Things aren’t going very well for Newcastle United right now.
After heading into last month’s international break off the back of three consecutive victories, Newcastle are now without a win in four games.
Eddie Howe’s side put in yet another dreadful performance away at Brentford on Saturday, falling to a 4-2 defeat and even that doesn’t tell the whole story.
The Newcastle United manager questioned the attitude of some of his players, while club legend Alan Shearer slammed it when speaking on Match of the Day.
While it is difficult to know exactly what is going on behind the scenes at the club, there does appear to be an issue with the mentality. How they can be so good at home against top teams but generally so poor away from home remains unclear.
Still, to put all the blame on the players feels somewhat harsh. The manager himself is not beyond reproach, while it’s difficult to ignore the fact that the squad hasn’t been strengthened in what feels like an age.
PIF’s unwillingness to spend may be because of the PSR rules in place but it does not make life any easier for Howe and the players. They appear to be running on empty right now, such has been the lack of significant signings of late.
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Sadly, that doesn’t appear to be changing any time soon.
Eddie Howe, Manager of Newcastle United, reacts during the Premier League match between Newcastle United FC and Liverpool FC at St James' Park on D...
Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images
Bleak transfer news emerges again for Newcastle fans
The likes of Craig Hope have previously relayed that money was likely to be tight when it comes to the January transfer window, so fans shouldn’t expect much in the way of big-name signings.
Commenting after the defeat at Brentford, Luke Edwards of The Daily Telegraph even went a bit further.
Taking to social media platform X, he revealed that the message being internally at Newcastle is that there’s no guarantee a signing of any description will be made.
Eddie Howe has his biggest challenge at Newcastle yet
If Howe can turn this around, it would be some achievement.
Hopefully, his questioning of the players sparks a reaction as it seems unlikely he will get the tools to rebuild his squad to any great degree.
Broadly, he’s done a good job at papering over the cracks of a lack of investment this season. Things now appear to have stalled and it remains to be seen if he’s got the answers.
It’s not been easy for Howe or the players. Some slack should be afforded.
Still, that only goes so far…
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