Despite the boos that rang around St James’ Park in the wake of Saturday’s home defeat to Brentford, there are plenty of Newcastle supporters that still regard him as the right man to continue to take the club forward.
Yet with his side floundering in the bottom half of the Premier League table, seemingly bereft of confidence, cohesion and any semblance of the spark that has fuelled their journey over the course of the last four-and-a-half years, and with the murmurings of discontent that had become increasingly vociferous on social media now having spilled over into the stands, the 48-year-old nevertheless finds himself in the most difficult and perilous moment since those dark days at the start of his reign when he won just one of his opening ten matches.
Newcastle’s season is unravelling. Out of Carabao Cup, they will also find themselves exiting the FA Cup at Aston Villa next weekend unless they can arrest an alarming run of form that has now seen them win just one of their last eight games in all competitions. They are as close to the Premier League relegation zone as they are to the top five, meaning the likelihood of securing European football again next season is receding by the week.
They remain in the Champions League, with a two-legged play-off against Qarabag offering an inviting route to the last 16, but that simply means the fixture schedule that has caused them so much damage so far this season remains as crippling as ever. And most alarmingly of all, they are playing dreadfully, with key players either injured or out of form, and the mood around the camp, as highlighted by this week’s chatter around Sandro Tonali, far from ideal.
READ MORE:
Eddie Howe's 'full responsibility' comment and reaction to St James' Park boos
The angry post-match reaction that could spell trouble for Eddie Howe and Newcastle
Player Ratings: The Newcastle player who was 'run ragged' and team-mate who was 'nowhere near' the required level
Is Howe capable of turning things around? Does he have the answers to the questions that have proved so intractable in the last few weeks? Ultimately, that will determine his fate.
“I’m trying to pick the right words,” said Howe, during a searingly honest post-match review of the Brentford defeat. “I’m annoyed with myself, angry with myself, blaming myself, taking full responsibility and accountability on my shoulders, no one else.
“At the moment, it's difficult because we're not where we want to be and then the emotions are low. Then, you’re going into another game, and the key thing is to try to somehow switch the emotion level, or even the low feeling, into anger or into almost a positive emotion, even if it's negative, if that makes sense. That’s what we need to try to do.”
Clearly, Newcastle’s players are bereft of confidence. They have now thrown away 19 points from a winning position this season – easily the worst record in the Premier League. As soon as something starts going against them, they collapse.
But they are also failing to deliver what Howe wants tactically. Newcastle’s best performances under their current head coach have tended to follow a familiar pattern. Relentless energy and intensity. An aggressive front-foot approach that pins opponents back in their defensive third. A clinical ability to go in for the kill when the opposition is on the back foot.
Newcastle haven’t really played like that all season. Can they play that way when they are facing three games a week, every week? Do they have the personnel to do it, given the changes that were made last summer? Yoane Wissa and Nick Woltemade are hardly Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson when it comes to running themselves into the ground and pressing from the front. Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton are not the same forces of nature they were a few years ago. Kieran Trippier is 35, but is being asked to keep up with wingers almost half his age as Newcastle’s only available right-back.
“Ultimately, our preferred way at home against most opponents is to go for the throat and try to control the game, even sometimes off the ball, with relentless pressing and really good physical performances,” said Howe. “That hasn't been there regularly enough. It only takes one or two players to be off physically for that to break down. It's not a thing that sometimes you can pin on all 11 players.”
Hence, days like Saturday when Newcastle’s game collapsed in the face of an energetic Brentford performance and Dango Outtara’s 86th-minute winner sparked a chorus of negativity. This isn’t the end for Howe. But it is fair to say his Tyneside tenure has entered a volatile and dangerous new phase.