The Eddie Howe win percentage with Newcastle United in the top tier, is the second highest in the club’s history, only surpassed by Kevin Keegan, who operated free from financial control (Yes, Eddie has even surpassed Sir Bobby).
He is the first Newcastle United manager since Joe Harvey to reach two cup finals.
Eddie Howe became the first manager in the Premier League era to avoid relegation with a team that failed to win any of the first 14 PL games of the season.
His 2023–24 side scored 85 Premier League goals, a club record in this PL era, surpassing Keegan’s Entertainers.
His team recorded the club’s biggest ever away league win (8-0 at Sheffield United).
Eddie Howe went through three consecutive transfer windows without bringing in an immediate first team player (due to PSR and Paul Mitchell’s incompetence), during which time the club sold Yankuba Minteh, Elliot Anderson, and Miguel Almiron.
Eddie Howe then delivered the first domestic trophy in 70 years and also qualified for the Champions League.
Yet, how soon we forget?
But let me digress a bit further.
Across the last 25 years, studies by economists such as Chris Brady (University of Salford) and data-driven analysis from sources such as Soccernomics (Stefan Szymanski and Simon Kuper), show that a club’s wage bill is the most reliable financial indicator of league performance. The wage bill correlates to between 70% and 90% of success. This contrasts with net transfer spending, which correlates with only about 16% of success.
So let’s look at the wage bills.
Premier League clubs top eight highest wage bills (as per the 2023/24 accounts of each club):
£413.0m Manchester City
£386.1m Liverpool
£364.7m Manchester United
£338.0m Chelsea
£327.8m Arsenal
£233.0m Aston Villa
£222.0m Tottenham
£218.7m Newcastle United
As you can see, Newcastle United only eighth highest. The NUFC wage bill has never been higher than 8th during Eddie Howe’s time at St James’ Park, yet the team have never finished lower than 7th so far in the league in any full season under Howe.
Quite simply Eddie has overachieved in every season in the Premier League.
But let’s see what we could have won behind door number two.
Below is every manager that has left their respective Premier League clubs since Eddie Howe has been in charge:
Dean Smith (Sacked, Aston Villa, 7 November 2021)
Ole Gunnar Solskjær (Sacked, Manchester United, 21 November 2021)
Rafael Benítez (Sacked, Everton, 16 January 2022)
Claudio Ranieri (Sacked, Watford, 24 January 2022)
Marcelo Bielsa (Sacked, Leeds United, 27 February 2022)
Sean Dyche (Sacked, Burnley, 15 April 2022)
Ralf Rangnick (End of interim spell, Manchester United, 22 May 2022)
Scott Parker (Sacked, Bournemouth, 30 August 2022)
Thomas Tuchel (Sacked, Chelsea, 7 September 2022)
Bruno Lage (Sacked, Wolves, 2 October 2022)
Steven Gerrard (Sacked, Aston Villa, 20 October 2022)
Ralph Hasenhüttl (Sacked, Southampton, 7 November 2022)
Frank Lampard (Sacked, Everton, 23 January 2023)
Jesse Marsch (Sacked, Leeds United, 6 February 2023)
Nathan Jones (Sacked, Southampton, 12 February 2023)
Patrick Vieira (Sacked, Crystal Palace, 17 March 2023)
Antonio Conte (Mutual consent, Tottenham, 26 March 2023)
Brendan Rodgers (Mutual consent, Leicester City, 2 April 2023)
Graham Potter (Sacked, Chelsea, 2 April 2023)
Cristian Stellini (Sacked, Tottenham, 24 April 2023)
Javi Gracia (Sacked, Leeds United, 3 May 2023)
Sam Allardyce (Mutual consent, Leeds United, 2 June 2023)
Gary O’Neil (Sacked, Bournemouth, 19 June 2023)
Rubén Sellés (End of contract, Southampton, 30 June 2023)
Julen Lopetegui (Mutual consent, Wolves, 8 August 2023)
Paul Heckingbottom (Sacked, Sheffield Utd, 5 December 2023)
Steve Cooper (Sacked, Nottingham Forest, 19 December 2023)
Roy Hodgson (Resigned, Crystal Palace, 19 February 2024)
Mauricio Pochettino (Mutual consent, Chelsea, 21 May 2024)
David Moyes (End of contract, West Ham United, 30 June 2024)
Jurgen Klopp (Resigned, Liverpool, 30 June 2024)
Erik ten Hag (Sacked, Manchester United, 28 October 2024)
Steve Cooper (Sacked, Leicester City, 24 November 2024)
Gary O’Neil (Sacked, Wolves, 15 December 2024)
Russell Martin (Sacked, Southampton, 15 December 2024)
Julen Lopetegui (Sacked, West Ham United, 8 January 2025)
Sean Dyche (Sacked, Everton, 9 January 2025)
Ivan Jurić (Sacked, Southampton, 7 April 2025)
Ange Postecoglou (Mutual consent, Tottenham, June 2025)
Nuno Espírito Santo (Sacked, Nottingham Forest, 8 September 2025)
Graham Potter (Sacked, West Ham United, 27 September 2025)
Ange Postecoglou (Sacked, Nottingham Forest, 18 October 2025)
Vítor Pereira (Sacked, Wolves, 2 November 2025)
Enzo Maresca (Mutual consent, Chelsea, 1 January 2026)
Rúben Amorim (Sacked, Manchester United, 5 January 2026)
Thomas Frank (Sacked, Tottenham, 11 February 2026)
Sean Dyche (Sacked, Nottingham Forest, 12 February 2026)
Billions spent chasing short-term solutions.
Barring a tiny handful of exceptions (with significantly stronger squads on arrival), none have matched Eddie Howe’s combined:
Champions League qualification (twice)
Trophy success.
Sustainable overperformance relative to wage spend.
Eddie even outperformed Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool in his first full season in charge.
The grass is not greener…
Eddie Howe stated publicly in the last press conference of the 24/25 season that it is important to move quickly in the transfer market. It then took more than six weeks for the owners to approve the first incoming transfer, combined with the incompetent negotiations of Paul Mitchell who, after telling everyone how incompetent they were, failed to sign a first team player and then walked away. During this slow, laborious process of the owners approving sales, multiple targets were lost to direct rivals.
Eddie Howe is one of the most highly regarded managers in football (I think some of our fanbase don’t realise how good he is). The reason there is no weekly headline about where Eddie will go, is down to Eddie; he has refused all speculation—a testament to the man’s commitment to Newcastle United. It’s time to repay that loyalty and trust.
We are seeing the green shoots of recovery for our away form. Anthony Gordon being moved to the number 9 role and being worked on by Eddie, Jason Tindall and the rest of the hard working coaching staff at the training ground, as a striker is beginning to work. Dropping Nick Woltemade into midfield has improved the team’s overall performance, when under pressure away from home, giving the opposition something to worry about when they are on the front foot Our front three are quick and can terrify the opposition)
Eddie Howe did a similar thing last season when moving Sandro Tonali into the 6. Eddie, unlike most managers, can come up with solutions; it just takes time for players to adjust in new roles in the high intensity environment of the Premier League. Eddie will turn this around; in this world of now and instant gratification, patience is required.
Eddie Howe has never been sacked. He walked away from Bournemouth when he became disillusioned with the project; he walked away from Burnley for personal reasons. When he says that he would step aside if he didn’t think he was the right man, there is no reason to doubt him.
To the small vocal minority who want Eddie Howe out: continue, and we are all going to be damned for what you wish for.
Loyalty works both ways.
The defence for sanity rests its case.