Paul Merson has been talking about Eddie Howe and Newcastle United.
The follows the latest Premier League weekend of matches.
Will Osula giving Newcastle United the lead just before the break, only for two late Crystal Palace goals meaning that Eddie Howe and his players didn’t even pick up a point.
Paul Merson telling Sky Sports: “It’s hard at the moment because Newcastle have been playing for so much over the last few years, won a cup for the first time, playing in the Champions League, and now they are drifting around mid-table. They are almost in nothing territory, and it’s quite hard after the highs they have had.”
Sunday was Newcastle United’s 52nd match of the season, a season that has included 12 Champions League matches and playing every midweek pretty much all season, getting to the semi-finals of the League Cup and last 16 of both the FA Cup and Champions League.
Paul Merson adding: “When I hear about Eddie Howe under pressure, it makes me laugh. He brought them their first trophy in what felt like a million years. It’s ridiculous any talk of pressure. The real problem is that it looks like Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes might leave – those are the things that should worry Newcastle fans. But they are still a good team.”
Newcastle United find themselves 14th in the table but only six points off sixth in what is a very tight league.
All the more frustrating when if only Newcastle had won their last two matches after scoring first, against Sunderland and Palace, they would now be level on points with sixth place Chelsea and only four points off the Champions League spots.
Indeed, United having dropped 25 points in total having scored first in Premier League games this season, an extra 25 points that would have had them second in the table and only three behind leaders Arsenal.
Paul Merson continuing: “It’s a bit like Liverpool, the high of winning the league last season, now look at them. The demands are taking their toll. Last year, they had a much more settled team; injuries have meant they don’t have that this year. You couldn’t pick Newcastle’s best team. I would give them a bit of leeway. I expect Newcastle to always be around the five, six, seven mark in the Premier League. When they have a full team, all on it, they give anyone a game.”
It is ironic that whilst some Newcastle United fans are desperate for Eddie Howe to be replaced, we see so many of the usual suspects in the media who are usually the first to jump on any NUFC negativity bandwagon, now the ones preaching sanity and pointing out how backward a step it could be to get rid of a quality manager who has proved his ability over so many seasons.
Eddie Howe shouldn’t have a job for life at St James’ Park but he has done more than enough to have earned the right for at least next season to get Newcastle United heading in the right direction once again.