As was predicted by Newcastle manager Eddie Howe, Anthony Gordon did not receive a hero’s welcome from the Evertonians when the English left-winger paid a visit to Goodison Park in Newcastle colours.
Gordon, 22, is a former Everton player who joined the club at the age of 11 after being released from the Liverpool academy. Coming through Everton ranks after switching to the Merseyside rivals, the Briton was a part of the Toffees for almost a decade.
A good spell of three years playing for Everton in the Premier League up until January of 2023 was followed by a transfer offer from the freshly-richened Magpies, and Anthony Gordon was delighted to oblige.
Everton’s reluctance to let go of their home-grown talent amidst a battle for survival in the top flight was met with retaliation from Anthony. The latter, in all likelihood eyeing Champions League football next season, decided to skip pieces of training in hopes of forcing his way out of the relegation-battling club to join the currently third-placed Newcastle United.
The Toffees tapped out and Eddie Howe’s side stole Gordon away from Merseyside to boost their attacking unit as they envision a top-four finish. The Magpies paid a fee of €40 million to secure the services of a 22-year-old forward as Anthony arrived at Newcastle.
The former Everton man was quick to disregard his boyhood club upon his departure, as he expressed his hurt towards the Everton fans who “failed to thank him for his services” at Goodison Park. The Evertonians were left with a bitter taste in their mouths following Gordon’s statements and the antics used by their academy product to force a way out.
Tensions, thus, were certainly in the air when Newcastle United travelled to Merseyside to take on the nineteenth-placed Everton midweek. The fans have been haunted by a looming relegation the whole season as they continue to demonstrate their opposal towards the Everton board. A cocky Anthony Gordon being a brat at their turf was likely the last sight the Evertonians wished to witness, and as things would have it, that was exactly what they got.
As revealed through clips on Twitter, Gordon, who was substituted in at the 87th minute by Eddie Howe, was spotted celebrating Newcastle’s 4-1 victory over Everton as the winger punched the air in delight while passing by the team tunnel. The club’s official page also posted a group shot of the overjoyed Magpies following their win. Gordon took centre stage.
The Toffees, who previously did not hold back from expressing their boisterous hostility towards Gordon when the latter was subbed on, were left infuriated seeing their academy product commemorate what is supposed to be the “final nail in the coffin” towards Everton’s trip to The Championship come the next season.
It wasn’t long before Twitter was flooded with Evertonian outrage. The Toffees were quick to hop on to social media to express their exasperation towards the former Everton man. “Anthony Gordon you massive rat” read a tweet from an Everton fan account, highlighting the Toffees’ fury over the Kirkdale-born.
‘Imagine being that happy about hammering the nails into your boyhood club’s relegation coffin. Gordon is dead to me’, cruelly commented another fan.
Some of the burning responses from the Everton enthusiasts are enough to quantize the salt Anthony Gordon rubbed in Everton’s wounds. However, there were a few in blue from Merseyside who stood in the corner of the young English forward.
The footballing fandom in general too expressed similar beliefs. Some fans were quick to remind the Evertonians of their behaviour towards the young lad when Gordon decided to switch clubs mid-season. Some also backed the idea of Gordon celebrating a potential Champions League football spot being secured next season, instead of lauding a probable relegation for Everton.
Expect more frustrations to emerge from the Everton camp now that the club sits two points off the safety with only five games to go. With encounters against Man City and Brighton in sight, not much is expected from the Merseyside club within the remainder of the season as the Evertonians reluctantly accept their fate as the season draws to its conclusion.