Eddie Howe’s team have the richest owners in the world. But they are still to mount a title challenge since the Public Investment Fund came knocking
Eddie Howe is not a manager given to histrionics or grand public pronouncements. So by his standards, his press conference after Sunday’s 3-1 defeat to lowly West Ham counts as a furious tirade. His side took an early lead but West Ham were ahead by half-time, as well as hitting the post and having a penalty overturned by VAR, leading Howe to make a triple change at the break.
“That was the frustrating thing about the first half,” Howe said. “I almost could have taken anyone off and I think that was a reflection of where we were in that moment in the game and it’s very, very rare for me to feel that way. In fact, I don’t think I have since I’ve been manager of Newcastle, so I felt the team needed some shaking up at half-time. That’s why I did what I did.”
Anthony Gordon, Nick Woltemade and Emil Krafth all came off at half-time and Newcastle did stabilise to an extent in the second half, without ever really looking like they might get back into the game against a side that had won only one of their previous nine league matches. Given how packed the centre of the table is, with just three points separating third from 11th, and nine points between second and 17th, a run of 12 points from 10 games has not left Newcastle adrift but, equally, they cannot finish the season 13th.
