Opinion
A lot of debate amongst Newcastle United fans about Eddie Howe.
The Head Coach having passed his third anniversary at St James’ Park last month.
Eddie Howe having delivered the third best form of all Premier League clubs in the second half (final 19 games) of the 2021/22 season.
Then in his first full (2022/23) season in charge, United ended up fourth in the top tier.
Newcastle United fans then watching on last (2023/24) season as the team ended up seventh in the Premier League.
So far, this season has seen Newcastle play 16 matches in all competitions, those games bringing eight wins, four draws and four defeats.
It would of course have been nine wins, three draws and four defeats, if not for that gutting 94th minute Palace equaliser on Saturday at Selhurst Park.
That goal seemingly lighting the touch paper to this frenzied Eddie Howe debate.
In this debate, some Newcastle United fans seriously questioning Eddie Howe’s position at the club.
Well, if your answer is sacking Eddie Howe, you are asking the wrong question.
No manager or head coach is above criticism.
No matter what has been achieved in the past.
After all, just look at Pep Guardiola.
However… if anybody honestly thinks it would be a good thing for Newcastle United to get rid of Eddie Howe at this point, I don’t think they have been paying proper attention.
I have read stuff like ‘Eddie Howe has taken Newcastle United as far as he can take us.’
I find it laughable.
There was an excellent [article](https://www.themag.co.uk/2024/11/psr-disaster-strikes-newcastle-united-nightmare/) on The Mag last (Saturday) night, entitled ‘PSR disaster strikes Newcastle United – Nightmare.’
It perfectly summed up exactly where we are as a club, it really is an essential read, if you haven’t done so already.
Bottom line is that it pointed out how the club has stalled, well, actually went backwards.
PSR issues meant that Eddie Howe had to sell two of his most promising young players (Minteh and Anderson) to Premier League rivals, didn’t/wasn’t able to buy any new first eleven players, had to keep pretty much all of his existing squad, bringing in only three new faces. Squad players at bargain prices, Osula and Kelly, plus Vlachodimos as part of the PSR double deal that allowed an elevated (PSR beneficial) fee to be received for Elliot Anderson.
The only two clubs to spend less than Newcastle United this summer were Liverpool and Man City, two clubs with already massive squads of high level quality Premier League players.
As things stand on this Sunday morning, Eddie Howe has Newcastle United in the quarter-finals of the League Cup (making it three seasons in a row, after an entire previous NUFC League Cup history that can only described as totally embarrassing for the previous 60 or so years) and before the Sunday matches are played, Newcastle currently four points off third.
Nobody is claiming this season has been perfect, far from it.
However, it has been far from a disaster.
Eddie Howe has had so many negative factors pushing against him, on top of having such a small squad of real first team contenders and a disastrous PSR impacted summer transfer window.
Any number of injury issues, many of them carried over from last season when NUFC had the worst ever season in their entire history where injuries were concerned. Sandro Tonali having to wait for his ban to be up, a significant proportion of our best/key players taking time to get back to full fitness and form after summer international tournaments.
This has all undoubtedly contributed to making it extra difficult for Eddie Howe to get his team into full flow on any consistent basis.
We then of course have the delusion of some Newcastle United fans in seeing many of our players, as far better than they really are.
Eddie Howe is now getting punished, used against him, the fact that he got a group of players to play as a team way beyond each of their individual abilities.
As that excellent Dale Thompson article pointed out last night, people were saying about yesterday’s matchday squad being the strongest for who knows how long.
Yet scratch below the surface and we see so many players who Newcastle United fans are kidding themselves about, seeing them as far better (and consistent) than they are in reality.
Eight of the twenty players in the squad at Crystal Palace were inherited by Eddie Howe, then you had free transfer Kelly, raw young £10m buy Osula, 34 year old Kieran Trippier who has done his bit at NUFC, Pope and Brun who cost a combined £23m, plus two young very inexperienced full-backs who are great Eddie Howe buys but in reality also just learning their trade.
Yet the way some Newcastle United fans are going on, you would think Eddie Howe had an embarrassment of riches to select from, a squad packed with high quality Premier League players so many very expensive signings to choose from, you would think.
The reality is that the only real positive substitution Eddie Howe could make, was Harvey Barnes, forced to do so after 20 minutes with Isak’s injury yesterday.
Callum Wilson has only just come back and Eddie Howe clearly having no alternative but to play it softly softly and manage his return, considering so few options in this squad. So he couldn’t risk having Wilson play 70+ minutes.
Wilson eventually came on and Longstaff the only other sub off the bench.
Certainly in the attacking half absolutely no other options. Quite clear Eddie Howe’s reluctance now to bring on Murphy or Almiron. They typify the squad Eddie Howe has been forced to carry on with. SO few players up to the job.
So then when yesterday both Willock and Joelinton played so poorly, both of them very up and down this season, Eddie Howe has nobody to replace them with.
Yet some Newcastle United fans see Eddie Howe as the big problem!
The answer supposedly being to sack him and bring in some random replacement who will magically do better with the same players/circumstances.
Maybe one day Eddie Howe will find his time is up, pretty much every manager gets to this point.
However, anybody who thinks that at this point in time Newcastle United fans would benefit from seeing Eddie Howe sacked. You are honestly truly deluded.