Pod On The Tyne: an independent NUFC podcast

Please enjoy this Extra Tyne episode with our compliments; we hope you will support the great work of everyone at The Alan Shearer centre. For more information, go to https://www.alanshearerfoundation.org.uk/.
George Caulkin has been training to run the London Marathon on behalf of The Alan Shearer Foundation. To find out more, he recruited the man himself as a personal tour guide before sitting down to reflect on 20 years of work and what Alan would like to achieve next.

Eddie Howe's rather dramatic team selection brought about a lively start from Newcastle at the Emirates Stadium (what might we be saying had Will Osula buried his opportunity in the first minute?!).
But, ultimately, this was another defeat. No shame in losing to a team locked in a title fight, you might think, but Arsenal were up against themselves as much as Bruno & co.
Bruno brought quality, purpose, and drive back into the midfield. With four games left to stave off the (still quite remote) relegation worries, we'll need a more tangible improvement next time out.

Newcastle United's Premier League form has nosedived; actually, it's worse than that, it has come to an abrupt halt, set itself alight, all the wheels have fallen off, and it's sitting in the middle of the runway covered in soot.
The situation feels impossible, the damage irrepairable; but is it? We break the club up into three areas of investigation; the ownership, the manager, and the team. Then we try to decide whether each of them can be fixed or needs replacing.
With a trip to Arsenal this weekend something will have to change pretty sharp-ish or Saka-absence, nervous Emirates, sudden unexpected heat-death of the Universe, there's nothing that can save us from a serious beating.

We've already asked for reactions, resets; we've asked about the manager, the players, the executives. We've asked "where do we go from here?", and "is Europe still do-able". Today, we asked "can Newcastle be relegated?"...
St James's Park may have reached resignation levels with this team in its current incarnation. The problem is, there are five games to go.

Defeat at Crystal Palace, particularly the nature of it and especially the closing half hour, have left us in no doubt that significant changes are needed and it seems they are on the way. But, what will those changes look like? We consider the options.
The Bournemouth game now carries weight; not only as one Howe's team must win to regain any momentum in their pursuit of European football. There is added spice with news that opposition manager Andoni Iraola, an appealing prospect to many fans, has decided to leave the Cherries this summer.
Les Ferdinand will be forever remembered as the free-scoring spearhead of Kevin Keegan's doomed title bid in 1995/96. Remarkably, he is also one of the first eleven black players to represent the club. Those players will be celebrated by Wor Flags as part of a Show Racism the Red Card event at the Bournemouth game this Saturday. His feelings on the display are, understandably, conflicted.