Where Newcastle’s Owners Stand On Eddie Howe After Brentford Defeat

Newcastle United remain steadfastly behind Eddie Howe in the midst of the most troubling period of his four-year tenure at St James’ Park.

The i Paper understands that Howe, director of football Ross Wilson and chief executive David Hopkinson were all in contact on Sunday morning after a damaging home defeat against Brentford that saw the team booed off and left them marooned in 12th place in the Premier League.

The situation, and the reaction of the crowd, is being treated seriously at St James’ Park, where questions are being asked internally of what can be done better. But Howe is safe and the narrative is clear: no over-reactions.

Razor-thin margins

The reason for the confidence in Howe is partly because of how razor-thin the margins have been this season.

No one is kidding themselves that Newcastle are playing well but they continue to significantly underperform their expected points total (a table they sit fifth in).

They are consistently missing big chances which is a recipe for disaster in a congested league.

That, for what it is worth, is a belief shared by at least one Premier League rival who has access to advanced performance metrics that suggest Newcastle are a better team than the league table shows.

Few will want to hear that with the Magpies, sitting 10 points from fifth, playing poorly and almost certainly out of the race for a Champions League place after a bruising weekend.

Internal expectation

It was only last year that Newcastle won the Carabao Cup (Photo: Getty)

The internal expectation is that Newcastle should be in European competition every season, a target they run the risk of missing out on this year.

At the heart of it, then, faith in Howe is rooted in the belief that the run of form is not a true reflection of his ability as a manager.

It is an admirable stance – one that this correspondent agrees with, given how consistently his teams have overperformed since his appointment in 2021 – but it does not protect the club from some uncomfortable truths.

They have now lost six out of nine games against the top seven.

Game management is a big problem; Newcastle have conceded 11 goals after the 85th-minute mark this season and lost 19 points from winning positions.

Their attacking patterns look tired, physically they look shot and confidence is on the floor.

The big issue

Howe, whose tendency is to go back to experienced players who have served him well, is struggling to find answers without time on the training ground to correct it.

Kieran Trippier has played back-to-back games at right-back and it has been a tough, unedifying watch.

Newcastle have an England Under-19 full-back in Leo Shahar but there is reluctance to try him or defender Alex Murphy, who was the subject of a rejected loan bid from Ligue 2 side Dunkerque before the transfer deadline, in a time of struggle.

Yoane Wissa has turned out to be a huge disappointment (Photo: Getty)

A bigger issue at the moment is a summer recruitment drive that is starting to look like a bit of disaster.

Where predecessors like Rafael Benitez and Alan Pardew were able to detach themselves from transfers, Howe finds himself held culpable because he was pulled into that business at short notice.

While PIF deserve criticism for not delivering on some of the big ticket projects needed to prove Newcastle have aspirations to be elite, Howe’s judgement was backed in the summer.

No quick fix

Newcastle leant into tried and tested with Anthony Elanga and Yoane Wissa – signed for over £100m – but clearly overpaid for both.

Elanga is actually starting to look better but Wissa is a million miles away from the plug and play replacement for Alexander Isak.

There aren’t really quick fixes for many of these issues.

Newcastle will finish above where they currently sit in the league table but looking at the fixture list – after Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday it is an FA Cup trip to Aston Villa, Qarabag and then Manchester City in the league – it could get worse before it gets better.

Howe has the club’s support, but these are uncomfortable days at Newcastle.