Newcastle are still hunting for a first win of the season.
The Magpies have drawn two and lost one of their opening three Premier League matches this season, following a heavily disrupted summer in which Alexander Isak went on strike.
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The meeting against Wolves on Saturday – one of three clubs below Newcastle in the table – therefore represents a fantastic chance for Eddie Howe to kickstart the campaign, with Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa now on Tyneside.
However, the involvement of Chris Kavanagh will not fill Newcastle fans – or Alan Shearer – with much hope after past incidents.
Chris Kavanagh has been booed by “all four corners” of St James’ Park and wound Alan Shearer up
The Premier League’s decision to put the 40-year-old in charge this Saturday does not bode well for Newcastle.
In the 2022/23 campaign, Newcastle lost all four of their games overseen by Kavanagh, the last of which was a 2-0 defeat against Arsenal on Tyneside.
The Manchester-born referee had awarded Newcastle a penalty after a handball by Jakub Kiwior, as the ball deflected up from the Pole’s thigh, but opted to change his mind after a VAR recommendation.
Shearer was livid, grilling Dermot Gallagher on the incident when speaking on Premier League productions as he said: “Are you 100% certain that’s (the ball) hit the top of his leg and it’s an absolute howler from the referee? I can’t see it, you must have better eyes than I have, and why’s it taken seven replays if it’s that certain?”
If that didn’t enrage Newcastle fans enough, Kavanagh also allowed Arsenal to waste large amounts of time without punishment as they strangled the life out of the match, which ended with “all four corners” of St James’ Park booing the official as he walked off the pitch.
Chris Kavanagh also left Jamie Reuben bemused after another incident
Newcastle managed to overturn a 1-0 deficit to beat Brentford 2-1 back in April 2023, but were not helped by more controversial decisions from Kavanagh, who awarded two penalties to the Bees.
The second penalty was a questionable decision, and led Shearer – who thinks Newcastle will finish sixth this season – to post: “Never ever clear and obvious. Another long wait.”
This was reposted by Newcastle co-owner Jamie Reuben, who added in his own post: “Perhaps we should allow VAR officials to review the play only twice for maximum one minute. If they can’t derive an opinion from that then it’s unlikely to be a clear and obvious mistake and the on pitch decision should then be allowed to proceed.”
With everybody at Newcastle eager to get a Premier League win on the board this weekend, another error from Kavanagh could see frustrations boil over.