Newcastle United Daily Bulletin: Ex-ref believes Tottenham star avoided ‘very clear’ red card as Magpies ‘eye’ Nottingham Forest star for big-money move

In today’s daily bulletin, we round-up all the latest stories that have emerged today surrounding Newcastle United:

Spurs potential red card?

Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg believes that Tottenham Hotspur could have been reduced to ten-men during the game with Newcastle on Sunday.

The incident in question was the coming together between Rodrigo Bentancur and Allan Saint-Maximin at the end of the first-half, one that ended with a fracas after Joelinton’s push on the Uruguayan.

And Clattenburg believes that Bentancur was ‘fortunate’ to get away with an ‘attempted head butt’. In his column for the Daily Mail, Clattenburg wrote that even though it was a ‘very clear’ attempted head butt, the fact that Bentancur made no contact with Saint-Maximin probably saved him from an early bath.

The verdict

There was clear head movement from Bentancur towards Saint-Maximin and it’s possible that the winger’s lack of reaction to the incident and Joelinton’s subsequent shove on the Spurs player saved Bentancur on the day.

However, this probably won’t go down, what supporters will feel, as one of Newcastle’s biggest VAR injustices this season.

Their second-half collapse on Sunday and their failure to capitalise on Allan’s sending off for Everton in their last game mean that even if Spurs had been reduced to ten-men, the outcome probably wouldn’t have been much different.

In defence, Newcastle were uncharacteristically disorganised and in attack, they barely posed a threat to the Tottenham back-line.

It was a bad day at the office for Eddie Howe’s side and one that likely wouldn’t have been altered too much by a red card.

Forest winger a ‘possible’ target

One off results like Sunday won’t usher in wholesale changes at the club, however, they do stand to remind everyone that investment next window is needed.

One name linked with a potential switch to St James’s Park has been Nottingham Forest star Brennan Johnson.

Johnson was touted around as a potential January arrival and his impressive performances since have only increased demand for his services.

The Mail report that Johnson could be seen as a replacement for Saint-Maximin should Newcastle cash-in on the Frenchman.

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