On Thursday evening, The Athletic’s Newcastle correspondents George Caulkin, Chris Waugh and Jacob Whitehead, plus host Taylor Payne, appeared at the Gosforth Civic Theatre for Pod on the Tyne: Live.
Joining them throughout the night were a string of guests, including Newcastle Women’s manager Becky Langley, captain Amber-Keegan Stobbs — and Gosforth’s most famous son, Alan Shearer.
Over the course of 90 minutes, topics discussed included Newcastle’s rapid post-takeover rise, the 4-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain, the ambitions of the women’s team, and potential upcoming transfers.
These are the best bits, with some answers edited for length and clarity. You can listen to the podcast from the live show below.
October 7 marked the two-year anniversary of Newcastle’s takeover by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. While the takeover brought scrutiny and criticism, the club’s rise has also been quicker than any expectations — both internally and externally.
Alan Shearer: I don’t think anyone in this room could have imagined two years after the takeover, what would be achieved and who would be beaten. We thought it might happen in five, six, seven years, but I don’t think anyone could have imagined that it would have happened in two years. I mean, I expected…
