The keyboard warriors amongst the Newcastle United fans, who are calling for Eddie Howe to be sacked, appear to have lost sight of the NUFC manager’s greatest asset.
Nobody doubts that Sunday’s defeat to Brentford was miserable and largely self-inflicted, and there’s no question that the buck stops with Howe and his coaching team.
Yet if there is one thing we have learned about the “fella from Bournemouth”, it is his relentless ability to reflect and to learn.
I have written about that on The Mag before – highlighting the world of difference between the 5-5 formation we played in the final 20 minutes of the first leg of last year’s League Cup semi-final at Arsenal, versus the gung-ho approach that saw us crash out of Europe against Milan a season earlier.
Such is Howe’s commitment to his own learning, that he took a sabbatical from football following his Bournemouth exit, before finding the right job to put his reflective practice to the test.
Painful though these couple of weeks are going to be without football, after such as meek surrender at Brentford, it provides the perfect platform for Eddie Howe to do what he does so well and come back better and stronger.
Now this is not some blinkered narrative which overlooks the failings that were all too apparent on Sunday.
Eddie Howe and his coaching team were, in my view, culpable for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory by their inaction following Dan Burn’s yellow card early in the second half.
I was frustrated to hear the manager talk about hindsight in his post-match press conference. I’m sure I wasn’t the only supporter desperate to see Burn removed for his and the team’s protection there and then – and if we didn’t need hindsight to spot the flaming obvious in the moment, then nor should the coaching staff.
There was a further warning when Burn failed to deal with the Brentford winger’s pace, leading directly to the throw-in from which they scored their equaliser. Then came the penalty that never was. That’s three opportunities for Burn to have been hooked before the red card and each one was missed.
And while I’m on my soapbox about my frustrations with Howe’s decisions lately, I also felt the substitutions at West Ham a week earlier were anything but helpful. Each one was accompanied by a necessity to reshuffle the pack in other areas of the team.
We had Joelinton starting in the middle, then playing on the left, then going back to the middle. We had Harvey Barnes having a 10 minute run on the right before switching to the left. Malick Thiaw left one centre-half role to play right-back before returning to a different one. Rather than Jacob Murphy coming off earlier, he had a brief cameo at right-back before his departure.
Eddie Howe Clapping Fans Joelinton Head Down Newcastle United
All of this seemed reactive and chaotic. No sooner did the revised line-up seem to be settling into a shape than it was in turmoil all over again. And like at Brentford, that rests with Howe and his coaching staff.
So with all those frustrations off my chest you might think I would be gunning for him, like so many of those on social media?
No, because I also know, that Eddie Howe has everything in his artillery to make things right again. This might be the stiffest test he’s faced since he arrived on Tyneside, but it’s not the first time he’s been in bother, and it has always ended well in the past.
We could have hoped for an easier fixture back than facing a Manchester City side who look the strongest they have for a couple of seasons, but Howe will relish that challenge.
The proof will be in the pudding over the course of the following clutch of games, rather than just that one, in terms of how much reflection he has been able to transform into improvement on the pitch during the international break. He certainly has some difficult decisions he now must face.
The goalkeeping position is one. There is no question that Nick Pope’s shot-stopping can at times be remarkable, particularly saving with his feet from close range.
Yet there comes a time when you have to balance those saves against the goals he’s culpable for, and there have been several this season which were either clearly goalkeeping faults, or a case of “could have done better”.
Aaron Ramsdale has had a tendency to make errors over the years, due to lapses in concentration, but he is without doubt the better technician.
Howe can work on those lapses – developing individuals remains his speciality – but I’m not convinced how much growth is left in the technical deficiencies which have left Pope wanting at times this season.
Then there is the defence.
There is no question that Lewis Hall must return at left-back even beyond Burn’s suspension, but there is a decision to be made at left centre-half.
Sven Botman has been shaky at best in the last few games, whereas Burn in the centre has rarely let the team down. I would hope it is the Dutchman rather than Hall, who knows he needs to up his game to hold down a place following Burn’s return.
Howe and the coaches must also show they have learned from the Elliot Anderson experience. I’m not talking about being forced to sell him – nobody wanted that – but about the rapid growth he has made at Nottingham Forest given consistent pitch time.
Lewis Miley is potentially an even better player in the long-term, but to realise that potential, he needs to be treated like a genuine first-team player rather than a dependable deputy.
With the crowded fixture schedule we have had, he should be rotated into the team by choice, rather than by necessity.
The same is true of Jacob Ramsey, who has been itching to get in ahead of Joelinton, and after the Brazilian’s poor showing at West Ham and unconvincing first half against Athletic Club, it would have been prudent to give the former Aston Villa man a starting berth at Brentford.
Perhaps with a few opportunities to shine from winnable positions, we might even see Joe Willock recovering the form of his past – coming on as a substitute when the team is beaten is not doing his visibly depleted confidence any favours.
These and more are the questions many fans have been asking since Sunday’s disappointment. I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that Howe will have been asking them too, as it is in his nature to question himself and those around him.
That is why we remain in the safest possible hands, despite the poor league position we find ourselves in.
Eddie Howe is a manager who continues to improve, whose track record on Tyneside makes him the club’s greatest manager of the modern era, who is trusted by the players and who understands what it means to manage Newcastle United.
There is no guarantee you get any of that by making a change and those reactively demanding Eddie Howe should be sacked, ought to be very careful what they wish for.