I think the time has come for the Newcastle United owners to make a decisive move, to go public with an official statement.
If Eddie Howe is going to still be the Newcastle United manager when the 2026/27 season kicks off, then why not go very public with that now, show their full support for Howe?
I understand why some Newcastle United fans think a change of manager would be the right way to go. When results on the pitch haven’t been of a level that had been hoped for, then this applies to any club, any fanbase. Wondering whether a change of manager is needed.
Whilst appreciating why others might think differently, my personal view is that United should stick with Eddie Howe. That belief is based on what we have all witnessed and experienced across four and a half years, not just recent weeks, not just recent months.
When it comes to the Newcastle United owners, the same should apply surely. The idea for example that Eddie Howe’s future could be set to be decided by results in the final five matches of this season simply makes no sense, at least not to me. The club’s owners must surely know their own minds by this point, what the plan is after this season ends, whether or not they want Eddie Howe to still be in charge.
Assuming that to be the case, if they do intend sticking with Eddie Howe, then coming out with a strong public show of support at this point should be a no-brainer.
Last month David Hopkinson met with a group of journalists who regularly cover Newcastle United. When asked about Eddie Howe’s position, the club’s CEO commented: “We are not looking to make a change at the moment. We are still in the midst of the season.”
Whether it was intentional or not, David Hopkinson’s “at the moment” comment was seized on and made all the headlines. Taken by many to mean that the NUFC CEO was saying Howe’s position is uncertain, as to whether or not a change could be made ahead of next season. A report in The Times later followed, saying that David Hopkinson had never meant to create uncertainty and endless speculation in the media and amongst fans, the report claiming the CEO had then met Eddie Howe to privately reassure him of his and the club’s ongoing support.
Whatever the truth (or not) of that, what we do know for sure is that so far there has been nothing official from the Newcastle United owners or David Hopkinson on Eddie Howe’s position.
However, from Eddie Howe himself, on Friday he made his position clear.
At the pre-Bournemouth press conference, Eddie Howe’s response when asked if he still has the fire to lead Newcastle United into next season?: “My fire is burning very, very strongly. That’s no guarantee from my side what’s going to happen in the future because as I’ve said, the forces that move in football clubs move quickly. But my fire is there. There’s loads of wood stacked up and I’m ready to put it on it (the fire)!”
Eddie Howe going on to add: “I just want to serve the club and do what’s right for the football club. That’s always been my aim. If that’s me leaving to help the club, then of course that’s something I’ll do, I’ve got no issue doing that. It’s not about me. But if I believe I’m the right person to take the club forward, which I do currently right now, then I’ll do that and I’ll fight to the end.”
I think that when the manager himself has come out and given that definitive answer (rather than deflect it, say he was only focused on the next match etc which he could easily have done), then it makes perfect sense to me that the Newcastle United owners should follow up with a public backing of their own. That is, if they do indeed intend to have Eddie Howe still in place for next season.
Assuming the Newcastle United owners aren’t intending to change the manager. Then coming out now and giving very public support of that fact, would then spark an immediate major media frenzy as the official announcement was feasted on. However, what it would also do is very quickly kill off the never ending speculation that is engulfing the club now.
Every match now is dominated, before and after, by speculation on the manager’s position. Eddie Howe himself is asked at every press conference, pre and post-match, about his job. None of this is helpful.
A lack of decisive action from the Newcastle United owners was key, in my opinion, to so many of the problems this season.
In September 2024 it was officially announced that due to ill health CEO Darren Eales would be replaced ASAP. It would be September 2025 before David Hopkinson was announced. The summer of 2025 saw no CEO or Sporting Director in place working at the club, as SD Paul Mitchell had also departed. Eddie Howe badly let down by both the Newcastle United owners, as after asking for his key transfer targets to be pursued ASAP in order to properly prepare for such a challenging 2025/26 season, instead only one of the eventual six signings had a proper pre-season with their new teammates. Quite clearly as well, so many of Eddie Howe’s top targets not landed. The delays in making key appointments, the delays in pursuing the key transfer targets, it massively impacted that summer 2025 transfer window. The most important for the club since the takeover, considering what a challenging season this was going to be and the fact that no first team contenders had been signed since summer 2023, plus the PSR forced loss of Minteh and Anderson.
This summer 2026 transfer window has now become arguably even more important than the one 12 months earlier.
We all want to believe that valuable lessons have been learnt by the Newcastle United owners, that moving too slowly has proved so costly. Indeed, the more reliable journalists covering the club have often mentioned that a regular negative issue since the October 2021 takeover has been how slowly the Saudi Arabia PIF majority owners have made decisions. That includes when there has been a recognisable hierarchy working at the club, those running it day to day often have to wait far too long when asking for decisions to be made.
It would be ironic that if now we do appear to finally have once again a senior leadership team in place at St James’ Park, with David Hopkinson and Ross Wilson in the top two key roles, if the Newcastle United owners then find themselves once again blundering blindly into another key summer. Only this time without a proper plan due to having no manager in place to be at the centre of the recruitment decision making, in terms of which players to target, plus of course potentially which players to sell to create the financial flex to help bring in the necessary signings.
As the saying goes, “Fail to plan, plan to fail.”
So going back to my original point, if the Newcastle United owners see Eddie Howe remaining at the centre of their plans moving forward, they should come out now and say so. Kill the endless speculation, make the position clear not just to Eddie Howe himself, but also to players, fans and everybody else connected to Newcastle United.