Newcastle United WAG appears to take aim at Eddie Howe in cryptic social post

Around seventy five minutes before kick-off, Newcastle United fans were hit with a surprise or two when team news for the clash with Nottingham Forest dropped.

And it’s fair to say the news did not seem to go down well with a member of squad’s family.

Howe made three changes for the 4-3 win. Tino Livramento coming in on the right for Kieran Trippier, who looked out of form in the 4-0 loss at Man City, was no surprise, but Lewis Miley coming in for Sandro Tonali did raise an eyebrow or two, even if the Italian had missed a few days of training this week.

Perhaps the significant change, however, came in goal, with Martin Dubravka dropped for No.1 Nick Pope, despite being Howe’s choice between the sticks for the last 14 games.

When Pope suffered a knee injury in December, the Slovak stepped up and grasped his opportunity with both hands, putting in calm and composed displays, adding a real football dynamic to United’s play, as well as being his usual reliable self when it comes to shot-stopping.

Even when Pope returned to full fitness, Howe retained Dubravka in the team - and even convinced the player to turn down a move to Saudi Arabia in January.

Dubravka even put pen to paper on a surprise new Newcastle deal this week - announced on Thursday.

So it was definitely a shock to see Dubravka taken out the team just days after agreeing to stay on.

Dubravka’s wife, Lucia Dubravka, took to her Instagram to seemingly express her thoughts on the news.

Dubravka wife posts to Instagram

Before kick-off, she posted a picture of St James’ Park with a caption ‘Nothing in life is fair’.

It’s impossible to know exactly what she means by the message, but given the timing, image and nature of the post, it’s fair to assume it was in relation to her husband being dropped from the team.

And if so, she’s got a point, with Dubravka playing a significant role in the Magpies’ turnaround in fortunes in the Premier League in December - and their run to the final of the Carabao Cup.

Eddie Howe explains goalkeeper decision

Howe has explained why he made the decision on Pope over Dubravka - and suggests it wasn’t one he took lightly.

“It was a big decision. They're all big decisions,” he said.

“I understand why the goalkeeper's highlighted because there's only one. But it's always with a view to trying to pick a team to win a football match. That's what I did today.”

On the performance of Pope, and the two’s strengths, Howe continued: “I value both goalkeepers that have played this year, Martin and Nick. Nick's got his strengths. Martin's got his strengths.

“I thought Nick actually distributed the ball really well. He was a part of two goals today. It helps us with set plays and the physical threat, which we didn't do well enough with our outfield players. But he'll be disappointed to conceded three goals, that's for sure."