Newcastle United’s incredible turnaround under Eddie Howe has been one of the stories of the 2021-22 Premier League season.
When the former Bournemouth manager was appointed as Steve Bruce’s successor in November, Newcastle sat 19th in the Premier League table. They were still winless and had taken just four points from their opening 10 games.
“I’m realistic but I’m also very, very positive,” Howe told reporters in December while his side remained in the bottom three.
“I know it is going to be extremely difficult, there’s a reason why no team has done it [survived after having such a poor start to the season] because it’s incredibly tough but why not be the first?
“That’s always been my mindset, why not change history? That’s what we’re going to have to do. We’re going to have to do it the hard way but we’re more than capable.”
Five months later, the Newcastle manager has achieved exactly what he set out to do.
After their takeover earlier in the campaign, the Tyneside club were the Premier League’s biggest spenders in the January transfer window and the £90million outlay on Chris Wood, Bruno Guimaraes, Dan Burn, Kieran Trippier and Matt Targett has helped inspire their dramatic uptick in form.
But the new mood at the club appears to have given a new lease of life to the existing squad, with the likes of Jonjo Shelvey, Joelinton, Fabian Schar and Ryan Fraser looking much improved.
Their Premier League status is secure for another season.
Here are 12 stats that illustrate quite how impressive Newcastle’s form has been in 2022.
– Only Liverpool, Manchester City, Tottenham and Arsenal have taken more points than the Magpies since Howe’s first match back in November.
– Since the turn of the year, only Liverpool have taken more points than Newcastle.
– Newcastle are averaging 2.13 points per game in 2022. Extrapolated over a full Premier League season, that’s enough to see them qualify for the Champions League and…
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