The pressure is one for the United head coach to deliver this summer and and next season
Newcastle United's head coach Eddie Howe
Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe
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Let us not beat about the bush. Life has been too harsh, bitter disappointment too biting and prolonged. The city of Newcastle is no longer united in happy unison.
There is no getting away from harsh reality. Amid the swirling turmoil and debris Eddie Howe is lucky to still be standing.
Seventeen Premier League defeats in a single season and a 12th place finish is the sort of end-of-season positioning we used to get when Steve Bruce was manager and Mike Ashley owner. They are looked upon as the dark days we thought we had left behind never to return.
Meanwhile PL rookies and near neighbours Sunderland have qualified for Europe through the six points we presented them in two derby matches, while Unai Emery, the manager we almost had, piloted Aston Villa to fourth top, Champions League qualification, and a European trophy won despite playing an exhausting three matches a week throughout ten months which we have repeatedly blamed for any lack of success.
It serves little purpose to thrash around over whether or not Howe should be sacked. That is something fans cannot control and all the smoke blowing from the St James' Park chimney points to the fact that the same leader will take us into battle next season.
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However if the Saudis are standing firm in a high wind Howe is unquestionably in the dock at the court of public opinion. How he helps oversee a summer of upheaval, how he stimulates and signposts the way ahead next campaign, will deliver an ultimate and permanent verdict.
Is he on a one-off season of negativity or a permanent slide to oblivion?
The tide has certainly turned against him with each and every miserable performance and crushing defeat towards the tail end of competition. He has lost significant terrace support, though far from all of it.
United's boss has looked haunted of late, his pre-match and after-match Press conferences predictable, and enough players have given up which is a massive condemnation of them as well as the people paid to inspire them.
I have wanted to stay with Eddie, grateful for what he has brought us because he lifted spirits and produced excitement on a regular basis. However managers exist in a world that is very much today and not yesterday. It has always been thus.
United sacked two of their greatest managers ever. Joe Harvey hadn't a solitary single blemish like relegation on his watch over 11 years when finances were much more restricted than today and won Newcastle their one and only European trophy but he took the bullet. So did Sir Bobby Robson after finishing third in the PL and piloting us through a mammoth programme of 14 Champions League matches all in the same season.
Sentiment counted for nought. They donned the blindfold whereas Eddie Howe has not. That is why he must consider himself lucky and capitalise on it.
Sir Bobby Robson and Eddie Howe
Sir Bobby Robson (left) and Eddie Howe
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It is often suggested that the knock-out competitions produced a silver lining but did they? We got to the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup through every tie being at home until Manchester City defeated us over two legs both home and away. The FA Cup stretched to the fifth round which represented just two victories and then another defeat at home . . . to Man City.
Even the Champions League was hardly littered with sensational results if you think about it. It's the razzle dazzle of course. The big time. The large cherry on top of the cake and we got to the last 16 for the first time in our history. However strip away the gaudy wrapping paper and under the new format United faced only two truly top teams losing twice to Barcelona and getting a very good draw at PSG. The rest of the time the challenge was nowhere near as stiff as in the PL. We beat Union Saint-Gilloise and Qarabag, who are way off the power map, and even Benfica and Bilbao don't measure up to domestic confrontations.
I'm not trying to be all doom and gloom. Far from it. I care like everyone else. I'm just wanting to be realistic because I want United and Howe to be so as well otherwise we will drift this summer and get nowhere again. Harsh facts have to be faced as they were by Villa and Emery when they failed to win any of their first half dozen matches and failed to score in four of them. They rose spectacularly from their bed of nails. We must too.
There is no more credit in the bank for Howe. He is starting again from scratch and I'm sure he knows it.
For some fans United's problems this time round the block can be traced directly back to Alexander Isak's acrimonious transfer but that only tells part of the story. United compounded the loss by arrogantly holding out until the last minute believing they could force him to stay and then, panic taking over, blew the whole of his fee on two players who have failed to be the solution for differing reasons. United added big time to the Isak problem.
Of course there were some good performances during the season, just not enough of them. Beating Man City up here in the PL stands out, a 4-1 victory at Everton too, and overcoming Man U with a super Will Osula last minute strike.
However they were counter balanced by the two derbies and a multitude of other dismal results.
Can Eddie Howe be re-energised? Can he inspire a new squad, command their attention and respect, and galvanise them to new heights? Can he resume the role of the Great Saviour that he once was? Will he prove that sticking with what you have can pay dividends? Or will he confirm that everyone reaches the end of the line?
Naturally I and all Geordies want whoever is Newcastle United manager to be a success. We want the owners to achieve what they promised upon first arriving. We want to elevate the likes of Bruno, Lewis Hall, Lewis Miley, and Jacob Ramsey to legendary status. Put them on a pedestal. Give them a free pass for life in our city.
However to do that all who remain within SJP had better learn from an utterly depressing campaign.
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