Tag: Nick Pope

Victory over Benfica with a little help from Wor Flags, Joe Harvey and Nick Pope.

Once again Wor Flags managed to get it just right last night. On another big European night at St. James’ Park they remembered the biggest with an inspirational display dedicated to the Fairs Cup heroes of 1969.

I was born a few years after that Fairs Cup win and spent my formative years thinking that another success was probably just around the corner. It wasn’t. And so Joe Harvey’s boys became the stuff of legend to me. A group of players that any Newcastle side would need to live up to.

At half time last night, the words of Joe Harvey in Budapest drifted through my mind. Two nil down at half time in the second leg of the final all those years ago, Harvey told his players not to worry. “Get a goal and they’ll fold like a pack of cards.”

It was apt last night too, I thought. We were 1-0 up, but in need of a goal. With the game ticking over the hour mark, Benfica were having a lot of possession and it felt like we needed to weather the storm. If we could get a goal though, they’d fold.

Ten minutes later, Nick Pope collected a corner and went looking for options. Still in his own box, Harvey Barnes was one of a few players who started running as Pope carried the ball forward. And then it happened – Pope channelled his inner Tom Brady and launched a Hail Mary up field and into the path of Barnes who had sprinted into Benfica’s half. The covering defender couldn’t quite get there and Barnes was in, although a little wide. The rest is history.

Pope gets some stick for his distribution and rightly so at times. However, he was a hero last night with that throw as well as the customary crucial saves that we’ve come to expect!

In the shadow of the great Joe Harvey, Eddie Howe’s Mags made it another fantastic European night with a resounding 3-0 win. Here’s to another European adventure. Howay the lads!

A little bit of appreciation for Nick Pope.

It’s easy to miss things these days as a Newcastle fan. Where for many seasons in the past we’ve had one or two stand out players capable of running a game or producing a moment that might change one, nowadays the squad is chock full of matchwinners and favourites. Tonali, Bruno, Big Joe, Anthony Gordon, defenders like Burn, Thiaw or Botman and of course Big Nick Woltemade. But it’s another Big Nick I’d like to pay a little bit of a tribute to.

Nick Pope has been excellent so far this season. In a defence that’s been miserly, conceding only 8 goals in 10 games, Pope has bailed us out on more than a few occasions making big, big saves when it’s mattered. He’s also displayed a renewed confidence when commanding his box too.

In terms of statistics, Pope has saved 19 of the 24 shots he’s faced in the league – a 79% save percentage. He’s also only conceded a goal for every 210 minutes played, which is an admirable record so far.

There have still been errors such as the Arsenal winner when you could argue that he should have just stayed on his line, but let’s face it, if he had and the header had still found the net we’d have all been asking why he didn’t come for the cross. And his kicking and distribution will always be under the microscope simply because it is a genuine weakness in his game. Sometimes keepers can’t win.

In the league, Pope has made 19 saves so far this season. A fair few have been pretty vital such as the one down low to his left from Eze against Arsenal, a game in which he made a few crucial saves. There were important saves in our most recent win against Forest, too. With 5 clean sheets in 7 league games it’s clear that Pope is reacting well to the challenge of Arron Ramsdale’s arrival. A player who has not always been universally popular on Tyneside, Pope is now proving to be a superb member of the team, as he has on many occasions in the past, to be fair.

Now in his fourth season on Tyneside it’s clearer than ever that Nick Pope is a top keeper and an asset to the team.