Former Newcastle United boss, Steve McClaren, reportedly once said: “In football two days is a long time and a week is a very long time.” You suspect Eddie Howe will know what he means after experiencing a bruising seven days of his own on Tyneside.
After all, as club football returned following the November international break, confidence among those of a black and white persuasion was extremely high heading into both last Monday’s West Ham United home clash before a visit to Crystal Palace. What followed was a solitary point, one (own) goal and just two shots on target across 180 minutes of football.
The reaction in the aftermath of the poor 1-1 draw at Selhurst Park has been predictable. Social media certainly isn’t the place for level-headed takes at the best of times but some of the responses appear a tad impulsive.
“Feels like things are just drifting to a bit of a drab end,” one user wrote when discussing Howe and his Newcastle United tenure. This, just a matter of weeks after three impressive wins on the spin against top end Premier League opposition.
If the tone of the introduction wasn’t a big enough hint, it’s at this point I should explicitly state that I do not believe Howe is reaching the end of the road at St James’ Park. The board feel the same.
Is there problems to address? Of course there is. Is he getting the best out of this squad? Of course not. Does he know his best 11? You’d have to argue no. Have Newcastle’s performances worsened, rather than improved? Yep.
While the players bear responsibility too, it is on Howe to find out how to move this team forwards, despite a lack of backing in the summer. He must find a permanent home for Anthony Gordon rather than shifting him here, there and everywhere in every game. He must work out how to get the best out of this midfield – and Sandro Tonali.
Saturday felt stale. A team running out of ideas. No attacking intent. If you were a neutral with no prior knowledge of either side, you would think Newcastle’s players, or the attackers, had given up on their manager.
That, of course, is not the case and you should write both this team – and Howe – off at your peril. The Newcastle boss has been in similar positions before during his stint on Tyneside. Maybe this level of pressure hasn’t been exerted on him up until this point but a run of results similar to those witnessed recently is nothing new.
Back in 2021, Howe’s first Newcastle victory against Burnley proved tricky to follow up and a festive period that year brought consecutive defeats to Leicester City, Liverpool and Manchester City, followed by a draw with Manchester United and a defeat to Cambridge United in the FA Cup third round that saw the pressure build massively.
It is easily forgotten but the beginning of the following campaign proved equally troublesome before Newcastle managed to comfortably finish in the top four. That particularly season started with a win before draws against Brighton, Manchester City, Wolves, Crystal Palace and Bournemouth, with a home defeat to Liverpool thrown in for good measure.
Later in the campaign, around the time of the Carabao Cup final, there was a run of games where Newcastle failed to beat Crystal Palace, West Ham and Bournemouth, while they lost to Liverpool, Man City and also Manchester United in the Wembley showpiece.
Even this time last year brought a really tough period for Howe and his players, with Newcastle crashing out of the Champions League and the Carabao Cup in the space of two December weeks. A win over 10-man Fulham papered over the cracks in the middle of the month before a penalty shootout loss to Chelsea and big league defeats to Luton Town, Nottingham Forest and Liverpool before a January revival.
(Image: Newcastle United via Getty Image)
Fast forward to present day and it is arguably not recent results that has Howe on the ropes with a minority of the fan base. It is the manner of Newcastle’s performances. Shaky displays against the likes of Bournemouth, Wolves, Fulham and Everton early in the season were perhaps covered up due to points being picked up.
Those three wins before the latest international break had many believing Newcastle had turned a corner. Two solid home victories over Chelsea and Arsenal were backed up with a fine counter-attacking display in the 3-1 win at Nottingham Forest. All, seemingly, was well.
And now we are here. Liverpool, Brentford, Leicester City, Brentford again and Ipswich Town await before Christmas. For what it is worth, Newcastle’s boardroom decision makers are ready to back Howe. Fans may not be as patient, which seems pretty evident after the online reaction to Saturday’s drab draw in the capital.
It feels, for the second time this season, the manager needs a storming set of results to silence that outside chatter once more. Not that the St James’ Park chief will be listening to any naysayers, feeling sorry for himself, or preparing to throw in the towel.
Once more, I must stress, there are issues for Howe to fix. He is not absolved of blame. But the growing discontent around his future feels somewhat premature, despite Newcastle’s up and down campaign to date. There is no doubt it’s a big few weeks for both he and his football club.
But, as mentioned, we have been here before – and history suggests Howe will weather the storm again and lead Newcastle into a brighter-looking future. Here’s hoping.
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