Newcastle United are facing a critical moment in their season, with pressure building after a prolonged run of poor results in the Premier League.
The club currently sits 14th in the table and has lost eight of their last 11 league matches, a stretch that has raised serious concerns internally and has nothing but sealed their no-Euro fate for next season.
Attention has been turned toward the immediate future of the Magpies’ manager, with Eddie Howe fighting for his life every week and senior figures
preparing to review the situation next summer.
At the same time, Newcastle are also managing wider planning discussions for next season and beyond around recruitment, infrastructure and squad changes, all of which are expected to be addressed during a key meeting involving the club’s owners, Saudi’s PIF, next week.
“Eddie Howe will discuss Newcastle’s declining form with the club’s Saudi Arabian majority owners when a high-powered contingent from Riyadh flies into the north for a scheduled board meeting next week,” Louise Taylor reported for The Guardian. “The delegation, led by Newcastle’s chair, Yasir al-Rumayyan, from the Public Investment Fund (PIF) will quiz Howe face-to-face on his team’s run of eight defeats in 11 Premier League games.”
The report indicates that Howe is expected to present his plans for future transfers and other businesses as part of the discussions, with no immediate indication that a decision on his position will be taken before the end of the season, as widely reported.
“While Rumayyan’s backing for Howe remains typically opaque, there are no indications the 48-year-old will not be given the season’s remaining five games to try to turn things around,” Taylor reported.
The meeting is also set to include discussions around potential player sales, with Anthony Gordon among those expected to be considered as Newcastle prepare for the summer window and to get rid of not one, not two, not three, not fo—of their XI members.
