Anthony Gordon (now playing for FC Barcelona)

[duo]

He is miles off the player he was two seasons ago - that being said this season I do think lack of an out and out 9 is impacting our wingers. We've no focal point.

[The Prophet]

2 key passes (2nd)

97.6% pass accuracy (2nd)

 

Sloppy.

[John P]

He repeatedly ignores Hall's overlapping runs, it's so frustrating. One of the notable differences with Barnes on the left is how often he links up with the full back, whether it's Hall or Livramento. Gordon just uses them as a decoy to cut inside and more often than not do something shit

[ennyoueffsea]

8 minutes ago, John P said:

He repeatedly ignores Hall's overlapping runs, it's so frustrating. One of the notable differences with Barnes on the left is how often he links up with the full back, whether it's Hall or Livramento. Gordon just uses them as a decoy to cut inside and more often than not do something shit

This. I always think back to the cup final.

The Barnes link up with Tino was brilliantly done for the cross to come in.

If Gordon had played there's no way that second goal happens. Gordon would have cut inside and ballooned the ball way off the top, as he has done so many times.

[GOTONEW]

25 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

2 key passes (2nd)

97.6% pass accuracy (2nd)

 

Sloppy. 

 

If we're using stats from your source...that's out of 40 passes and that's not including crosses. 40% of those 40 passes were backwards (which many noted during the game). Under 10% forwards.

 

He's a winger and crosses are a huge part of that role. 5 out of 6 crosses failed (16.7% success). 5 out of 6 duals failed (not beating his man).

 

He was sloppy today.

 

 

 

Edited January 19 by GOTONEW

[Dokko]

8 hours ago, The Prophet said:

2 key passes (2nd)

97.6% pass accuracy (2nd)

 

Sloppy.

 

Hopefully his agent can cherry pick some stats like this and get him his big club move in the summer.

 

 

[The Prophet]

1 minute ago, Dokko said:

 

Hopefully his agent can cherry pick some stats like this and get him his big club move in the summer.

 

 

 

Agreed. Hopefully he takes Pope, Botman, Joelinton, Willock, Ramsey, Elanga, Murphy, Osula, Wissa and Woltemade with him.

[Moose]

I'm completely done with him, his race is run here.

 

Barnes is hardly the second coming of Johan Cruyff but the fact that he gets shunted out to the right to accommodate this pseudo-intellectual balloon is a farce

[Dokko]

4 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

 

Agreed. Hopefully he takes Pope, Botman, Joelinton, Willock, Ramsey, Elanga, Murphy, Osula, Wissa and Woltemade with him.

 

No. It'll be the likes of Bruno, Tonali, hall and tino which leave as they are sick of carrying players who aren't good enough and not seeing the club progress on or off the pitch quickly enough. 

 

 

[Menace]

368 days since his last open play goal in the EPL

 

Needs moving on in the summer.

[TK-421]

Should be benched too before then. If he doesn't like playing on the right, and we clearly have a more effective player for the left (Barnes), then given his form, Gordon should be benched for a while, see if he can come on and make an impact later on in games with fresh(er) legs, make him earn his starting place again, rather than being one of the first names on the sheet.

[Dokko]

43 minutes ago, TK-421 said:

Should be benched too before then. If he doesn't like playing on the right, and we clearly have a more effective player for the left (Barnes), then given his form, Gordon should be benched for a while, see if he can come on and make an impact later on in games with fresh(er) legs, make him earn his starting place again, rather than being one of the first names on the sheet.

 

This might have shaken the complacency out of him had it been done months ago when it was a problem. Now it's just a joke. Howe is probably scared he loses him if he does that, but Christ, he'd not be a miss, as we've been missing him for a year now.

 

 

Edited January 19 by Dokko

[HawK]

Think his attitude took a nosedive when he made the England senior team and hasn't recovered. Thinks he's better than he is, he's not the same hardworking player that ran himself into the ground anymore. Likes to stand about waving his hands after he's misplaced a pass like it's the recipients fault.

[El Prontonise]

11 hours ago, El Prontonise said:

 

 

 

 

 

Wish he would regain his herculean form.....

[Pilko]

Sick to death of him and hope we sell. Then again, I've a horrible feeling Howe will want a "like for like" aka another pace merchant with no footballing talent, so we'll probably bank £80m from the sale of which £50m will go on a bid for Adama Traore.

 

(tongue in cheek level: 6/10)

[AyeDubbleYoo]

2 hours ago, Pilko said:

Sick to death of him and hope we sell. Then again, I've a horrible feeling Howe will want a "like for like" aka another pace merchant with no footballing talent, so we'll probably bank £80m from the sale of which £50m will go on a bid for Adama Traore.

 

(tongue in cheek level: 6/10)

 

At least 8/10 surely. 

[nufcjmc]

Anyone able to throw up the latest mail+ bit on him ? 

[timeEd32]

On 18/01/2026 at 14:36, Dokko said:

 

Naa. Was a fan of him coming in, and had his back, I wasn't one of those who hated the signing and never taken to him. It's been quite reverse for me, and it's down to attitude. Ever since we explored options to sell him to Liverpool he's been shite. He's selfish, arrogant and toothless. Now and then turns it on for England and CL games, but plays like we're beneath him, when the reality is he offers nothing.

 

I'm not the biggest fan of Barnes, but how Gordon gets the left position over him is one of the sickest jokes inflicted on us this season. He's barely good enough for the bench nevermind 1st name on the team sheet, and that's what Eddie seems to believe. 

 

I've had enough of him. I know as soon as I see his face what I'm going to see. He can't cross, can't beat a man, doesn't even cut inside with conviction, usually take a touch too many or goes too far in. He switches off, doesn't track back, and has a red card in him when you need him most. There's absolutely nothing there, and hasn't been for over a year now. That's not form, that's his level. 

 

 

 

I think it's just that he often has physical advantages over the opposing fullback in those games. When he doesn't have that, which is now most PL games, he becomes a very limited player.

[Nucasol]

32 minutes ago, nufcjmc said:

Anyone able to throw up the latest mail+ bit on him ? 

https://archive.ph/LCzw3
 

When Anthony Gordon had a haircut last week, there was great excitement among Newcastle’s online support. The hope was that, given his last Premier League goal from open play - and, most likely, his last trim - were both a year ago, the new look would shake something loose. A cutting edge.

 

At Wolves on Sunday, however, he was far less incisive than the scissors had been a few days earlier. A 31st consecutive top-flight game passed without a non-penalty goal. He was substituted in the 67th minute after no shots and no touches in the penalty area.

 

There are times when Gordon has played well this season and not reaped the rewards, but this was not one of them. Newcastle needed inspiration and he, nor any of his attacking team-mates, could provide it. They drew 0-0 against the worst team in the division.

 

‘Nowadays, stats are all that matters it seems, and that’s ruined football a little bit,’ said Gordon earlier this month, in protest at criticism. ‘You can play well, do so much for your team, but if you don’t score or assist, you haven’t played well.’

 

In the isolation of one game, or even a slightly longer run of matches, he is right, verdicts returned can be done so through the prism of results and ‘goal contributions’ alone. It is reactionary and short-sighted.

 

However, a year is too big a body of evidence not to warrant inspection, especially when a player has shown himself capable of much more. In 2023/24, Gordon recorded 11 goals and 10 assists in the Premier League. He was Newcastle’s player of the season. That is the frustration for supporters - at a time when their team needs goals, their England winger with the form in the book has stopped turning pages.

 

Of late, his selection has been called into question by fans, who champion the cause of Harvey Barnes to start from his preferred left. Barnes has 11 goals this campaign but is currently operating from the right, and his return has masked a broader paucity from Eddie Howe’s widemen - Jacob Murphy has two goals from 25 appearances and Anthony Elanga none from 27.

 

Yet, I understand why Howe continues to start Gordon, and to do so where the player is most comfortable. If Newcastle are to be the team the head coach wants them to be, they need Gordon in it. 

His ceiling for tone-setting energy and front-foot aggression is higher than any of his wide peers, and he compensates more than the others for the stylistic shift between Nick Woltemade and Alexander Isak. Howe sees his players every day and there is a reason his best XI has Gordon in it, just like England boss Thomas Tuchel.

 

Those close to the 24-year-old insist there is no concern over where his head is at, either, unlike last season in the wake of a move to Liverpool that collapsed amid Newcastle’s PSR peril. Sources insist that irritation - the club had floated his sale - has long since been soothed. 

 

There is also no substance to recent reports of January interest from Arsenal and Liverpool. Gordon is focused on Newcastle and, this is no bad thing for his club, a World Cup in five months’ time.

 

‘He wants to play well and score goals, he’s determined to do that every time he plays,’ said one source. ‘There is no issue over happiness or attitude or application. Maybe his confidence is lacking a little bit, but that can change with one game or one goal.’

 

This has been the message on Gordon all season. He has scored eight times, six of them penalties including both of his league goals. The penalties are still big moments, I was reminded this week. 

That is fair, and Gordon has dedicated hours to a technique that boasts a 100 per cent record. It is also fair to point to his availability during a relentless schedule - only three team-mates have started more games this season. But consistency of availability has not translated to consistency of performance. In short, there has been some good, some not so good. For a player who wants to be considered elite, ‘some’ is not near enough.    

 

Toon boss Eddie Howe sees his players every day and there is a reason his best XI has Gordon in it, just like England boss Thomas Tuchel

 

At his best, Gordon inspires his own team-mates and unsettles the opposition, a nuisance who can set the standard for the collective with an early dribble or tackle. Newcastle’s biggest and best nights under Howe have often been defined by Gordon’s intensity.

Recently, though, there has been too much meandering infield, too much caution and too little invention. He is better than he has shown, even though there have been halves or periods of high impact. During the first half of December’s 2-2 draw with Chelsea, he was a menace. It is why Howe starts him, the belief that at his best he is better than the rest.

 

But there is also a reason why Gordon has been brought off in 13 of his 15 league starts. Look at his 23/24 involvement, and there were 26 full games. This season, he has faded in too many after purposeful openings. It does, though, prove the point - the intent is there, the execution less so.    

The new hairdo Gordon sees in the mirror he might like, but if he’s being honest, the player beneath it does not, right now, reflect his sharpest cut.

[nufcjmc]

Not sure if thats having a go in a softly softly approach as he loves him and reports on england and needs to keep in good.

 

Or a not good enough masked in a does do other stuff narrative. 

 

Not sure if I was expecting anything insightful. 

[FLUMPO235]

12 minutes ago, nufcjmc said:

Not sure if thats having a go in a softly softly approach as he loves him and reports on england and needs to keep in good.

 

Or a not good enough masked in a does do other stuff narrative. 

 

Not sure if I was expecting anything insightful. 

If that’s the sort of thing people are paying for, I would rather keep my couple of quid a month. 
 

[Lush Vlad]

Yeah. It’s a load of waffle and doesn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know of that we couldn’t have figured out ourselves. 
 

You have to pay the Mail for such insight from Craig Hopeless?! Jesus fucking Christ. 

[Myleftboot]

The cunt will be on fire the morra night.

[TheBrownBottle]

Modern football hacks really do just shite our fanzine-level shite

[alexf]

Something mentioned on previous pages suggested it's the way we set up that is hampering Gordon. Whilst I don't want to defend the way we set up as it's clearly not working efficiently this season, but I don't think it can be used as a bail out for Gordon.

 

If that were the case then Barnes wouldn't have had the joy he has when playing on the left. Said it last week but that lovely link up between Barnes and Woltemade for the Bournemouth goal down the left was something we just never see from Gordon anymore. 

 

He's started putting in some better crosses in recent weeks. But in terms of being a direct threat that drives towards goal, links with others, and gets shots on target, we just haven't seen it at all from him.