Mark Lawrenson, the one-time renowned Match of the Day pundit and former Liverpool defender, did his very best to wind Newcastle United fans up this week by claiming the Magpies are 'taking the fun out of football'.
This, according to former Newcastle coach Lawrenson, is because they're apparently using underhand methods and time-wasting tactics in their pursuit of Champions League football. Lawrenson isn't the only person to make such claims this season after Jurgen Klopp, Erik ten Hag and Thomas Frank all tried to level similar accusations at Eddie Howe's Newcastle at different stages of the campaign.
Maybe it was Howe who said it best when he labelled such claims 'nonsense' earlier this month following a hard-fought and utterly well-deserved 2-0 win over ten Hag's abject Manchester United. “I want to make one thing very clear - we want the ball in play. We want a quick game," Howe, visibly unhappy with the notion his side are somehow cheating, told reporters at St James' Park.
