What is the worst thing that could happen at Newcastle United?
What would make our enemies the happiest?
Well, I think a vocal minority of Newcastle United fans are playing into their hands.
If Eddie Howe called time on his stay at St James’ Park, they would be absolutely loving it down on Wearside and beyond.
The media would have a field day, especially if the Newcastle United owners themselves were the ones to fall into this trap.
It would be the most gutted I’d have been since Kevin Keegan decided to leave in January 1997.
I remember back then there were even some fools in the Newcastle United fanbase who actually thought it would work out for the best, once Kenny Dalglish was named as KK’s replacement. That the wily Dalglish would fix the ‘obvious weaknesses’ that had manifested themselves under Kevin Keegan, that defensive tweaks would improve things at one end whilst having no negative impact at the other.
It didn’t end well.
What Kevin Keegan achieved back in the 1990s was incredible.
What Eddie Howe has achieved in the 2020s, also incredible.
Taking a wrecked squad and club, then transforming things beyond belief with the help of new Newcastle United owners.
The Kevin Keegan rebuilding of Newcastle United and reinvigoration of the fanbase, was key to then the owners increasing the capacity of St James’ Park to be second only to that of Man U’s Old Trafford in the Premier League.
That in turn then played a huge part in eventually Sir Bobby Robson and the Newcastle United owners getting the club competitive once again at the top end. Only for the then owners to later shoot themselves in both feet and through the head, when deciding Graeme Souness would be a great choice to replace Sir Bobby. That calamitous decision wrecked the rebuilding of squad and club that SBR had brought about and before we knew it, Sir John Hall and Freddie Shepherd had walked away with fortunes when they left us at the mercy of Mike Ashley.
It is amazing how often history repeats itself.
Newcastle United fans hopefully soon to see plans announced at last that will deliver a huge new far bigger capacity stadium, second in size only to Man U’s Old Trafford. A new stadium that will finally help allow the club to close the modern day chasm that has opened up between the half dozen suspects and the rest. A chasm that opened up under a decade and a half of Mike Ashley rowing Newcastle United in the opposite direction, as our rivals built what feels like unassailable empires at times.
Kevin Keegan was a genius and I am sure that if he had remained at St James’ Park and had been fully backed by the Newcastle United owners, then NUFC would have built their own empire and became a permanent fixture in that small group of consistently competitive clubs.
For me, Eddie Howe is that man today.
There are very different challenges in today’s Premier League and in Europe, financial rules that all but ensure the status quo, meaning it will take something extraordinary to break into the group of clubs that have built such powerbases over so many years.
It will take many years of continuous progress and ambitious moves by the Newcastle United owners, if that is to come about.
If you think that if just missing out on a third cup final in four seasons and failing to make the quarter-finals of the Champions League (second UCL campaign in three seasons), is now failure. Just wait to see how much of a setback and huge own goal it would be, if for whatever reason, Eddie Howe was replaced at this point in the rebuild of Newcastle United.