Ben Jacobs gives bizarre take on Lewis Hall situation at Newcastle
Manchester United fans seem pretty adamant that Lewis Hall is going to move to Old Trafford this summer after falling out with Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe.
The rumours of a rift between Howe and Hall seem to have started somewhere in Manchester and taken root over on the West side of the isle, but there is seemingly no basis in fact supporting these claims.
Several journalists have looked into the story and come up with no evidence that Hall and Howe have fallen out.
When you look at the reasons behind this fictional fallout, it makes even less sense. Apparently, Hall blamed Howe for not being picked for England because he was dropped down the pecking order.
Ben Jacobs denies Hall and Howe rift
Speaking to The United Stand podcast, journalist Ben Jacobs was trying to put the record straight about Hall, but also got some key facts wrong in doing so.
Jacobs was asked what the latest was on Hall moving to Manchester United as if it was a foregone conclusion, but he managed to quell expectations a bit, but his false facts probably left more hope than he should.
"(Manchester) United like Hall. Newcastle fans don't like to hear that, but it remains one to watch; Newcastle fans may get the last laugh as well, but there are those two extremes: either sign improved terms or have the player agitate for a move.
"We have to be respectful to Newcastle and sources there who say there's been no fallout from Eddie Howe or Hall, although I've never reported that anyway; the reality is that Hall has looked at the last few games of the season, missed out on the World Cup squad to Dan Burn and seen himself fall further down the pecking order in those games to Dan Burn.
"It's not that Hall is unhappy with Newcastle the club, certainly not Eddie Howe the manager; it's the fact that Lewis Hall, in speaking about improved terms, has concurrently, whilst doing that has lost his place in some games to Dan Burn and lost his England spot to Dan Burn and what player wouldn't be unhappy with that? And as a consequence, we don't have a breakthrough on contract talks and Hall is prepared to look at other options if it suits all parties.
"I know other reports say he's asked to leave: not directly; other reports have said he's fallen out with Eddie Howe, not to my knowledge. Howe has played an important role in the long term in his career, but the player's not going to sign a new deal at Newcastle United unless he's guaranteed that pathway of minutes, being a regular starter and a club like Manchester United or others may be able to offer him that."
(The conversation about Hall starts at around 28 minutes)
Close, but no cigar, Ben
Basically, Jacobs is playing down the rift between Hall and Howe, which is great because it obviously never happened, so we have to give him credit for saying that on a Man United podcast.
However, the problem is, pretty much everything else he said is false. Lewis Hall was benched for ONE game. The 1-0 defeat to Arsenal, where Eddie Howe explained his decision to go with Burn over Hall for that particular game.
AS for losing his England place to Dan Burn, that's utter nonsense too. Burn was in Thomas Tuchel's England camp before Hall ever was and was going to the World Cup anyway. Hall's place arguably went to Djed Spence and now Trevoh Chalobah.
Finally, and this is far too complimentary to Manchester United, so I apologise - in what world does a player who can't get a game for Newcastle go to Man United and walk into their starting XI?
