Newcastle United’s performance against Crystal Palace was far worse than the result in the 2-1 defeat itself.
An abject Newcastle United lost to Crystal Palace on Sunday, throwing away yet another lead. That’s now 25 Premier League points given away this season.
If you had to put a percentage on it….
A graphic asking fans the question: "To what extent is Eddie Howe to blame for this season?" Image shows Eddie Howe looking dejected after Newcastle United lose to Crystal Palace.
Credit: Getty Images/Serena Taylor/Newcastle United
While those backing Eddie Howe to turn things around do have a point in that he is arguably Newcastle United’s greatest ever manager, the Palace game was mud in the eye for them.
Here’s why.
Howe era threatens to turn toxic with every passing defeat
Quite what this team have been doing on the training ground over the extended break is up for debate.
Even accounting for the players who were away on an international break, Newcastle still had last week off because they were not playing in the FA Cup.
Is this really the player we lauded as one of the best in Europe?! 😔
A graphic asking Newcastle United fans to grade Tino Livramento's performance against Crystal Palace between A* and D.
Credit: Getty Images/Serena Taylor/Newcastle United
All season, Howe has been talking about the need for more training time. Well, he had it, and another dreadful performance was served up. It’s genuinely hard to imagine what it was like there over the last few days, based on the performance at Selhurst Park.
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That’s without even mentioning the context in which the Palace game came. Newcastle fans deserved a reaction after the defeat to Sunderland before the break, a result and performance that still infuriates people almost a month on.
They did not get one and, frankly, it’s not a huge surprise.
Eddie Howe looks dejected after Newcastle United lose to Crystal Palace in the Premier League.
Photo by Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images
Perhaps the players aren’t listening to Howe. That is impossible to say. Whether they are or aren’t, however, is almost immaterial at this point. No matter who is to blame, something clearly isn’t working.
With every passing game, it’s hard to see how anything is going to change. Wanting Howe to turn things around is understandable but yet more defeats threaten to turn the situation too toxic to continue on with.
Howe wants to stay and rebuild Newcastle United but whether he’s the right man for the job is increasingly unclear.
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