Newcastle boss Eddie Howe criticised after admitting he 'doesn't know the rules'

Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe has come under fire after he admitted to not knowing the rules regarding Nick Pope's sending-off against Liverpool.

Newcastle's Champions League hopes took a blow on Saturday as they fell to a disappointing 0-2 defeat to Liverpool at St James' Park. Goals from Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo put the visitors in control inside the opening 20 minutes, before a moment of madness from goalkeeper Nick Pope compounded Newcastle's misery.

In the 22nd minute, Mohamed Salah raced onto a through ball in behind the Newcastle defence and Pope raced out of his goal to meet him. However, the England international seemed to lose his bearings and handled the ball 10 yards outside the penalty area.

The keeper was shown a straight red card and will now be suspended for next weekend's Carabao Cup final.

After the match, Eddie Howe gave his view of the incident and admitted that he didn't know the rules regarding goalkeepers handling the ball outside the penalty area.

"I really feel for Nick, it's a very difficult one. He's come out and just slightly misjudged the ball," Howe told Sky Sports.

"I suppose technically it is handball, I don't know the rules on the red card. It felt like a harsh decision, the player was on an angle with defenders retreating towards our goal."

It's unusual for a manager to admit to not knowing the rules, but while Howe's honesty was refreshing, some football fans on Twitter were not impressed.

Very Harsh Red. pic.twitter.com/3hHuq0CUN7

— mark swinney (@swinneymr) February 19, 2023

"Manager of a premier league side for many years doesn’t know the red card rules. Embarrassing," tweeted @TrevorK1882.

@BenjaLevi followed along similar lines: "Doesn't know the rules? How much is he being paid as a football manager?"

@mikelloydavfc pointed out that "It's not a hard rule! The rule has been in place for as long as I can remember. Lol maybe he should stay in his area!", while @WN_UTV_ said, "Harsh bro grabs the ball outside the box on purpose which stops Salah scoring."

Newcastle fan @ToonFan14 gave a frank assessment: "It wasn’t harsh, in all honesty. Handled outside box. Red all day."

Newcastle will be looking to win a major trophy for the first time since 1955 when they take on Manchester United at Wembley on Sunday, but they will have to do so with former Liverpool keeper Lorius Karius between the posts instead.

Second-choice goalkeeper Martin Dubravka is cup-tied, as he featured for Manchester United earlier in the competition.