probably has a similar vision to Eddie Howe as well. So I think if they're going to improve their Recruitment and improve their the ongoing work at the training ground. Etc. Invest in data. Invest in recruitment. I think his his addition will be. Will be very important. Yeah.
- [39:26]
Ayo Akimolere
Okay. Just looking at some of Newcastle's fixtures now. Chris. Fulham at home. Tottenham at home for the EFL Cup. West Ham away. Athletic Club at home. Brentford away. And then you've got Manchester City and then Marseille way as well. Oh man. There's a meaty meaty matchups there.
- [39:46]
Chris Woff
What are we thinking?
- [39:48]
Ayo Akimolere
Is there a potential especially in the Premier League for a few wins in there?
- [39:52]
Chris Woff
That's the hope. But Newcastle have struggled to put back to back wins together in the Premier League so far this season. That's why they are where they are in the Premier League table. The change of format in terms of moving from one competition to another has suited them in some ways because it gives them a little bit of positive momentum. But then they don't seem to be able to sustain that in the Premier League. And it's the event. National break came at a very bad time for Newcastle. It started to look like they were improving in their and midfielders went away halfway around the world in the case of Joelinton and Bruno Gamraj came back and just were out of sorts at Brighton at the weekend. And Newcastle didn't look as cohesive as they had done leading up to that international break. So. But they've got a run of home fixtures coming up across a few different competitions where they could really start to build up and progress. And Fulham they lost to twice last season. But you look at that and see that that's a a home game. You'd like to think they would get a positive result in spurs in the Carabao Cup. Newcastle's record and under Eddie Howe is brilliant in that competition. They are the defending champions of that competition as well. If they can get wins in those two then suddenly across all for all three competitions they look like they're in a far stronger position. But we've said it a few times this season where it's been. Oh now is where Newcastle kick on and put a run of fixtures together. It's been quite stop start. They've got to get out of that cycle. They've got to make sure that they do find some sort of consistency. As Eddie Howe learns how to rotate the side because he needs to to protect certain players. They can't play every single game. And he's reluctant sometimes to change a winning team. So he. He and his coaching staff are still learning how to really push through that and make sure that Newcastle don't lose any of their winning momentum as they do that.
- [41:26]
Ayo Akimolere
All right gents, let's leave it there. Ollie, Chris and Andy, who joined us a little earlier, really appreciate your time and also thank you guys for listening. We'll be back tomorrow.
- [41:37]
Chris Woff
You've been listening to the Athletic FC Podcast. The producers are Guy Clark, Mike Stabre and Jay Beal. Executive producers are Abby Patterson and Adie Moorhead. To listen to other great athletic podcasts for free, including our dedicated club shows, search for the Athletic on Apple, Spotify and all the usual places. You'll also find us on YouTube TheAthletic FC Podcast, so make sure you subscribe. The Athletic FC Podcast is an athletic media company production.
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