Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has got his tactics spot on this season – both while the ball is in play and otherwise.
The Toon chief masterminded yet another win at the weekend over Fulham to solidify the Magpies' place in the top four but with the clash poised in the balance in the first half, Howe and assistant Jason Tindall appeared to orchestrate a quick move to buy their side some time and get a quick team talk in ahead of the break.
The Sky Sports team completely missed it – as did a lot of fans actually in the ground. But some eagle-eyed supporters noticed something fishy going on, all stemming from Nick Pope putting in a glorious, Oscar-season cameo…
Newcastle and Eddie Howe's timeout tactic explained
It all started when Newcastle won a corner. Magpies assistant Tindall called over goalkeeper Pope for instruction, who jogged back to his net to watch the set piece. As soon as the home team lose the ball, Pope sat down.
The Newcastle bench then gestured to the referee that their goalkeeper needs attention and the game is brought to a swift halt. Is there anything wrong with Pope, though?
The Sky commentary team, you may remember, note that the keeper has had relatively nothing to do all afternoon so they can't work out how he's pulled up with something wrong. It could have been that jog back to the goal… but substitute Martin Dubravka remains seated on the bench, with no one telling him to warm up. Clearly, Howe and co. are not too worried about the England No.2.
Meanwhile, the Newcastle players are now receiving instructions from Howe, 10 minutes early, around the 35th minute. Except Joelinton, who's loitering much closer to the Fulham huddle.
Is it a coincidence that the Toon send one of their Portuguese-speaking stars to stand in close enough proximity to hear the away side and the Portuguese Marco Silva? Perhaps. Fulham coach Luis Boa Morte was seen to be unhappy with Joelinton during this moment, though. Yes, Boa is also Portuguese.
All a big conspiracy theory? Or the greatest timeout tactic you've heard this season in the Premier League?
That's not where the gamesmanship ended, either. Towards the end of the match, the BBC reported that "Newcastle told the officials Fulham had 12 players on the pitch." The referee was seen to be counting Fulham players over and over again, delaying the furious west Londoners from getting the game back underway in search of an equaliser.
Watch out for those pesky Magpies. As the banner reads, they're not here to be popular, they're here to compete…
