Reality is Eddie Howe knows it’s imminent – Sandro Tonali lawyers in Rome tomorrow for plea bargain agreement

Eddie Howe claimed to have no idea on how quickly, or not, there would be a final outcome on the Sandro Tonali situation.

The Newcastle United boss preferring to instead concentrate on his and the club’s backing for the player, as well as the unconditional love shown by the fans both during and after yesterday’s match.

The reality of course, at least to me, is that Eddie Howe obviously has a very good idea of exactly when we can expect things to be finalised with Sandro Tonali, in regard to his particular part in the betting investigation in Italy.

Nothing wrong of course with the NUFC Head Coach dodging the question of when he / we could expect to get news of what the Sandro Tonali situation outcome will be, after all there is nothing to be gained from him speculating or revealing exactly what he has been told.

Speaking after the game (see below), I think Eddie Howe did actually give us a massive clue / indication as to how quickly things will be sorted, when he declared ‘Sandro will leave here heartened by our supporters reaction to him: I was immensely proud of them.’

You could of course just take this as meaning Sandro Tonali was leaving St James’ Park after the match yesterday, as he would any other game, with nothing else to be read into it. As in, we will all be here again on Wednesday when Borussia Dortmund are in Toon.

However, what I take from it, was that Eddie Howe was signposting that Saturday’s win over Palace was leaving SJP and wouldn’t be back there for some time, at least not as a combatant on the pitch.

This appears to be heavily backed up by news from Italy.

La Gazzetta dello Sport have reported that the Sandro Tonali legal team are travelling to Rome, with a meeting arranged on Monday to negotiate a plea bargain.

The authorities have examined the player’s phone and other devices, Sandro Tonali has willingly cooperated and been interviewed a number of times. Now it is down to his legal team to hammer out an early agreement between player and authorities, to get an early final conclusion and punishment, rather than letting this drag on for some considerable time and be an even bigger mess. Which is clearly something which neither side want.

So according to this latest Italian media update, the Sandro Tonali legal team will meet the FIGC Prosecutor in Rome tomorrow (Monday) and hammer out a deal.

Nicolo Fagioli ended up banned for seven months after his legal team plea bargained with the FIGC Prosecutor and whilst there have been many dramatic headlines claiming any punishment could be measured in years not months, I think that assuming he is guilty of breaking the rules, the Sandro Tonali punishment will be a lot close to Fagioli’s rather than far worse.

I know it is claimed / reported that Tonali also bet on his own team (AC Milan) but those same reports also all say that there is no suggestion that he bet AGAINST his team winning, so no claims of match fixing and suchlike.

If he has broken the rules then Sandro Tonali deserves to be punished, just as other players have been, including the likes of Ivan Toney and Kieran Trippier. Let’s keep things in perspective though here, we don’t have a situation here where Sandro Tonali has intentionally harmed anybody (unlike allegedly certain cases / individuals at other clubs regarding other matters), of proved to have broken the rules then he has only harmed himself and by association, those close to him, family and friends. I hear some of you saying that he will have harmed us as supporters if he ends up banned BUT even if you see that as a thing, he obviously has never ever intended to do so.

Gazzetta report that Sandro Tonali and Newcastle United are expected to discover the exact punishment early this week and the sooner any ban is in place, the sooner it will end.

From reading what the more credible sources in Italy are saying, I think it will be a case of missing the rest of this club season (and the Euros in Germany next summer if Italy qualify), then making a fresh start for the 2024/25 season.

I wish Sandro Tonali well and if indeed he does end up banned for the rest of this season, then I have every confidence he will come back an even better player and in a far better place as a person, when coming back to play for Newcastle United once again.

Eddie Howe, speaking about Sandro Tonali (and the Newcastle United fans) after the 4-0 thrashing of Crystal Palace:

“The reception was incredible and emotional.

“He [Sandro Tonali] is a human being going through a very emotional time.

“Absolute class from our supporters today.

“I thought that they supported him, backed him.

“Sandro will leave here heartened by our supporters reaction to him: I was immensely proud of them.”

Stats via BBC Sport:

Newcastle 4 Crystal Palace 0 – Saturday 21 October 3pm

Goals:

Newcastle United:

Murphy 4, Gordon 44, Longstaff 45+2, Wilson 66

Palace:

Possession was Palace 40% Newcastle 60%

Total shots were Palace 17 Newcastle 10

Shots on target were Palace 3 Newcastle 7

Corners were Palace 8 Newcastle 6

Referee: Tim Robinson

Newcastle United:

Pope, Trippier (Livramento 69), Lascelles, Schar, Burn, Longstaff, Bruno (Tonali 69), Joelinton (Anderson 80), Murphy, Wilson (Isak 69), Gordon (Almiron 69)

UNUSED SUBS:

Dubravka, Dummett, Targett, Hall

(Roy Hodgson with blinding honesty after Palace hiding at St James’ Park – Read HERE)

(Official Newcastle United injury update after 4-0 Palace hammering – Disappointing on Sven Botman – Read HERE)

(Newcastle 4 Crystal Palace 0 – Match ratings and comments on all of the NUFC players – Read HERE)

(Newcastle 4 Crystal Palace 0 – Instant NUFC fan / writer reaction – Read HERE)

(Read Newcastle 4 Crystal Palace 0 – Brilliant from United – Read HERE)

Newcastle United upcoming matches:

Wednesday 25 October 2023 – Newcastle v Dortmund (8pm) TNT Sports

Saturday 28 October 2023 – Wolves v Newcastle (5.30pm) Sky Sports

Wednesday 1 November 2023 – Manchester United v Newcastle United (8.15pm) Sky Sports

Saturday 4 November 2023 – Newcastle v Arsenal (5.30pm) Sky Sports