The fallout is inevitable, uproarious and much of it fair, for as Eddie Howe said: ‘You can use whatever word you want, I won’t challenge it.’
That is how lame Newcastle were in defeat on Sunday against rivals Sunderland, and for the second time this season. On Sunday night, the flames of fury torched every platform.
Yet a bigger question rises from the ashes of derby devastation – what next for Howe? Not all agree, but there should only be one answer – the head coach deserves at least one fractured season as well as the summer to manage the repairs.
The speed and ascent of Newcastle’s journey under him makes this feel like an end-of-cycle moment. Crash, burnout, reset, rebuild, if he has the stomach for a refuel, which he insists he does.
I wrote last week that exiting the Champions League against Barcelona acted as a punctuation mark on this chapter of the club, and four days later Sunderland graffitied those pages in red ink. That, however, should not blind decision-makers, nor the supporters, to the bigger picture.
Howe remains the best manager in the club’s recent history and best man to take them forward again. The greatest catalyst in taking Newcastle from 19th to fourth and into the Champions League twice, with a first domestic trophy in 70 years along the way, has been the manager.
Eddie Howe has come under pressure after a harrowing week which ended with yet another defeat by Sunderland in the derby
The derby defeat came on the back of an utter humiliation in the Nou Camp, where Newcastle lost 7-2 as their Champions League campaign came to a shuddering halt
| Feb 28 | LOST 3-2 v Everton (PL, h) |
| Mar 4 | WON 2-1 v Man United (PL, h) |
| Mar 7 | LOST 3-1 v Man City (FA Cup, h) |
| Mar 10 | DREW 1-1 v Barcelona (CL, h) |
| Mar 14 | WON 1-0 v Chelsea (PL, a) |
| Mar 18 | LOST 7-2 v Barcelona (CL, a) |
| Sunday | LOST 2-1 v Sunderland (PL, h) |
But what do those on the inside think? The new executive team, certainly, would share that view. Howe will get support from chief executive David Hopkinson, sporting director Ross Wilson and performance director James Bunce. Everything I’m told is that they, with Howe, remain aligned and united.
What the St James’ Park hierarchy and the manager himself do not know is the opinion of the club’s Saudi ownership.
They have not expressed anything other than understanding and a want to help – contact between Riyadh and Tyneside is said to be daily – but nor are they prone to statements of outright…