NEWCASTLE may have ended their season at St James’ Park on winning terms, but all is certainly not well on Tyneside.
The Magpies recorded a 3-1 win over relegation-battling West Ham on their final home game of the season, thanks to goals from Nick Woltemade and a William Osula brace.
Taty Castellanos pulled one back for Nuno Espirito Santo‘s side – and in quite some fashion with a goal of the season contender – but the damage was long done, and could see the Hammers relegated if Tottenham beat Chelsea on Tuesday.
However, despite their win, Newcastle are coming off the back of a poor season.
They currently sit 11th and look set to miss out on European football after a number of big recruits last summer failed to pull their weight, and as a result several top stars looking destined for the exit door.
And the fractures in Eddie Howe‘s squad were plain to see as the clock struck 90 minutes against West Ham.
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Joe Willock cut inside from the left wing to attempt a shot that was blocked, getting him a telling off from Bruno Guimaraes who wanted the ball played to the edge of the penalty area.
But rather than carrying on straight away, the 26-year-old was seen waving his arm towards the Toon captain and appearing to yell “f*** off”.
Dan Burn stepped in to cool the air, but Guimaraes, 28, had seen red from Willock’s reaction and tried to storm over to confront the Englishman.
Burn, 34, once again stepped in as peacemaker as he kept the Brazilian away from the Englishman, but with all of St James’ Park and the rest of the world watching on TV, it was clear to see emotions were running high.
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Fans on social media said it threatened to recreate the infamous Kieron Dyer v Lee Bowyer 2005 brawl, when the two team-mates threw fists at one another on the pitch after a disagreement.
One fan said: “Willock saw Bruno Guimarães free and said ‘not on my watch’.”
A second said: “Ugly scenes when Joe Willock & Bruno Guimaraes nearly wanted to recreate Dyer vs Bowyer. You don’t talk like that to your captain! Especially on the pitch.”
A third added: “Ridiculous. Lack of respect.”
Another said: “You can’t just blame Willock, you cannot see what was said or went on there. Also normal to see, happens in most teams.”
A fifth said: “Nothing wrong with two players arguing. Nowt but handbags.”
Speaking after the game about how he motivated the team when they had little to play for, Howe said this group of players “play with real pride”.
Newcastle would need to win their final game of the season away to Fulham and hope Chelsea, Sunderland and Brentford lose their remaining games to move above them into the European qualification spots through the league.
