The pressure is heating up on Eddie Howe for the first time in his Newcastle United career. A humiliating defeat against Barcelona and a last-gasp defeat against Sunderland before the international break not only compiled his misery, it also raised serious questions about his tenure.
Having taken the Magpies to Champions League football twice and ended their wait for silverware by winning the Carabao Cup last season, some will rightly jump to the defence of the former Bournemouth boss. But there's no hiding just how disastrous the current campaign has been.
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Newcastle face the prospect of finishing below Sunderland, who have just been promoted, after breaking their transfer record last summer. They have no excuses to fall back on.
Newcastle have reached their limit under Howe
When PIF first arrived, the plan was clear. Whilst outrageous transfer rumours instantly arrived, they knew that the plan was to become a Champions League side before anything.
And to Howe's credit, he has transformed Newcastle into exactly that. In terms of achieving the first priority, it has been job done.
Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe before the match Related
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Phase one is complete. Even if this season has been a struggle, qualifying for the Champions League twice in the last three seasons should be applauded.
It's phase two which could prove to be a problem under Howe. Not only do those at St James' Park want to achieve Champions League football every year, they also want to stay there and challenge for the Premier League title.
So the question emerges, is Howe a title-winning manager? His record against the current top six in the Premier League suggests not.
Newcastle vs 25/26 top six
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Wins
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Defeats
If the Magpies are wondering where they've gone wrong this season, then one look at the three wins that they've managed against their closest rivals for European football should give them a good idea.
If nothing changes, then PIF could have no choice but to sack Howe and hire an alternative Premier League manager this summer.
Newcastle could replace Howe with Arteta upgrade
With Roberto De Zerbi off the table after joining Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle could turn towards Oliver Glasner.
The Crystal Palace boss is set to leave Selhurst Park as the most successful manager in the club's history this summer, leaving the door open for the Magpies to make a potential move.
If it were up to former Newcastle midfielder Didi Hamann, then it would certainly be the Austrian who arrives to take the job at the end of the season.
"Will Oliver Glasner be linked to the Newcastle job? Absolutely. The tricky situation with clubs is always that you're not 100% sure whether the manager will have to go or how you finish the season.
"But in Glasner, you've got Man City and potentially Liverpool and Newcastle that might have a change of manager in the summer."
It's not the only time that a former Premier League player has discussed Glasner, either. Ex-Tottenham man Jamie O'Hara claimed that the Palace boss is a "better manager" than Mikel Arteta last year. That's how highly he rates him.
It's not too much of a wild stadium either when you consider that Glasner has already taken Eintracht Frankfurt to Europa League glory, alongside his recent success at Palace, while Arteta has thus far won just a solitary FA Cup at the Emirates.
But would Glasner be a good fit at St James' Park? Like Howe, he ended a trophy drought last season by winning the FA Cup in South London and took Palace into the Europa Conference League.
oliver-glasner-crystal-palace
What makes him different is his system. Glasner prefers to use a 3-4-3 system, which could finally get the best out of Newcastle's frontline.
In one system change, Newcastle could have Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento holding width as wingbacks and then a front three of Nick Woltemade, Anthony Gordon and Harvey Barnes.
It's got the best out of Jean Philippe-Mateta, who is a similarly towering forward to Woltemade and there's no doubt that the German desperately needs to find his role in Tyneside.
What Glasner is unlikely to do is play the record signing in a No.10 role - something that would be music to the ears of every supporter at St James' Park. Whether it is the Palace boss who arrives remains to be seen, however.
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[Newcastle could sack Howe to hire "one of the best managers in the world"](https://www.footballfancast.com/newcastle-united-could-sack-eddie-howe-to-hire-mauricio-pochettino/ "Newcastle could sack Howe to hire "one of the best managers in the world"")
Newcastle United have a big call to make this summer and if it spells the end for Eddie Howe, they should turn towards a veteran option.