The Magpies boss has watched on as Thomas Frank and Sean Dyche lost their jobs - just weeks after feeling some fan pressure himself
Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe celebrates the 2-1 win at Tottenham
Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe(Image: CameraSport via Getty Images)
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Eddie Howe admits that his week has been tinged with sadness after two of his Premier League dugout rivals Thomas Frank and Sean Dyche were sacked.
Howe himself has been under pressure of a different kind from online critics, but has retained the full backing of Newcastle owners PIF. And having effectively tipped Frank over the edge after a win over his struggling Spurs side on Tuesday, Howe will now look to win over some of his doubters by booking a place in the last 16 of the FA Cup at Villa Park.
Howe said: "It always saddens me when that happens. You just have sympathy for every manager because you know how difficult the job is, and especially the modern-day life of a manager.
"The sways and the speed of opinion changing is quicker, I think, than it's ever been due to various different factors and forces that you have to compete against. I have sympathy for any manager who loses their job.
"For me, I don't think too deeply about it. My immediate focus then goes back to myself and what I can do to help the team that I have, and that's all that I can do every day."
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And his thoughts must turn swiftly to a tough FA Cup fourth round tie against Unai Emery's Villa. Having been dumped out of the Carabao Cup by Man City, Newcastle's most realistic chance of silverware for the second season running is arguably the FA Cup.
Howe said: "We would love to have another cup run. I get asked a lot about the cup competitions - I think I was asked the other night about our attitude to it.
"Our attitude won't change - we'll try and win the next game, and that's Aston Villa away.
"(It's) a really tough draw - maybe not the draw we wanted - but it's a competition we want to try and do well in. We enjoyed our run last year, we were disappointed to exit when we did, so the aim is to go as far as we can."
Newcastle's owners PIF have stuck with Howe despite seeing the team dip into the bottom half of the Premier League table this term. After seeing two of his counterparts lse their jobs this week, Howe is grateful for the level of understanding from his bosses.
He said: "The words patience and understanding, they’re rarely accepted, I think, in football management when you’re talking about your team.
"People want clarity on where you are, they want to know whether you’re good or bad. In the middle isn’t accepted. For me, we were well aware going into this season that it was going to be different for us."
Newcastle spent £240m on Jacob Ramsey, Nick Woltemade, Yoane Wissa, Anthony Elanga and Malick Thiaw plus £4m on a loan fee for Aaron Ramsdale. After selling Alexander Isak to Liverpool for £125m, Howe is pleased with business but knows it takes time for a clutch of players to adjust.
He said: "For everything that happened in the summer, and we hadn’t recruited in so many windows but then we signed six players. That’s very different to how we had been working historically, apart from our first window. With that comes change.
"We’d been so used to working with the same group of players and working one way. Some of those players had left and then we go into a new season with no pre-season or training time with them (the new signings).
"That is very difficult and it has ended up being inconsistent and a little bit up and down. Don’t get me wrong, we could have done better and there are certainly things that we could improve, but I think longer term we’ll be better for it, if we can work through this season and this period.
"The biggest thing is to find a clear identity and a clear way of playing, and then we can see what the future looks like with this team. If it’s positive then that could be a great thing. We have a duty to try and do that. All we ask from anyone on the outside is that there is some understanding. But we also understand that we are under pressure and that we have to try to win while doing it."