When even Eddie Howe bemoans an incident, you know something is wrong

One of the many, many reasons for admiring Eddie Howe, is his reluctance to spout rubbish.

Unlike a lot of recent Premier League rivals, the Newcastle United head coach doesn’t resort to gobbledegook (Amorim and Postecoglou), or invent idiotic excuses to deflect from his failings (Arteta), or continually accuse the authorities of being biased (Silva, Dyche, Moyes).

We’ve had some crackers in this millennium, such as Alan Pardew with his foul-mouthed rants and touchline assault, Graeme Souness with his “it’s not me, guv, it’s everyone else” pronouncements and everybody’s favourite brassica, Steve Bruce, who would have faced a lot more than a solitary flying cabbage if Covid-19 had not come to his rescue by banning spectators.

As somebody who occasionally flies off the handle, I have total respect for Howe, whose behaviour epitomises the sentiments Kipling praised in one of his most famous poems:

“If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
. . . you’ll be a Man, my son!”

What happened at St James’ Park on Tuesday night clearly upset him. Not the performance by his never-say-die squad, not the result, which was less than ideal, but the build-up to the first and defining goal.

In the few minutes before Antoine Semenyo scored, we had been building a head of steam. An excellent Anthony Gordon cross from the left wing, after the referee played a good advantage, reached Yoane Wissa at the back post, about six yards out. He didn’t meet the ball perfectly but directed his header back across goal. It would have looped inches under the bar and into the Gallowgate End net if James Trafford had not clawed it away, via the woodwork.

Seconds later, once Lewis Hall had doggedly and skilfully (those should be his middle names) gathered possession, a short pass to Bruno G allowed him to work the space for a shot that beat the Man City keeper but not the near post.

Next time somebody says our opponents controlled the game, mention those moments and Newcastle’s failure to make the most of other decent chances. No wonder Howe had his head in his hands when our captain’s low shot bounced away to safety.

What really upset the head coach was the fall-out from an excellent tackle by Jacob Ramsey on Jeremy Doku as the visitors tried to attack down their left flank. Doku’s arm smashed into the side of Ramsey’s head. Ramsey initially seemed unharmed but soon sat down, suffering from the effects of the blow.

He was treated on the pitch by two medical staff and cleared to continue. There then followed the enforcement of the 30-second rule, which meant he had to leave the field.

For whatever reason, the referee had not penalised Doku. I thought he had clearly fouled Ramsey. Neither the referee nor his assistant agreed with my view.

Man City took a throw-in and quickly passed the ball to him. His probable marker, who I thought had his best game in black-and-white stripes, stood helpless on the wrong side of the touchline while the City winger escaped our defenders and crossed for Semenyo to score after Bernardo Silva had deflected the ball.

We all now know Semenyo was able to play only because of a rule change for this season’s competition, which meant his appearance for Bournemouth in the second round did not cup-tie him.

Eddie Howe accepted that without complaint, despite attempts by the media to provoke an angry response. Here’s what he said:

“I don’t think bitter is the right word, I think the rules are the rules. They’re there, I don’t think I can focus on that too much.

“I’d probably like to focus more on the fact we had 10 men when they scored their first goal because I just don’t get that.

“JJ’s [Jacob Ramsey] gone down with a head injury, he gets an elbow in the head and we get punished for that. I don’t see that that’s right.”

Neither do I, Mr Howe, for what it’s worth. Yes, a blow to the head must be taken seriously. Yes, Ramsey had to leave the field. The protocols were followed.

What upsets me and should upset everyone who believes in fair play is Man City were handed an unfair numerical advantage, which they exploited.

Obviously, if we had taken our chances, principally through Wissa and Woltemade, the Doku/Ramsey incident would have been less important. Unfortunately, we didn’t.

From what I recall, the 30-second rule was introduced to prevent players feigning injury and halting their opponents’ momentum.

Perhaps it should be tweaked. If a player has to leave the field because he is injured in a challenge, why not make the opponent who injured him also spend 30 second cooling his heels? As things stand, insult is being added to injury, literally and figuratively.

In many ways, Tuesday night’s game reminded me of the semi-final last year against Arsenal. They hit the post, wasted other chances and paid the price. Was that the game in which Arteta blamed the ball? Honestly, that disgracio of a person comes up with so many specious explanations, I lose track.

In three weeks we go to the Etihad down but not out. One thing’s for certain: Howe and his team will give it their best shot, just as they did in the first leg.

Yet another reason for my never ending bromance with Newcastle United’s head coach.