Pope ‘not good enough’
Jamie O’Hara has questioned Nick Pope after his error that led to Newcastle giving up their lead against Marseille.
Magpies boss Eddie Howe has had to come out and defend his goalkeeper amid new calls for him to be dropped.
Pope rushed out of his goal just seconds after half time, getting beaten to the ball by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who scored in the empty net and went on to find a winner too.
“Can someone tell Nick Pope to stop coming out of his goal?” a bemused O’Hara asked on talkSPORT following the mistake.
“Every time he comes out, he looks like he’s in no man’s land.
“He does it a lot. He’s a brilliant shotstopper, but his distribution and when he charges out of his area…it’s never on.
“Stay in your 18-yard box and don’t come out of it, because you’re not good enough…he’s not good enough to come out of his area.
“Every time he does it, he makes the wrong decision or he clatters someone, gets it wrong, he does it all the time.
“You’ve got to learn from the mistakes.”
Howe defends Pope
Nick Pope has come under major criticism for his performance in Newcastle’s 2-1 defeat to Marseille.
The goalkeeper, who has already made errors throughout this season, was at fault for the French side’s equaliser.
Pope rushed out of his goal but was beaten to the ball by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who then finished into an empty net.
Aubameyang then scored a second for Marseille just a few minutes later and Newcastle fell to a defeat to France.
Fans appear to have now turned on the goalkeeper, with calls for him to be dropped for Aaron Ramsdale by Eddie Howe.
One supporter wrote: “He’s simply not good enough. Ramsdale is superior in every area.”
Another posted: “I’ve said he’s a liability for weeks now. Ramsdale looks so much sharper for me. Does the basics well.”
“He isn’t good enough and Howe persevering with him is just gross negligence,” a third Newcastle fan said.
However, manager Howe has since defended Pope and doesn’t appear to be considering making a change in goal.
“It’s a concern when we concede goals regardless of who’s at fault,” he said post-match. “We have to look at everything with a balanced head.
“He saved us many times. He made some really good saves against Manchester City just two days ago. That’s the life of a goalkeeper.
“But I’ll certainly back him.”
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