Newcastle United’s Tyne-Wear derby defeat to Sunderland has increased the pressure on Eddie Howe.
External pressure is mounting on Howe after last Sunday’s Tyne-Wear derby defeat at home to Sunderland saw his team slip to 12th in the Premier League table with seven matches left to play.
Howe ended the club’s 56-year trophy drought by winning the Carabao Cup last year and has twice secured Champions League qualification during his four-and-a-half years in charge. While few can dismiss those achievements, this season has flattered to deceive.
The Magpies were dumped out of the Carabao Cup and FA Cup by Manchester City and also suffered a heavy 8-3 aggregate defeat to Barcelona in the last 16 of the Champions League. Anything less than a strong end to the campaign will see them miss out on European qualification altogether.
David Hopkinson asked about Eddie Howe’s future
Sources close to NewcastleWorld have stressed that Howe’s job is safe and that changing managers isn’t a consideration, however Hopkinson’s response wasn’t as unanimous as previous ones.
For example, after talkSPORT pundit Simon Jordan claimed Howe wasn’t the man to take Newcastle to the next level, Hopkinson said: “Eddie's our manager and he's an extraordinary manager,” said Newcastle’s CEO. “We just talked about how much he's envied by other clubs and the national program, so with all due respect to Simon [Jordan], I could not disagree more.
“Then I guess he won't be going to work with Simon anytime soon. But Eddie's our man and he has our total support here.”
Two months on in his latest response, Hopkinson told NewcastleWorld: "I don't have a stance on his future. What I can tell you is that the derby loss 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."
When asked if he was leaving Howe’s future open, Hopkinson replied: “I would not frame it that way. We are not looking to make a change at the moment. We are not having those conversations. We are still in the midst of the season.
“Right now, we are focused on the seven matches we have remaining and not distracting ourselves with speculation about what we may or may not do in the summer. Right now, all of us have only got so much bandwidth and we are focused on this season and finishing strongly.”
Eddie Howe on his Newcastle United future
Howe was faced with questions regarding his future in the immediate aftermath of the Sunderland defeat and vowed that he was “fully committed”.
“I'm fully committed to the job,” said Howe. “I'm disappointed in my delivery today and my delivery in the last week. The Barcelona game was very tough. Today's even tougher.
“I always, as I said after the Brentford game, absorb that blame myself. I don't look to deflect it anywhere else. I certainly won't deflect it to my players. I'll protect my players until my last breath.”
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