Wife of Newcastle player isn’t happy – A subtle dig at Howe from St James’ Park?

A Newcastle United player’s wife has took to Instagram hinting at her dismay towards Eddie Howe’s team selection on Sunday.
In what was the definition of a game of two halves, Newcastle led Nottingham Forest 4-1 after a dominant 11 minutes where Lewis Miley, Alexander Isak, Lewis Hall and Joe Willock in particular impressed before the interval.

The second half was a total mess and we were lucky to get away with it. We invited pressure, couldn’t keep the ball and saw plenty of lackadaisical defending as we scraped to a 4-3 win.

Before all of that, there was some surprise in the team news that came prior to kick-off, with a few of Howe’s four changes turning heads.

Martin Dubravka’s wife made what can easily be construed as a subtle message of disapproval towards Eddie Howe after her husband was dropped for Nick Pope on Sunday afternoon.

The Slovakian was handed a new deal, along with Emil Krafth on Thursday, and was then promptly dropped over the weekend. Dubravka has started every league game since Pope suffered a knee injury in December, helping us win 12 of our previous 15, but was taken out of the side against Forest.

‘Nothing in life is fair,’ was the Instagram story message from Dubravka’s wife, Lucia, in a photo from her seat at St. James’ Park on Sunday.

Dubravka hasn’t done much wrong to warrant being dropped. Granted he did little more than pick the ball out of his own net in the first half against Manchester City, but nobody really covered themselves in glory, with Miley’s cameo in the second half probably the standout.

Captain hindsight, at your service – but did Howe make the right call in dropping Dubravka for Pope?

Pope’s positioning for Callum Hudson-Odoi’s opener was shoddy, showing the winger over half the goal to whip into from range. You could also point the finger at the keeper for the third, almost being caught off his line by Morgan Gibbs-White before pushing behind for an ultimately preventable corner that Forest scored from.

Though it was harsh to drop Dubravka, neither ‘keeper are without their shortcomings – whether it be distribution or shot stopping.

Both have had their fragilities on display in the last two matches, conceding seven between them, and a goalkeeper in the summer may be becoming an increasing possibility with James Trafford rumours holding some serious ground.