Interesting times at Newcastle United.
A bit of a crossroads.
We are now coming towards the end of what has proved a challenging season for Newcastle United. As has been well documented, United having had to play more games so far this season than any other team in the major European leagues.
Competing well in the Champions League and in domestic cup competitions but the league form suffering.
A big summer ahead, as no matter what happens in these final seven Premier League games of the season, a lot of work needed to get properly ready for the 2026/27 campaign.
The big question is, who will be in charge of those summer preparations.
Eddie Howe getting the chance to build further on what he has achieved these past four and a half years at St James’ Park.
Or a replacement brought in with different ideas, a different approach.
There are no guarantees whatever happens, whoever you put your trust in.
For me it is a straightforward decision to give Eddie Howe at least one more season. I base that on his body of work over this four and a half year period and what he has delivered across that time. No manager gets everything right and so much depends on luck and fine margins as well. Sometimes you can do everything right and you still fail, sometimes you do everything wrong but fortune is in your favour and success is still possible for some.
When it comes to the manager of any club, a case of you pay your money and make your choice.
For those Newcastle United fans who think that replacing Eddie Howe is a smart idea this summer, they are of course entitled to their opinion, just as much as I am.
However, I don’t think many of these NUFC supporters take into account the law of unintended consequences.
Basically, any business or organisation that makes a major decision, makes a major change, it always produces unanticipated and often undesirable outcomes.
So what could happen if Eddie Howe is replaced?
I think that when it comes to how certain United fans see it, they foresee a process whereby Eddie Howe and his backroom staff move out, the new manager and his people move in. The new boss identifies where Eddie Howe was going wrong, corrects those issues, then makes better decisions moving forward and maybe most importantly, gets more out of the current set-up than the previous manager was.
What I don’t think is taken into account, not properly anyway, is everything that Eddie Howe has built these past four and a half years, especially his relationship with the various players.
What none of us know for sure, is how these various Newcastle United players will react if Eddie Howe leaves.
When it comes to the law of unintended consequences, I don’t think Newcastle United fans factor in just how key Eddie Howe’s relationship with the NUFC squad is.
I have absolutely no doubt that keeping the various key Newcastle United players will be far more likely if Eddie Howe stays in the job, than if he leaves.
The respect the likes of Bruno Guimares, Sandro Tonali and others have for Eddie Howe is shown time and time again.
You have the likes of Anthony Gordon, Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento, all arriving as young players with everything to prove, then Eddie Howe the key person in turning them into England internationals who are heading to the world cup finals this summer. Malick Thiaw another, after over two years outside the Germany squad, it only taking Eddie Howe a matter of months to deliver him back into the Germany set-up and set to also feature this summer at the finals.
I think there are many other potential other NUFC unintended consequences if Eddie Howe leaves. However, retaining players is right up there.
Much as players will say how much they have grown to love the club, the city, the region, the fans. The relationship with their manager is huge. How would our inspirational skipper Bruno Guimaraes react? After four and a half years at St James’ Park, would Eddie Howe leaving also make him think that a big career move is now the right way to go?
My belief is that when you find a good one, you should do all that you can to keep them…and I’m not just talking about the wife!
If Eddie Howe did leave this summer, Newcastle United aren’t bringing in Pep Guardiola. We are taking a huge step into the unknown.
Eddie Howe has been outstanding across his time at Newcastle United.
I think we would be regretting this particular divorce for a long long time if it happened this summer.