Eddie Howe has made it clear that he will do what is best for the club after an awful run of form
Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe
Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe
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Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe has rejected the theory that he has taken the Magpies as far as he can.
Howe left AFC Bournemouth in 2020 after exhausting his playbook with the Cherries dropping into the Championship in a tearful end to his time in charge on the South Coast. Some supporters and football observers feel that his time on Tyneside is edging towards a similar conclusion.
Howe looked empty as he applauded the fans after the 2-1 defeat at Selhurst Park at the weekend, after throwing away the lead against Crystal Palace.
When asked if the project at Newcastle has gone as far as he can take it, Howe, speaking at his Press conference ahead of the home clash with AFC Bournemouth, told Chronicle Live: "I don't know if I need to counter that argument. People can have an opinion and everybody is entitled to their own opinion, and I respect that.
"I learn from every moment in this job, every week, to every month, every season. I am constantly viewing or analaysing and trying to forge a group going forward.
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"Every club is different and this club is totally different to Bournemouth. Bournemouth was an amazing time for me.
"Of course, it did not end particularly well in the last few months. I think you can focus on that or you can focus on the bigger piece of work."
When asked if he still sticks to the belief that potentially leaving the club would be the right thing to do, Howe said: "I just want serve the club and do what’s right for the football club.
"That’s always been my aim. If that’s me leaving to help the club, then of course that’s something I’ll do, I’ve got no issue doing that. It’s not about me.
"But if I believe I’m the right person to take the club forward, which I do currently right now, then I’ll do that and I’ll fight to the end. I’ll fight harder than I’ve ever fought before, but it’s about making sure that those two things are aligned.
Howe said there were no excuses for recent form and commented: "There's a whole host of reasons. I don't want to sit here and give excuses and if you try and explain something it is perceived as excuses. We have got to do it.
"We need that winning feeling back, it's been too long. We're desperate to win and play well.
"This week we have had a mixture of emotions. Early week was a disappointing result at Palace and there was a bit of anger in there. I don't think you have seen too many smiley faces around the training ground but there is a steely determination to turn things around."
Howe also added: "In terms of my fire, my fire is burning very, very strongly. That’s no guarantee from my side what’s going to happen in the future because as I’ve said, the forces that move in football clubs move quickly. But my fire is there.
"There’s loads of wood stacked up and I’m ready to put it on it."
Howe is also still confident he can take Newcastle from 14th into Europe, and said: "Yeah, it's still possible. I mean it’s been a strange year in terms of the Premier League table, I think it’s been very tight all season.
"And we need those run of wins that we’ve needed all season. We haven’t done that for the first year since I’ve been here where we haven’t continually won games and that’s probably been the biggest difference, that lack of consistency.
"Now we’re in a difficult period, we need to come out of that and we can still end up with a really successful season. So that’s got to be our aim."
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