**It's pretty evident that Thomas Tuchel must have already made up his mind that he was going to recall Nick Pope to the England squad before Newcastle United's humiliating defeat at West Ham last week.**
For whatever reason, Pope, who had started the season brilliantly, has suddenly forgotten all the fundamentals of goalkeeping.
We're sure that had Tuchel had another week before naming his squad, Nick Pope wouldn't be anywhere near it, given his last two Premier League performances.
We don't like slamming a player when they're in a bad run of form, but Nick Pope's antics are inexcusable when you're talking about a supposed international-level goalkeeper.
Mike Tyson in his prime didn't throw as many punches as Nick Pope
Why is Nick Pope trying to punch everything?
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Nick Pope has begun a horrifying trend of punching the ball away when a catch seems the far better option, and it's causing Newcastle massive problems.
A poor punch led to a West Ham goal last week; today, another mistimed effort to punch away a long throw-in led to a Brentford goal, and these aren't isolated incidents.
When you get a text message mid-game, all in caps, saying 'HE ACTUALLY CAUGHT ONE!!!!', you know it's a problem.
We're not sure Nick Pope's shot-stopping ability is enough to get him out of having two big flaws in his game
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We've always said that Pope's shot-stopping abilities can often make up for his inability to use his feet, but we're not sure it's enough to make up for being useless with his feet and being scared of crosses.
It might be time to give Ramsdale a proper chance. Granted, he conceded two goals today in about half an hour, but neither was really his fault.
Unless, of course, the remit to punch the ball clear is coming from the goalkeeping coach, in which case it's time to sack Dracula and get someone in who knows how to deal with a cross.