Gary Neville pointed to the floor. “I really feel Newcastle could go like that,” said the Sky Sports pundit, explaining that fifth place was, almost certainly, the very best Eddie Howe’s side could hope for this season.
It was early March and, if Neville’s comments irritated St James’ Park season-ticket holders, they could at least reflect that he had modified his stance since 2015. “Does any top player now want to go and live in Newcastle?” queried the former Manchester United and England right-back in a newspaper column speculating that England’s north-east was “being eased off football’s map” and heading for “irrelevance”.
