Anthony Gordon: 'I don't think fans will ever know what that kind of thing means'
LEVEL OF SUPPORT: Anthony Gordon has been overwhelmed by the level of support he has been getting from fans.
'BADGE KISSER' was once a derogatory term used to describe a mercenary player with little loyalty to anything but his own bank balance, but Anthony Gordon hopes his high-profile bout of logo lip-smacking will go a long way to underlining his commitment to Newcastle.
The England winger is close to agreeing an extension to a contract that is due to expire in 2026 to bring to an end a strange saga from the end of last season that had the 23-year-old strongly linked with a return to his native Merseyside with Liverpool.
Tabloid talk of Gordon having already told his international team-mates during Euro 24 that he was leaving St James' Park swirled around all summer, but supporters needn't have worried.
In what appears to have been some clever manoeuvering from the player and his agent to secure improved terms, Gordon insists his loyalty to a club where his displays quickly embedded him as a cult hero with supporters since a £40m move from Everton two years ago has never been in question.
Cue much kissing of the badge in the wake of earning then calmly slotting home his side's second-half equaliser from the penalty spot. It's a gesture which can still carry tawdry connotations, but not for Gordon.
"I've not been unsettled," he said. "It's quite hard as a player because you can't really come out and say anything, you just have to get on with stuff and focus on what is important. People can be guided by journalists which is hard but my future's never been in doubt here since the first day of pre-season. It's been quite hard for me to understand people have that perception at the minute so that celebration was just to clarify.
"I've been planning the celebration for a while but I haven't scored! I've been planning to give them that message for a while so I'm glad it happened today."
Supporters had already underlined the feeling of their warmth towards him with a huge flag display in his honour in both the East Stand and Gallowgate End before the match.
Gordon, a typically verbose Scouser, was almost lost for words as to what the display meant to him. He added: "I don't think fans will ever know what that kind of thing means. I've got family watching in the stands, I've got a little son so their memory of that will stay with me forever.
"I'd heard about it the day before but I didn't know how I'd feel. To be honest I was crying on the pitch, it was a real adrenaline rush to be honest."
That rush propelled Gordon to an outstanding individual display in a largely unfamiliar role as a central striker in place of injured top scorer Alexander Isak, a gap Newcastle filled with rather more success than Manchester City managed in their first game since their influential midfielder Rodri suffered a season-ending knee ligament injury in the draw against Arsenal.
Pep Guardiola will no doubt soon get sick of being asked about how the Spaniard's absence is impacting on his side's attempts to land a fifth consecutive Premier League title. Although one game is a ridiculously small sample size, even given the mind-boggling resources at their disposal, City at times looked vulnerable without their missing talisman.
"It's always a battle here," Mateo Kovacic, who was employed in a holding midfield duo alongside Rico Lewis, reflected. Unbeaten City went ahead with a well-taken first-half effort from defender Josko Gvardiol but were strangely devoid of attacking threat as they have now surrendered four points in the last two games.
Kovacic added: "We could have won and had chances before conceding the penalty. When you draw it's never nice because we want to win every match. We have to improve some parts of our game because there's still a long way to go this season.
"Rodri is in our thoughts and he has all our energy to recover well. It's not easy to have such an injury and I hope he copes well with it. We're waiting for him to come back as soon as he can.
"He's not there right now and we must cope with it. I've played in that position before when he's been injured and we have a lot of good players who can come in to fill the space."
: Pope 7; Trippier 6 (Livramento 78, 6), Burn 6, Schar 6, Hall 5; Tonali 4 (Longstaff 77, 6); Murphy 5, Guimaraes 5, Joelinton 6, Barnes 6 (Willock 77, 6); Gordon 8. Booked: Schar, Guimaraes, Tonali, Joelinton.
: Ederson 6; Walker 6, Dias 6, Akanji 6, Gvardiol 8; Lewis 6 (Savinho 81, 5), Kovacic 6; Silva 6, Gundogan 5 (Foden 66, 6), Grealish 7 (Doku 81, 5); Haaland 5. Booked: Ederson, Kovacic, Grealish, Dias.
: Jarred Gillett
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