Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha killed off Newcastle United's Champions League dream as Barcelona survived a first-half fright to book a quarter-final place
Simon Jordan
Simon Jordan
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Simon Jordan has told Newcastle United not even Luis Enrique could do a better job than Eddie Howe in the current circumstances. The Magpies saw their Champions League hopes come to an end on Wednesday night when they were hammered by Barcelona at the Spotify Camp Nou.
Newcastle arrived in Barcelona with high hopes of pulling off a shock after enjoying the better of their last-16 first leg clash at St James’ Park, but only coming away with a 1-1 draw. And although Howe’s side only trailed 3-2 on the night at the break, they were swept away in the second-half as the hosts scored four times without reply.
Newcastle host bitter rivals Sunderland in the Tyne-Wear derby at St James' Park on Sunday afternoon, but their hopes of securing a top five finish appear slim.
But former Crystal Palace owner Jordan believes there are a number of problems that continue to hold the club back, and no one, with the tools currently available, can do a better job than Howe.
He told talkSPORT: "The challenge for them is: How do Newcastle United square this circle of having the idea of having the world's richest owners? Having this marvellous fanbase that are - not demanding success - but wanting it so much and obviously we saw that last year when they won the League Cup.
"And how do they do it? What are they, ninth in the league? Who is in front of them who should not be in front of them on paper, perhaps Aston Villa, perhaps Brentford and Everton?
"Other than that, where is the argument, what can Newcastle do? They've got to punch massively above their financial weight to break into the top six, so really and truly what we are talking with Newcastle being ninth in the Premier League, is if they go past Brentford and Everton and finish seventh or sixth, they've done their job.
Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe during the 7-2 defeat to Barcelona
Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe during the 7-2 defeat to Barcelona(Image: 2026 Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA)
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"But they won't have done their job prima facie because they have been successful in getting into the Champions League.
"They have got the moniker of having the world's richest owners, but they have got the backdrop...the commercial reality (is) they cannot go pound-for-pound with these boys who are spending £250m every transfer window.
"They can't keep their best players, because their best players are going to legacy clubs like Liverpool. So what do they do? The only thing they can do is do something that they should have done and what they should be doing now, which is build a new stadium. Increase the capacity of the stadium, increase the revenues, get some more opportunities to be able to monetise themselves better.
"That is the only way Newcastle can achieve anything vaguely resembling what their CEO said about being a dominant force in 2030. That is it, end of discussion.
"You can bring in Luis Enrique if you want, you can bring in the reputed best managers in European football. Unless they are given the tools to work with, they are not going to do anything better than Eddie Howe is doing."