PIF don't make knee-jerk decisions and it would take a catostrophic chain of events including cup exits and a derby defeat for owners to change stance
Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe
Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe(Image: Newcastle United via Getty Image)
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Eddie Howe looked refreshed and oozed vibrancy at his Monday morning Press conference at the club's media centre.
Just 48 hours earlier, the impact of the 3-2 defeat against Brentford looked like it had taken its toll on Howe after a late Dango Ouattara goal inflicted a third Premier League defeat in a row on the head coach. Having watched those who came before Howe have the life sucked out of them by one of the hardest jobs in English football before, the 48-year-old sounded broken on Saturday night.
With the game gone and Howe helpless to do anything about the painful defeat, it had echoes of Kevin Keegan hanging his head over an advertising hoarding at Anfield after the 4-3 defeat in 1996. Quite simply, Howe was devastated by what unfolded on a dank and soggy St James' Park.
The family man returned home late and spent some of his weekend going through a replay of the game - first on Saturday night and then again on Sunday. However, the players were given the day off and there was no training, as batteries were recharged.
Explaining his decision to do so, Howe said: "Sometimes mental freshness, one of the issues we're suffering with is obviously mental fatigue of the game, of training. So the day after a game, I think it's a very good time to let the emotions come out of the players and then we'll address them today.
"Keeping the players in here non-stop would have a very detrimental effect."
If Howe's 9am Press conference was anything to go by, it had indeed had the desired effect. Howe looked refreshed and as the main spokesman for the club in a public facing position he was sharp, focused and sounding doubly determined to get it right.
His meeting with journalists lasted just 15 minutes but he did not shirk a question.
It's not always this way at Newcastle when it comes to the hot seat. What Howe is brilliant at is drawing the line, emptying the recycle bin, and moving on.
Admirably, he does not hold grudges, and he does not waste energy. Previous bosses have fallen into the trap of holding those grudges with journalists and staging a war with the Press. One-word answers, refusal to answer questions, sarcasm, bitterness, and the blame game have all filtered through the airwaves at Benton. But not under Howe, he chooses to take the high road.
What Howe is doing is taking responsibility, taking back control, and ensuring his team is in the right place for Tottenham. Newcastle haven't won in five matches, but in all of them, they have had a good spell in each game.
They could have beaten Paris St-Germain, they looked good at Anfield for 35 minutes, they improved at Man City, albeit with the hosts taking their foot off the gas, and at 2-2, there looked only one winner against Brentford. This is not a team dead on their knees. It's not a team who aren't trying or not playing for the manager, otherwise Bruno Guimaraes and Kieran Trippier would not have made their emotional statements after the loss to the Bees.
But the truth is, Newcastle are failing to make the right calls in terms of selection, they are getting substitutions wrong, and they are bad at game management. All of that can be fixed, but it needs to start now.
Is Howe under pressure? Yes, but that is always the case for the manager of Newcastle United, whether you are Kevin Keegan, Howe or anybody else who has dared to ride the 'black and white tiger' as the former England boss himself once put it.
Will Howe be sacked if things don't improve? That's still difficult to say, given it would cost the club millions to do so but the noise coming from the corridors of power is that Howe is seen as the man to lead Newcastle forward. There is collective responsibility.
One source told me that Howe has credit in the bank at St James' Park, and the situation may not even be assessed fully until the end of the season. Owners PIF don't rush decisions and after taking their time to appoint CEO David Hopkinson and sporting director Ross Wilson, they won't make a rash call on Howe, let alone who would replace him.
By May, everybody will know where we stand and whether it is time for change or Howe gets another crack at things next term.
What could change that is a couple of cup exits from the FA Cup and the Champions League, while further trouble in the Premier League and a defeat to Sunderland would make things uncomfortable for everybody. But by the same token, a respectable run in the cups, derby victory, and salvaging a place in either the Europa League or Europa Conference League, both competitions United could win next season, would flip things the other way.
Howe is no mug, and his win ratio as boss in the Premier League is only bettered by Keegan. Howe sits on a top-flight ratio of 47.7%, Keegan is top with 54.5% and Bobby Robson is on 44.1%.
Granted, this season Newcastle have just nine wins from 25 in the Premier League, but there are still three possible prizes on offer in the FA Cup, Champions League, and a European ticket to ride in 2026/27.
Yes, things could plummet if Howe doesn't start winning soon, but by the same token, the corner can still be turned. What remains clear is that he is committed, decisive and focused on the job in hand.
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