‘Unfair’: BBC presenter shutsdown Chris Sutton’s Everton & Newcastle transfer claim

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Mark Chapman has told Chris Sutton that his comments comparing Newcastle United’s transfer business and Everton’s from January is ‘unfair’, as he told BBC Radio 5 Live Sport.

This comes after the former striker was critical of Frank Lampard for calling out his Everton players after their FA Cup thrashing at Crystal Palace.

Sutton pointed out that, when Howe went in at Newcastle, he ‘didn’t have a magic’ wand, yet he turned things around aided by the winter transfer window.

But, despite Lampard bringing in the likes of Dele Alli and Donny van de Beek, they, according to Sutton, ‘haven’t hit the ground running’.

All of that was shutdown by BBC presenter, Mark Chapman, who made it clear that Howe had many months longer to prepare than Lampard.

“When you look at Newcastle, there has been a noticeable change,” said Sutton. “At this moment in time, Everton are in a real mess.

“People may look at players who he has recruited and they haven’t hit the ground running. And think, ‘he could have done much better’. He had a difficult job to take on, mind because most of the blame lies with Benitez on this one.

“Did Eddie Howe have a magic wand at Newcastle? Frank brought Van de Beek in. Frank brought Dele Alli. Aren’t Dele Alli and Van de Beek great characters?”

Mark Chapman added: “I think it’s slightly unfair to compare the transfer records of Eddie Howe and Frank Lampard in this window. When Eddie Howe had the full window and was in beforehand. Frank Lampard had two days. It’s a bit unfair to compare those two transfer records.”

Sutton added: “But he still brought them in. What kind of message is he sending to the squad by him saying that ‘they aren’t good enough?'”

To put it simply, if Howe had the same amount of time as Lampard, then Newcastle would still be in mess.

But, the former Bournemouth boss had time to struggle, iron out problems, improve players, as well as plan for the January window.

That’s when things really started to pick up for the Saudi-owned club, whilst Everton just seemingly made matters worse by what they did in the market.

From selling Lucas Digne to bringing in two midfielders, when they probably only needed one and they were also more in need of centre-backs than attack-minded players.