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Pressure is mounting on Howe after a chaotic 2024 (Photo: Reuters)
This was the year Newcastle United came crashing back down to earth with a bump.
A major cup final and Champions League qualification in 2023 hinted that the club, seemingly blessed with the transfer Midas touch, was one of Europe’s coming forces.
But it has turned out to be a mirage as reality has come into sharp focus on Tyneside – both in terms of the farcical financial rules they must adhere to and also the chasm they have to bridge to even become a contender.
They welcome Leicester to St James’ Park while sitting 12th in the Premier League and with serious doubts encroaching on the PIF project. Uncertainty about the bigger picture has collided with a crisis of confidence ahead of a crucial December. Enthusiasm and confidence has drained from the fanbase.
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So it feels instructive to take a step back and reflect that in a league table spanning from 1 January until this weekend, Newcastle sit sixth.
Despite a year with no major transfer incomings, a horrendous injury crisis, damaging off-field turbulence in the close season and Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) biting hard, Eddie Howe has his team roughly where they should be.
Given Newcastle’s wage budget, recruitment outlay and squad value, knocking on the door of the Europa League places is par for a club three years post takeover. Is everything really that bad?
Anyone who has watched Newcastle this season will struggle to come up with a definitive answer. On their day they look like a side ready to strong-arm their way into the top four but when those levels drop, they’re depressingly ordinary.
That there have been too many of the latter is the reason why the most crucial week of Howe’s tenure begins this week with the manager on the back foot, seemingly unable to arrest the alarming inconsistency which could prove terminal for their season.
NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 04: Bruno Guimaraes of Newcastle United (39) blows a kiss following the Premier League match between Newcastle United FC and Liverpool FC at St James' Park on December 04, 2024 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images)
Manchester City have been linked with Bruno Guimaraes (Photo: Getty)
As fan site *True Faith*wrote this week, “very few supporters relish the conversation about Howe’s dismissal” but the “jury is out” on his ability to turn things around with the squad he has got.
Suddenly a manager who has conjured results and improvement from his players thanks to canny tactical work and astute coaching does not have the answers.
Having refused to bring up injuries as an excuse for poor form 12 months, there’s an irony about Newcastle’s manager struggling to harness a much stronger substitutes’ bench in recent weeks.
In the last two home defeats to Brighton and West Ham his changes made Newcastle look a mess, with control evaporating in the damaging post-international week defeat to the Hammers after his half-time alterations.
Howe retains the faith of Newcastle’s boots on the ground, with CEO Darren Eales a supporter and director of football Paul Mitchell, despite early friction in their relationship, also a huge admirer. Sources say the club continue to believe Howe is one of the Premier League’s elite managers.
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But there is no way that the club can allow 2024’s status quo to continue for much longer, given how much momentum has stalled in the last few months. Something needs to change – and soon.
First up is the need for reinforcements and risk. Howe’s admission on Friday that Newcastle would be quiet without sales was an acknowledgement of suffocating financial rules and what it has done to strangle the club, but also a reminder about how important Mitchell’s aspiration to make them better sellers is.
Recruitment sources doubt the seriousness of Manchester City’s interest in Bruno Guimaraes but if an acceptable bid comes in, they should perhaps not fear what comes next. Selling a major player might not be as damaging as 18 months of inertia has been in terms of the squad.
Then Howe needs his higher ups to illustrate that the club is still what it said on the brochure – a project with ambition to become number one. The easiest way is to finally end the long-running fascination with St James’ Park‘s future by announcing an ambitious project that can give everyone a north star to aim for.
That the stadium expansion has been shrouded in secrecy – unlike a similarly slow-moving Old Trafford renovation – just adds to the cloud of uncertainty over the club.
Howe and Newcastle need wins. But perhaps those in charge now need to play their part to ensure 2025 does not follow a similarly sapping path as the year just gone.