Saturday night’s post-match press conference in Newcastle felt like a big moment for Eddie Howe. It felt emotional. He chose his words very carefully after the loss to Brentford.
It was the first time in a very long time that Newcastle were booed at both half-time and full-time. It was the lowest figure since Saudi Arabia took over the club almost five years ago. They sit 12th in the Premier League after three successive defeats and were knocked out of the League Cup last week.
Howe is a man who has given his life, heart and soul to Newcastle and has done so since returning to Newcastle in November 2021. No one can question this. But he is questioning how he can do his job better – tactics, team selection and training.
The problem for Newcastle at the moment is that they can’t actually train. My current schedule is really tight. We are playing 6 games in 17 days.
They haven’t had a free time during the week since the international break in November. Of course, the same goes for Manchester City, Liverpool, and Arsenal. However, the three teams’ rosters seem better equipped to handle the schedule.
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Highlights of the Premier League match between Newcastle and Brentford
Newcastle had the opportunity to improve their squad in terms of recruitment last summer. We signed contracts with 5 outfielders.
But so far only one in five has actually worked in Malick Thiaw. For four of them – Yoane Wissa, Nick Woltemade, Jacob Ramsey and Anthony Elanga – the jury is still out, at best.
And if you spend £250m and have all these games and play them every three days, most players will have to work. So now I feel like the problems of last summer are really coming home.
Howe’s recruitment from Newcastle has been incredible so far. Players like Tino Livramento, Lewis Hall, Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes and Dan Burn have all come in and become huge characters for Tyneside and have all developed as players. They are the heartbeat of the team.
There is still time for the four summer signings to succeed, but time is running out.
What happens to Howe now?
Howe is a generational manager who has brought so many amazing times, so much joy, so much love to the club and has built a connection between the city and its football club. He stands alongside Kevin Keegan in terms of what he has done for the football club.
The high level of disrespect he has shown on social media feels different to fans who go to games, where Howe is desperate to take his time and turn things around.
Of course, Howe probably still thinks he can change things. He’s already been in danger a few times at Newcastle and turned it around.
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Eddie Howe took responsibility for Newcastle’s poor performance after their defeat to Brentford.
Howe fully supports the Newcastle hierarchy. But as any manager will tell you, he recognizes that if they keep losing and struggling, there will be a change at some point.
And look at the upcoming games. Away to Spurs on Tuesday, away to Aston Villa on Saturday and then straight back. Then it’s a 5,000-mile round trip to Baku for the Champions League, before traveling to Manchester City next Saturday. It’s really cruel now. There is no time to recover.
What Howe did in his press conference against Brentford was an attempt to take the pressure off the players and place blame on himself. As he said last week, what Newcastle need to do at this moment is to protect their players’ confidence at all costs.
And Newcastle need a spark from someone, whether it’s Elanga, Woltemade or someone who will score plenty of goals. They need to find something.
Not only are those players low on energy due to the amount of games they are playing now, but their confidence is also very low. And coming back is really, really hard.
Newcastle’s February fixture schedule
February 10: Tottenham v Newcastle – Premier League, 7.30pm kick-off.
February 14: Aston Villa v Newcastle – FA Cup 4th round, 5.45pm kick-off.
February 18: Qarabag v Newcastle – Champions League play-offs first leg, 5.45pm kick-off.
February 21: Manchester City v Newcastle – Premier League, 8pm kick-off.
February 24: Newcastle v Qarabag – Champions League play-off second leg, 8pm kick-off.
February 28: Newcastle v Everton – Premier League, 3pm kick-off.
