Plus: the latest on Alexander Isak and Yoane Wissa, no Rodgers rift at Celtic, De Zerbi on the the mother of all dressing-room fights and much more in our Friday news blog Howe has also been asked about the atmosphere at St James’ Park, which might be extra hostile given the circumstances:The first home game is always going to be electric. I love experience those nights with the energy that the crowd bring us and I have no doubt that this will be a really passionate display from the home support. We need to harness that and use it but not be reckless with it, we need to concentrate on the game and not get too emotional.There is always two sides to every story. My job is to support him and care for him, and we will see where we are in a week’s time. I hope I can work with him again and get him back to his best.At the moment [reintegration into the squad] is not an option for us so rather than talk hypotheticals, I’d rather talk when we get to that point and try to get the best for Alex and get the best for the team. Until the point, we are better off focusing on the players we have available for the team.He has done it enough to be able to do the job really well for the team. I have played him there a number of times both as a starter and as a substitute. He plays it differently to other strikers but that can be a positive in the respect that he has devastating pace and a strong work ethic.Of course he’s scored goals historically from wide areas but also from central areas and I think you can over play the change of position and I think he enjoys the role and he played really well last week. He had a lot of chances and a lot of shots so I thought it was a good display from him. Continue reading…
