Newcastle United's expectations have been assessed ahead of Sunday's Tyne-Wear derby against Sunderland.
The Magpies went into the game on the back of a deeply disappointing second-half display in Wednesday night’s defeat against La Liga giants Barcelona as Howe’s men saw their Champions League run come to a shuddering halt in the Camp Nou. As they prepared to return to Premier League action, results over the weekend fell in United’s favour as they look to secure a fourth consecutive top seven finish under Howe and the European place that would come as a reward.
The Magpies boss has already admitted he feels another tilt at the Champions League is almost out of reach for his squad but securing a spot in next season’s Europa League or Conference League remains within their grasp during the final two months of the season. Newcastle’s long-term aims are to establish themselves as regular contenders amongst the Premier League and European elite - although Carragher believes financial regulations mean Magpies fans should limit their expectations for the time being as he reflected on their recovery from the sale of Alexander Isak to Liverpool last summer.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ live coverage of Sunday’s derby clash at St James Park, the former Liverpool stalwart said: “You said before, your first question was could this intensify the pressure on Eddie Howe. Is that the feeling around Newcastle? I understand the emotions around this game and the fact they lost the first one and will really want to put this right today. But is it on a knife-edge up there? I understand supporters and emotions of it and you’ve had the season you had last season and every season you want to go a step closer and a step further.
“There’s no doubt they have dropped back but I think the talk around Eddie Howe and Newcastle, where do they expect to finish? They’ve finished in the top seven in the last three seasons, I still think think they have a great opportunity to finish in the top seven again. I’m not sure how much more they can do with that. The talk around the Saudi takeover has been there a few years now but because of the PSR rules it doesn’t really make any difference. They can’t go and do what they want money-wise so that squad of players, losing your superstar (Alexander Isak) in the summer, if they can get into the top seven I think they’ve done really well.”
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