'A lot of comments' - Anthony Gordon illness update as Newcastle United boss hits back at Alan Shearer
Eddie Howe has hit back at the criticism of Anthony Gordon after he didn’t start for Newcastle United against Barcelona.
Anthony Gordon was left out of the starting line-up against Barcelona on Tuesday evening after suffering from illness in the build-up to the match.
Gordon has scored 10 Champions League goals for Newcastle this season, a record only bettered by Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe. So his omission from the starting line-up in a match dubbed by Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe as ‘the biggest’ in the club’s history was a big talking point around the game.
Newcastle legend Alan Shearer hit out at Gordon starting on the bench as part of Amazon Prime’s coverage ahead of the game.
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Alan Shearer & Roy Keane slam Anthony Gordon omission v Barcelona
“Maybe I’m old school, Les [Ferdinand] might be old school,” Shearer said. “But if you’re fit enough to train in the morning and I know he doesn’t feel well, but this is Barcelona and Newcastle for a place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. It would take something extraordinary to keep us out of this game tonight.
“To say, I might be able to give you half an hour at the end, I don’t know. Give me half an hour at the beginning and if you’re feeling alright, you get through to half-time.”
It was cleared up after the match that Gordon didn’t train on the morning of the game as Howe opted to start William Osula instead.
But that didn’t stop former Manchester United captain Roy Keane also hitting out at Gordon on The Overlap following the 1-1 draw.
“How can you be ill and come on for half an hour? It’s bizarre, isn't it?”
When Gary Neville defended Gordon, Keane responded: “Oh Gary, because you did an interview with him last year and you thought he was a really nice lad! How can you be ill, but come on for half an hour?
“You hear managers every week say ‘He’s not fit enough to start, but he’ll be good enough for the bench’. Something might happen after five minutes. I don’t get it. If he’s that important, start him and take him off after half an hour.”
Eddie Howe hits back at Anthony Gordon criticism
In response to the media criticism directed at Gordon, Howe defended the Newcastle player and took full responsiblity for the decision not to start him.
Providing an update on the forward’s fitness ahead of Saturday’s trip to Chelsea in the Premier League, Howe said: “He trained yesterday, so he feels better.”
Then, unprompted, Howe added: “I do have to clear something up with Anthony Gordon. He was absolutely willing to play in the game against Barcelona.
“I know there's a lot of comments. It was my decision not to start him based on the fact that he'd been ill that morning and hadn't attended the training session.
“So he was prepared to play, but in consultation with the medical team, we didn't think he was fit to play.”
Howe added: “My perception is he does face a lot of scrutiny, but I think that comes with being a top player.