The Athletic's Taylor Payne has slammed pundit and former Toon midfielder Kieron Dyer following his recent comment about Newcastle United strikers.

The Lowdown: Dyer's comments

Dyer has spoken about the club on a number of occasions, with the ex-Magpies man saying last month that Sven Botman could 'go onto bigger and better things' with another club that has 'pedigree' despite Newcastle's fine season.

And during Sky Sports' live coverage of the Magpies' clash against Bournemouth (11/02/2023), Dyer took aim at another of Howe's summer recruits, calling Sweden striker Alexander Isak a 'dodgy' signing, while he also labelled Callum Wilson as someone who is not a natural goalscorer.

The Latest: Payne slams Dyer

Payne took to his Twitter account to convey his dismay with what he had heard from the ex-Newcastle ace.

He wrote: "Kieron Dyer hasn't got a clue, has he?"

[web_stories_embed url="https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/newcastle-news-7/" title="Newcastle news!" poster="" width="360" height="600" align="none"]

The Verdict: Payne has a point

We think that Dyer's recent assessment of the Toon's forwards are rather unwarranted.

The Magpies are a club who are seemingly on the up since their takeover last season, and we wouldn't be surprised if they become one of the top forces in England's top flight for years to come.

Newcastle's season has been fantastic so far and have hardly put a foot wrong on the results front, the club has also reached the final of the League Cup for the first time since 1976.

Wilson has been integral to that, with 14 goal involvements under Howe at Newcastle.

Meanwhile, Isak is a long-term signing, having joined for a club-record £63m in the summer. While his numbers aren't exactly incredible - he has just three to his name in Toon colours - he has suffered a number of injuries, all while having to adapt to a new league with a heap of pressure on him, plus he has plenty of time on his side to make his spell on Tyneside a success.

Therefore, we think Dyer ought to cut the Newcastle duo some slack.