**Newcastle United CEO David Hopkinson held a round table with journalists on Monday to discuss the club’s financial results.**
While the main topic of conversation was the fantastic revenue growth the club continues to show, the key takeaway from the event is that Eddie Howe has been given no assurances over his long-term future at the club.
Pressure has been building on Eddie Howe this season after some poor performances and a few terrible results. None more harmful than the derby defeat at St James’ Park before the international break.
It had been reported that Howe still had the full backing of the club despite growing fan unrest, but it seems that may not actually be the case.
When speaking to the media on Monday (via [The Daily Mail](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-15693657/eddie-howe-newcastle-future-doubt.html)), Hopkinson revealed he’d held a two-hour discussion with Howe after the Sunderland defeat during which he refused to guarantee the long-term security of his position.
> _“I don’t have a stance on (Eddie Howe’s) future. What I can tell you is that the derby loss (2-1 at home to Sunderland on March 22) hurt. We take it seriously. There’s nothing within us that thinks, ‘Well, it’s just three points and on we go’. It has resonated. I spent a couple of hours in a one-on-one lunch recently with Eddie and we talked through a multitude of things, including that._
>
> _“Eddie’s our manager. I expect to have a great run to the end of the season here and we’ll talk about the future when it’s time. Right now, we’re focused on this season’s competition.”_
A lot is riding on the last seven games of the season and how high the Magpies can finish in the table. If Howe fails to deliver, then it’s a very real possibility that the most successful manager in the club’s recent history will be out of a job before next season.
There was a lot of talk about the financial implications over not qualifying for the Champions League and we can’t help but feel a lot of this uncertainty is fueled by that just as much as results.
Hopkinson dropped plenty of bombshells in this meeting, with plenty more to come from it today across the Blog.