Jamie Carragher is right, PIF have let Eddie Howe down in several ways at Newcastle United.
While Howe is not absolved from criticism amid Newcastle United’s current crisis of form, he has not been helped by PIF.
The Newcastle United owners have transformed the club since the takeover in October 2021.
Still, like the manager, they are not exempt from criticism. Carragher thinks PIF have let Howe down at Newcastle and, frankly, he’s got a point.
With that in mind, here’s a look at the three ways PIF have failed Howe on Tyneside following Carragher‘s comments.
Eddie Howe and Yasir Al-Rumayyan speak to each other after Newcastle United qualify for the Champions League.
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images
Letting the Alexander Isak saga drag on so long
The Alexander Isak transfer saga dragged on all summer and eventually came to a predictable end when he was sold to Liverpool.
Initially, it looked as if PIF were refusing to be bullied by the Anfield giants but the fact they ultimately caved rendered the whole thing pointless on the football side of things.
PIF banked top dollar for Isak but the toxicity of the saga did not help Howe, who constantly had to bat away difficult questions during press conferences.
MORE NEWCASTLE STORIES
It also left Newcastle in limbo. They didn’t move for Nick Woltemade until late-August, by which point the season had started. That surely cannot have done much to help Howe’s preparations for the upcoming campaign.
Isak clearly wanted to leave for months before he was sold and, though admittedly with the benefit of hindsight, he should have been granted that wish so everyone at Newcastle could have moved on.
PIF ignored Eddie Howe’s clear request many months ago now
After the end of the 2024/25 season, Howe urged PIF to sign players quickly for Newcastle.
Speaking after the defeat to Everton, the Newcastle United manager said: “Speed is key for us and I have reiterated that many times internally. Speed is key because we have to be dynamic, we have to be ready to conclude things very quickly because good players don’t hang around for long.”
They did not act on that. Newcastle’s first major signing of the summer was Anthony Elanga and he did not arrive until mid-July.
Obviously, Newcastle missed out on several key transfer targets, too. There’s not much the owners can do about that (aside from perhaps looking in different markets), but there was a general feeling of a lack of urgency for most of the summer window.
Not signing players quickly enough left Howe short for much of pre-season.
Not appointing a CEO or sporting director quickly enough
The glacial speed with which PIF operated this summer was not limited to just player recruitment.
Howe urged PIF to appoint a new CEO and sporting director at Newcastle, and neither arrived over the summer to help oversee a dramatic transfer window.
While Newcastle came out the other side of that with, at least on paper, a better squad – it’s hard to imagine any other leading clubs behaving like that.
"I'm not sure there's much more he can do"
"I think Newcastle have let him down"
Jamie Carragher says Eddie Howe will go down as "one of the greatest" Newcastle managers pic.twitter.com/JcTG9lEQec
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) November 9, 2025
View Tweet
David Hopkinson and Ross Wilson were appointed in September and October respectively. Howe has his structure now but he was missing one all summer despite the fact everyone knew previous incumbents Darren Eales and Paul Mitchell were leaving.
A lack of leadership at executive level summed up the chaos Howe has had to make sense of at Newcastle since pretty much his first full season as manager ended.