Saturday night’s post-match press conference at Newcastle felt like a big moment for Eddie Howe. It was emotional – and after the defeat to Brentford he chose his words very carefully.
It’s been a long time since Newcastle were booed at both half-time and full-time. This is the lowest record since Saudi Arabia took over the club nearly five years ago. They are languishing in 12th place in the Premier League after three consecutive losses, and were eliminated from the League Cup last week.
Howe is a man who dedicates his life, heart and soul to Newcastle and has continued to do so since returning to Newcastle in November 2021. No one doubts that. But he’s clearly wondering how he can do his job better, including tactics, team selection and training.
The problem for Newcastle right now is that they are unable to train in earnest. The schedule at the moment is really tough – they’re in the middle of six games in 17 days.
They haven’t had free time in midweek since the November international break. Of course, the same goes for Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal. But these three teams feel better equipped to handle the schedule.
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Highlights of the Premier League match between Newcastle and Brentford
Newcastle had an opportunity to improve their squad last summer in terms of reinforcements. They signed five outfield players.
However, only one of these five has actually achieved success with Malik Thiau so far. Four of them, Ioan Wissa, Nick Waltemaid, Jacob Ramsey and Anthony Elanga, are still out on the jury at best.
And when you spend £250 million to have all these games and play a game every three days, the majority of those players need to work. So it feels like the problems from last summer are back in full swing.
Howe’s addition to Newcastle has been incredible so far. Players such as Tino Livramento, Lewis Hall, Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimarães and Dan Byrne joined the club and became big players on Tyneside, growing as players. They are the heart of the team.
There is still time to make the summer signings of four players effective, but time is running out.
What’s going on with Howe now?
Howe is a generational manager who has brought so many great times, so much joy, so much love to the club and has forged such connections between the city and the football club. He is up there with Kevin Keegan in terms of what he has achieved for football clubs.
The extreme disrespect shown to him on social media feels at odds with fans of the game, who are desperate to give Howe time and turn things around.
And, of course, Howe will still think he can turn things around. He has already been in trouble a few times at Newcastle and has turned things around.
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Eddie Howe took responsibility for Newcastle’s poor performance in defeat to Brentford
Howe has the full support of Newcastle’s hierarchy. But he knows, as any manager will tell you, if you keep losing games and keep suffering, things will change at some point.
And let’s take a look at the upcoming matches. Spurs are away on Tuesday and have a cup game away to Aston Villa on Saturday, from which they return straight away before embarking on a 5,000-mile round trip to Baku in the Champions League, where they play Man City away next Saturday. Now it’s downright brutal. There is no time to recover.
What Howe was doing in the press conference against Brentford was an attempt to take the pressure off the players and put the blame on himself. As he said last week, what Newcastle have to do at the moment is protect the faith of their players at all costs.
And Newcastle need inspiration, whether it’s Elanga or Woltemade or someone who can score goals. They need to find something.
Those players are now not only low on energy due to the amount of games they are playing, but their confidence is also very low. And it’s really, really hard to get that back.
Newcastle fixtures in February
February 10: Tottenham v Newcastle – Premier League, 7.30pm kick-off
February 14: Aston Villa vs Newcastle – FA Cup 4th round, 5.45pm kick-off
18 February: Qarabag vs Newcastle – Champions League play-off first leg, 5.45pm kick-off
February 21: Man City v Newcastle – Premier League, 8pm kick-off
24 February: Newcastle vs Qarabag – Champions League play-off second leg, 8pm kick-off
February 28: Newcastle vs Everton – Premier League, 3pm kick-off
