Gabby Agbonlahor could be deemed right and wrong based on his assertion that Newcastle United will struggle to land players in January.
Make no mistake, the North-East is a wonderful place to live and I don't need to bore readers with what we have going for us in this neck of the woods.
But there are those who have visited the city, and those who haven't, unfortunately too many football agents fall into the latter category and they hold the cards when it comes to transfers.
For what it's worth, I think the former Aston Villa striker is speaking honestly and openly based on his experiences in the game.
Make no doubt about it, plenty of players have made Newcastle their home down the years after arriving from elsewhere.
Philippe Albert and Tino Asprilla embraced it after giving their all and then enjoying a night on the Quayside back in the day.
People such as John Anderson, Supermac, Mick Martin, Rob Elliot and Olivier Bernard never moved anywhere else after their careers were over.
True, some players needed a little bit of extra persuasion to sign on the dotted line like Rob Lee, who Kevin Keegan told that Newcastle were closer to London than Middlesbrough, to land the £750,000 buy from Charlton, but once the midfielder arrived here he never looked back.
What Agbonlahor touched upon during an interview with talkSPORT this week, however, wasn't far from the truth in some instances though, unfortunately.
And what the ex-England striker is hinting at is how agents may use Newcastle's place on the map to their advantage.
Players are sometimes sold a dream of living in London as Newcastle discovered when trying to sign Loic Remy back in 2013.
Remy was jetted into the capital and held talks with United and then Queens Park Rangers before deciding to opt for the so-called bright lights.
The problem here was Newcastle's London-based ownership didn't get him on a place north and sell him the area and the club.
Of course, Remy signed on loan anyway in the end and had no complaints once moving to Tyneside.
Going back to Boro for a moment, during a time when I covered the Teessiders, Steve Gibson was notoriously good at circumnavigating his way around the problem of this London thing.
He'd jet them into Teesside, get them picked up in a people carrier, take them to some luxurious countryside spot in the North-East and then take them to the ground before getting them to sign on the dotted line.
By the time players like Gaizka Mendieta, Michael Reiziger, Fabrizio Ravanelli or Juninho had signed and been treated like kings, they'd suddenly forgotten about London.
Bearing in mind Gibson was competing with Newcastle as well for some of the top stars, it makes it all quite remarkable looking back.
Newcastle didn't do badly either of course but to avoid the London thing they'd be bolder than most others.
Freddy Shepherd or Douglas Hall, for example, would also go the extra mile sometimes. Such as the time they signed Nobby Solano in 1998.
They didn't invite Solano over, they went to him and knocked on the door of Boca Juniors no less to demand talks.
Once through the door, Boca officials became excited by the presence of Premier League directors and even confused former player liaison officer George Taylor with chairman Shepherd, treating him to a VIP tour of the ground.
By the time they'd finished, Solano had agreed terms through his representative and the ink was dry on his contract.
Solano said: "They thought George was the president and whisked him away. By the time he came back Freddy had done the deal and I was coming to Newcastle."
For the record, Solano is another who loves Newcastle and is a regular visitor.
The complications on talks in London or Newcastle or wherever weren't needed for Solano, as United at that time knew how to go for the jugular and did it in style.
It was the same with Asprilla and what about the time they signed Clarence Acuna? Back then Acuna was wanted by both Manchester United and Parma in Serie A.
Sitting in his offices on the Quayside Shepherd told me in 2015 : "We got a tip-off for Clarence Acuna and flew out to South America.
"We were on the flight overnight and landed at 8am in the morning, went straight to the hotel, did the deal and then got a phone call from the reception saying his agent was downstairs.
"We said: 'Tell him we’re finished and we were on the way down'. Acuna went out the fire exit to avoid him.
"We told him (the agent) it was done deal and we were heading back to the airport."
So geography is not the stumbling block everybody thinks.
Londoner Rob Elliot said once: "I am convinced that Geordies lie to the rest of the country so that nobody else comes here! All of my family want to come up here and absolutely love it.
"There’s no place like it in the country. I have been lucky to live in a lot of places, but there’s no place like here. A city on the coast with countryside within 10 minutes."
Howe was quick to dismiss Agbonlahor's claims today and feels that Newcastle's league position may be the biggest problem of all this winter.
The new Toon boss stated again he'd barely seen the city in daylight since arriving earlier this month.
Once things do settle down for Howe, a keen dog walker on the South Coast, his biggest dilemma could be just what beach he wants to take a stroll on along the illustrious Northumberland coastline.
From that point on it will take only a few WhatsApp pics to potential new signings to show what a great place they will be part of when agreeing to ply their trade for the Magpies.
