Sky Sports pundits Gary Neville and Paul Merson have backed Eddie Howe at Newcastle despite a poor recent run that has taken the Magpies from the European picture to the bottom half of the Premier League.
Newcastle produced a much-improved performance against Arsenal on Saturday Night Football but still lost 1-0 — their fourth successive Premier League defeat. The run has put Howe under immense pressure, with Newcastle now 14th in the table on 42 points, just six above the relegation zone.
Neither pundit believes Howe should be sacked. On Saturday Night Football, Merson warned Newcastle to be careful, saying: “I’m a big fan of Eddie Howe and if he leaves, they will be queuing up around the corner. Chelsea would take him all day long. We were talking about him being the next England manager. Everyone will be queueing up to take him. It should be his decision if he wants to leave. He won a trophy for the club for the first time in 70 years.”
Neville, speaking on The Gary Neville Podcast from the Emirates, said he hopes Newcastle and Howe are already preparing the squad for next season and that the manager can take the club back into the Champions League. He called this a “really disappointing season” and pointed to the club’s transfer business as a problem, noting signings such as Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa have not paid off yet.
“I think full faith and trust in Eddie Howe is the way to go,” Neville said. He argued that Newcastle should back their manager and buy into his vision: “They will be thinking ‘if we lost him, we’ve lost an eight-and-a-half out of 10 manager, someone who’s a real solid performer — reliable, consistent, someone who’s got a great attitude.’ I hope they’re sitting down with Eddie Howe and they’re going through [the squad] and he’s saying ‘these are the players I want, these are the players I’m going to buy into for next season, I want to get these four or five in, and I want our business done early while everyone’s thinking about the World Cup.'”
Howe is set to meet with Newcastle’s hierarchy this week. When asked by Sky Sports about the meeting he said: “These are things we always have every year. This one will be slightly harder for me, I’m sure, but it’ll be good to meet with the owners and discuss the future.”
Midfielder Bruno Guimaraes gave a candid assessment after the Arsenal defeat, saying the team finally showed “passion” but that overall the season has not been good enough. “This reminded me a little bit of what we are able to do but, to be fair, it’s not good enough, our season, I know it,” he said. “We have four games to save it and at least try to qualify for European football next season. I know the fans are very sad — the same as we are — and definitely we have to improve.”
Guimaraes added that the squad has been inconsistent, “bouncing between a good game and a bad game,” and admitted the club needs reinforcements. “I hope so,” he said when asked if he wanted fresh faces. “I cannot comment too much as I’m just a player but I think we have to improve a lot of things in the club. We need help.”