I am disappointed, but not surprised, to read the increasing noise for Eddie Howe to go.
While all fans want success after success, in reality that is not the way life and football usually work.
As I have mentioned on The Mag before, I consider Eddie Howe, along with Sir Bobby Robson, as the best managers the Toon has ever had.
The last week has probably been the worst since Eddie took over, however, it is not the time for a knee-jerk reaction.
Instead, a need to reassess where we stand and what is realistically achievable.
It is difficult to imagine a worse week than to concede seven goals in a game, then be beaten at home by Sunderland.
To put that into perspective though, pre Eddie Howe we dare not even dream of having a last sixteen game in the Champions League, let alone having been equal to Barcelona for three-quarters of the tie.
The season has been a struggle from the start, following a chaotic transfer window.
We all remember Eddie Howe’s request to the club hierarchy to have the transfer business “done early” to give the best chance to have the squad bonded and all ready to go, but as we all know that did not happen, through no fault of Eddie Howe. Instead, we had to handle the fallout of the Alexander Isak drama into the new season.
Almost the entire season, Newcastle United have been playing two games a week except when players were away on international duty, leaving little or no time to build anything. Eddie Howe has been firefighting rather than building.
In addition, we have had another season where we have one of the worst injury levels in the Premier League ( only Spurs are close and look where they are). This has put a greater strain on the players that were available, needing to play more than would be ideal.
Eddie Howe has not been in a position to do any more than patch a team from game to game.
We read daily of the failure of the incoming transfers, which with one major exception is true, but again Eddie’s way has been to integrate players slowly rather than throwing them in immediately, a luxury he has not been allowed.
Eddie Howe has transformed the team since he arrived, perhaps he is suffering from the speed he has built the side and what he has achieved in such a short period of time, leading to so many thinking that the improvement will automatically continue.
Unfortunately, it is a much longer road to continuous success, remember where we started from.
Fans who were also around back in the day will remember times when the position we are in at the moment would be dream land.
It is noticeable that the successful clubs in Premier League history have usually been those who have kept their managers for a significant time.
So those who are looking for a change in manager, just be careful what you wish for.