Whether or not Eddie Howe continues as Newcastle United manager is almost irrelevant now. There is simply no doubt that an era has come to an end.
Quite how dramatic that looks remains to be seen but the first four-and-a-half years of the PIF era at Newcastle United was one of boundless excitement, a rapid-fire ascent and an unforgettable journey.
An absolute legend but there’s no coming back from this…
A graphic asking Newcastle United fans to prove the statement: "It is time for Eddie Howe to leave Newcastle United."
Credit: Getty Images/Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA
That feeling can no longer be captured. The thrill has gone and Newcastle United’s dismal defeat to Sunderland proves it.
Sunderland defeat stings – but Newcastle have wider problems
Howe and his players will rightly get a lot of criticism for yet another cowardly display in a Tyne-Wear derby.
There was no reaction from the defeat on Wearside in December, nor to the humiliating loss to Barcelona on Wednesday night.
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Brian Brobbey scores for Sunderland against Newcastle United.
Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP via Getty Images
Howe’s tactical approach warrants inspection. His midfield are too easy to play through and the defending has been dreadful for months now. Second half performances are generally not good enough, either.
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Games are now a relief to get through more than anything else. This team are now a force of diminishing returns and the sheer manner of their performances against Sunderland this season will be hard to come back from in the eyes of many supporters.
Things have gone incredibly stale and the term “cowardly” has strewn across social media after the full-time whistle on Sunday. Sadly, it is difficult to disagree with that assessment.
Still, there’s a wider sense of malaise under this ownership.
Do you think PIF have lost interest in Newcastle United? 🤔
Newcastle United chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan in the stands at St James' Park, Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe looks to the ground
Credit: James Gill – Danehouse/Stu Forster via Getty Images
Indeed, PIF have allowed Newcastle to drift into a sense of limbo and that is now playing out on the pitch.
A glass ceiling has been hit and there appears to be no plan on how to actually stay there. Rather, the club have bounced off it and are sliding back down to the reality to which many Newcastle fans had become accustomed prior to the PIF takeover.
Steve Bruce used to say that Newcastle were “ticking along” – and they still are
It is, of course, hard to imagine Newcastle being in the relegation mire any time soon as long as PIF remain in charge.
However, for large parts of the Mike Ashley era, the club were just treading water or, as Steve Bruce used to say, “ticking along”.
Is that not what they’re doing now? There has been absolutely no communicated progress on the stadium or training ground and PSR is still being used as an excuse not to spend.
Talk that Newcastle want to be the best club in the world by 2030 now feels like an insult to the intelligence of supporters. It is almost impossible to imagine that being the case – so why does CEO David Hopkinson keep trotting out that line?
Howe has lost credit, and so have PIF.
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