Newcastle United CEO David Hopkinson has addressed the noise surrounding Eddie Howe’s future.
Hopkinson was asked for his stance on Howe and admitted he didn’t have one before saying: “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”.
When it was suggested to Hopkinson that he was leaving it open, he 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.
“All of us have only got so much bandwidth and we are focused on this season and finishing strongly.”
David Hopkinson criticised for Eddie Howe comments
Sources have stressed that Howe’s job is safe and that changing managers isn’t a consideration, but Townsend has questioned Hopkinson for not being stronger in his public response.
“The first thing I think of when hearing that is I bet Eddie is livid with that,” Townsend told talkSPORT. “I bet he’s boiling when he hears quotes like that. I don’t think he’ll be too pleased with all of that.
“Listen, Eddie Howe has won the League Cup, he’s given them a couple of runs in the Champions League. I’ll tell you, and I watched the two Barcelona games.
“The first one was at St James’ Park and the one in Barca, they were right in that game and in the end it went ballistic and they gave away some really bad goals. Then, on the back of that, they play in the derby [v Sunderland] and get done.
“Obviously, that’s not good but isn’t that the time when the chief exec should throw an arm around him and gives him a little bit of a cuddle and says ‘we’ve got to pick it up again and we’ve got to improve, Eddie will be the first one to understand that’.
“Those quotes are kind of strange. There has been a lot of talk of Eddie coming out of Newcastle but be careful what you wish for guys, I tell you, because he’s a good manager and knows what he is doing, and has given the Newcastle fans some great days.
“I know nothing lasts forever, not in football most certainly, but I think he’ll be a little bit upset at those comments.”
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