Newcastle United 2-3 Everton: Newcastle’s St James’ Park struggles continued on Saturday afternoon.
For a long time, Newcastle United’s poor away form had been propped up by a strong record at St James’ Park.
But when that record disappears, the worrying reality of Newcastle’s situation becomes clear. Eddie Howe’s side are 12th in the Premier League table, 12 points off the Champions League places with 10 games left to play.
It follows a third straight league defeat at St James’ Park for The Magpies and fourth in a row domestically. This is at a ground previously hailed as a fortress for Newcastle, and for good reason.
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NUFC’s worrying home form
Newcastle lost just four league matches at St James’ Park in Eddie Howe’s first two seasons in charge. In Howe’s third season The Magpies lost three games at St James’ Park in the Premier League, and last season they lost five.
Earlier this season, Newcastle boasted a strong home record that was countered by the side’s poor away form. The side won 11 and drew two of 13 successive home matches between September and January before the recent run of defeats.
That home form looked to make Newcastle’s stuttering season salvageable. But with that gone, what has Howe got left to work with?
Next up for The Magpies is an in-form Manchester United side at St James’ Park. Manchester City in the FA Cup and Barcelona in the Champions League follow before Howe’s side are next on the road away to Chelsea in the Premier League.
But by that stage, their season could be effectively over if they aren’t able to bounce back at St James’ Park.
It’s a problem Howe is well aware of as he told The Gazette: “I think it would be foolish of me to say anything other than we've got to get our home form back on track.
“We're well aware of how much we enjoy playing here. Historically, under my management, we've loved it. We've embraced it.
“Every time we've come back here after a difficult result, there's a good feeling. This is probably the first time where serious question marks have been asked of our home performances.
“It's something that can't linger too long. We've got to grab it back. Our supporters are incredible. They give us so much. We've got to start giving them something back.”
Boos at St James’ Park
Recent matches at St James’ Park have heard boos from sections of the support, understandably dissatisfied with what they have been served up on the pitch.
“Yes, obviously not what we want,” Howe previously said regarding the boos. “It is hard, but I don't blame the supporters for expressing their feelings. I think we've created that ourselves to a point with a run of games where we haven't played as well as we can.
“We've defended poorly and we've got punished and there's no other thing to do than accept responsibility for it.”
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