Newcastle’s topsy-turvy season plunged to a new low on Sunday as they suffered a second derby defeat of the season at the hands of Sunderland, with the 2-1 loss at St James’ Park prompting considerable soul-searching at all levels of the club.
A large group of supporters vented their fury at Howe and his players after the final whistle, while internally, there is set to be a major end-of-season review into why things have gone so badly wrong this season, with the Magpies currently languishing in the bottom half of the Premier League table.
Howe was quick to shoulder the blame for Sunday’s latest derby loss, but when it comes to the bigger picture of why Newcastle have failed to build on last season’s Carabao Cup success, the United boss has set his sights on the Premier League’s PSR rules that dictate how much a club can spend.
Newcastle have wrestled with the constraints of the PSR regulations ever since the Saudi Arabian PIF completed their buyout in the autumn of 2021, with the enforced sale of Elliot Anderson the most obvious example of their need to keep their net spending within a certain limit.
However, Howe’s words lose much of their impact when last summer’s disastrous transfer window is assessed. Newcastle spent more than £250m on Anthony Elanga, Malick Thiaw, Jacob Ramsey, Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa, a level of expenditure that seriously undermines any suggestion that the club are unable to invest at a level that would enable them to remain competitive in both the Premier League and Europe.
“I think the rules have made it very difficult for that momentum to go with the speed that it initially did,” said Howe, when asked about why the ‘Newcastle project’ appears to have stalled. “I don’t know a way that we can beat that system, we have to follow the rules that are set.
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“The club desperately want to be ambitious, but there’s a limit to what we can spend. That has a knock-on effect on everything we do, and the decisions we’ve made previously, to not recruit for that many windows, I don’t know a team that wouldn’t suffer from that, and we certainly have. Then losing Alex [Isak] last summer was a considerable blow.
“We can’t feel sorry for ourselves though, and we can’t use excuses. We have to find a way to be successful despite all of these things. But with that, I think there has to be an understanding of the tough conditions we’re working in.”
While Newcastle will spend the final seven matches of the season trying to scramble their way into a European qualifying spot, there is already a recognition that this summer’s transfer window will be a crucial moment in the club’s ongoing development.
The transfer rumour mill has cranked up significantly in the last couple of weeks with Bruno Guimaraes being heavily linked with a move to Manchester United, Tino Livramento reportedly still in the sights of Manchester City and Sandro Tonali being touted for a return to Italy. With Champions League qualification now looking extremely unlikely, those rumours will almost certainly intensify as the summer approaches.
Can Newcastle hold onto their leading lights? And can they make the kind of signings that might enable them to turn over a new leaf after the struggles of the current campaign?
“I think every transfer window is so, so important,” said Howe. “Unfortunately for us, we’ve had some difficult windows – five of the last six, we haven’t been able to recruit in. The last summer was tough to say the least, that’s the hardest transfer window I’ve ever had.
“Of course, we don’t want to lose momentum in any way. We want to continue to bring the best players to the football club if we can, and we desperately don’t want to lose our best players. That combination is so important, but it does get harder and harder and more challenging for us because we don’t have the revenue of the other clubs.”
In the short term, Howe accepts he and his players will have to continue to deal with the fallout from Sunday’s defeat, which saw Sunderland leapfrog Newcastle in the table as they extended their unbeaten run in league derby matches to a remarkable 11 games.
“All we can do is accept the criticism,” said Howe. “Whatever words are used, I’m not going to challenge them. We have to do better.”