CLASH GORDON
Newcastle hothead Anthony Gordon holds showdown talks with Eddie Howe after furious touchline row
ANTHONY GORDON held crunch talks with Newcastle manager Eddie Howe after their touchline row on Saturday.
The feisty winger was furious at being withdrawn in the dying moments of Newcastle's 2-1 win over Brentford having being brought off the bench at half time.
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Gordon shrugged his manager off on the touchline, with coach Graeme Jones having to calm the £45million January signing down before veteran Matt Ritchie had a stern word with him following the final whistle.
Speaking ahead of Newcastle's clash with Aston Villa on Saturday, Howe said: "He [Gordon] felt the need to apologise.
"A part of me understood why he acted like he did but you don't want to see a player react like that because it looks like he doesn't have the discipline he needs. If he had an issue, come and see me in private.
"That's how I felt he should have acted but he's a young player learning."
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Howe continued: "He accepted he was overly emotional and apologised. We had a 10/15 minute chat and moved on very quickly.
"As his manager, I need to help him. His enthusiasm, aggression and motivation levels are very high. He is fiercely determined to do well and achieve.
"That is one of his hallmarks and strengths, and we want to embrace that - we love that about him - but in certain moments he needs a cool head as well. He just needs some refining around the edges."
Meanwhile, Howe also revealed Newcastle will compete for "elite" players like Declan Rice if they qualify for the Champions League.
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The West Ham star is set to leave the Hammers this summer, with Saudi-owned Toon recently linked with a shock summer move.
Newcastle sit third in the Premier League and are gunning for a first top four finish since 2002/03.
And Howe did not quash talk of making a move for Rice when asked about the England midfielder.
He said: "We want to build the best squad we can. A lot will depend on what competition we are playing in next year as to what we can and can't do.
"We want elite players because we've got an elite squad, so if we do add anyone they've got to be better than what we've got."
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