Magpies have failed to build on a successful campaign last season and supporters are losing faith in Howe’s fourth year in charge
It has been a disappointing season for Newcastle, to say the least. The Magpies have the ambition to break into the Premier League’s top five, and Eddie Howe has been praised for his coaching ability and for securing the club’s first major trophy in 70 years with the Carabao Cup win last term, but a poor campaign has left supporters asking if it is time for a change.
Newcastle have won only of their last eight games in all competitions. They lost 3-2 at home against Brentford last weekend, with fans booing the players off at the end.
The Magpies are winless in their last four in the league. They have lost three and drawn one, leaving them stuck in the bottom half of the table.
It’s a far cry from where supporters expected the club would be four-and-a-half-years after the Saudi takeover, and after qualifying for Champions League football last season, but Howe still believes he is the right man.
“That’s why I’m sitting here,” Newcastle’s coach said ahead of his side’s game against Tottenham on Tuesday. “If there was doubt, I wouldn’t be – because the club is the most important thing. I’ve never put myself before the club.
“If I didn’t think I was the correct man to take the team forward, and I couldn’t give the players what they need, then I would step aside and let someone else do it.”
Howe has secured Champions League football twice since his appointment under the Saudi Public Investment Fund in 2021. Newcastle sealed a spot in the last-16 playoffs before drawing against Paris Saint-Germain on the last day, and they are favourites to progress in their playoff tie against Qarabag.
However, the Magpies are highly unlikely to win Europe’s elite competition, and after struggling to convince several top players to move to St James’ Park in the last transfer window despite offering Champions League football, that task will be made even harder next summer with a disappointing finish in the Premier League this season.
But Howe believes his side can still find a way back this term.
“The collective spirit is what we’re after,” Newcastle’s boss said. “We’re after the collective fight from all the players and if you have that resolve within the group, you can do amazing things again, so it can turn very quickly.
“The momentum is against us at the moment. We have to swing it back and then the world can look a very different place within a couple of games.”
