Following on from lacklustre performances, one point from a possible six against West Ham and Crystal Palace and a weekend that saw us slip into the bottom half, there have been increased calls for Newcastle to replace Eddie Howe should he not able to turn things around.
Aside from some excellent performances just before the international break against Chelsea, Arsenal and Nottingham Forest, Newcastle have looked like a shadow of the high-intensity team many in the league feared playing just 18 months ago.
And whilst some of that can be attributed to PSR struggles hindering squad development, the lack of signings in 2024 and unfortunate injury luck, many have questioned if Howe is starting to run out of ideas after Saturday saw us manage just one shot (and zero on target) against a struggling Palace side.
Much of the mainstream press disagrees, however. The Telegraph’s Luke Edwards has been one of the staunch defenders of Howe in the wake of recent results, and was not shy for words following on from Saturday’s draw at Selhurst Park.
In a message to fans on X, Edwards said: “Aston Villa last won a game on October 22nd, and I believe there is no the same level of anti manger vitriol whilst flying around social media. They drew at home to Palace too.”
In the same tweet, he continued “I know the majority of the shortsighted, negative and unhinged stuff is confined to Newcastle on here, but when you lose sight of context, you become irrational and annoying.”
”Howe deserves support, backing from the board, and time to get things right, which is what I’m told he will get so snipe away. He’s not going anywhere.”
Whilst Howe’s achievements truly cannot be understated, helping the club survive relegation in unprecedented circumstances before guiding us back to the Champions League for the first time in decades, there’s a feeling that we’ve now gone stale and must adapt to overcome this concerning start to 2024/25.
Edwards and much of the Toon-centric press are right: Howe deserves support from the fans, players and the club’s hierarchy to navigate the ongoing storm and to try and right the inconsistencies we’ve seen unfold too often this season. But it’s also not unfair to criticise when the manager gets it wrong.
Frankly, there’s very, very few available managers who you would perhaps entrust with such a task who aren’t already signed to either another Premier League club or one of Europe’s elite sides.
But the fans absolutely retain their right to criticise the current managerial regime: the fact we’ve seen a lack of plan B, very little good football and almost none of the high intensity ‘2022/2023 Newcastle’ is a concern. Howe must be expected to find solutions.
Wednesday night’s game against runaway league leaders Liverpool serves a perfect opportunity for Howe to answer his critics with another convincing performance from his side against one of the world’s top teams. But anything less than a gutsy performance that is a dramatic improvement on recent games and those noises of concern won’t go anywhere, even if Howe’s job is rightfully safe for now.
Why did Howe have Wilson on the bench if he didn’t think he was able to do enough minutes?
We have a forward line up against Guehi who Howe must think is very good but offer no threat from the bench to cover Isak.
Osula is energetic and fit so why not use him, he may be raw but so what.
He must deserve a chance when the rest of the forwards are so out of touch.
Joseph(Quote)
Totally agree, why have players on the bench and not use them. While moving players around and then using players that were not in their best position. Strange? Hwtl
Kiddafromthetoon(Quote)
I’m not in the Howe out group it’s his flaw of being way too overly loyal to certain players rewarding to many off the back of finishing 4th that’s my concern because there’ll come a time our owners won’t be overly loyal
Darren Bebb(Quote)
Howe plays his favourites every time that poor
RINTINTIN(Quote)
This guy has no guts and no balls. Yes man with Little ambition. That’s the reason NUFC is never going to reach the top . We have world class players in all positions but we always lose to relegation teams. He has to go. He is not fit for the team
Jo(Quote)
Howe plays his favourites every time that poor Irish kid on the bench plays in the back line never ever gets a chance and his stubbiness to change tactics or can he this dull boring football and players who are playing great for there country howe wont give them a game and least said about Longstaff and that game against Palce was dreadfull
RINTINTIN(Quote)
Short memories of past embarrassing managers on here. I’d almost wish for a return to those days just to be rid of the chaff from the supporters. Howe has a challenge to transition the team to more than a counter-attacking side. Without reinforcements, that takes time. He will come good. Keep the faith.
Greggsboy(Quote)
Really short memories here, we need to reflect when we were on the edge of dropping out of the PL. Howe kept us there, we need to stand by him, PSR has screwed us and injuries have not helped.
Time to splash a bit of cash and build the squad, and also stop building a team around Bruno…. we should be building it around Tonali!
Mark(Quote)
On my part it’s not a case of short memories Greggsboy I’ve not said for him to be sacked just a concern of him being way to loyal and you won’t move forward if you don’t want to upgrade certain players and Rintintin look at Jolinton performances before you call Longstaff because all he has to do is fart and some of our fans will crawl up and have a s–t for him
Darren Bebb(Quote)
Those calling for Howe to go are a disgrace.
A(Quote)
Howe can only play the players he has available. Instead of criticising the craftsman maybe take a look at the procurement executive that has left the squad below par in so many positions. The recent additions are difficult to understand and the failure of “the suits” to navigate around the PSR nightmare and give the coaching team the requisite tools should surely be placed under the microscope and dealt with effectively: ie replaced. Yes injuries are an issue but in reality apart from Botman and the Tonali suspension the main nucleus of the squad is unaffected, it is just not fit for task which is not the fault of the coaches. Pep Guardiola can have any player in the world he wants, how is that working for him right now? Eddie Howe is one of the best coaches in the world in so many ways but even the most accomplished craftsman eventually becomes adversely affected by having poor materials and tools.
Cuban Geordie(Quote)
Eddie Howe played like that at Bournemouth too: a good run, a bad run. I wrote that last season. So when Newcastle win three games in a row, I don’t get my hopes up
Caspian(Quote)