As shocking as it is, The Athletic is reporting that Newcastle United are set to retain Eddie Howe as head coach for next season despite a significant downturn in results during the current season and a guaranteed bottom-half finish in the Premier League.
The decision follows meetings this week between club executives and a 25-strong delegation from the Public Investment Fund, including chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan.
Discussions at Matfen Hall addressed the team’s performances and long-term direction,
with consensus reached over Howe continuing in the role. Clever boy, this Howe, convincing everybody and their mother of his magic!
The Athletic reported that Howe is expected to remain in charge barring an unexpected change—which it’s hard to envision because things simply can’t get worse—with both the manager and the club’s ownership aligned on moving forward together.
This comes despite Newcastle pretty much avoiding relegation with three games to go following Saturday’s win, and enduring a run of poor form that saw them lose five consecutive games, including a historic defeat in the Champions League.
The report says that NUFC have acknowledged internally that the season has fallen short of expectations, particularly after setting European qualification as a minimum target. However, it seems like Howe’s track record has been enough for PIF to keep him around for at least the summer and the start of next season.
While the board is backing Howe, however, the report says that performances must improve quickly for the manager to stay safe, with the final matches of the season still carrying weight in the overall evaluation, but the decision is pretty much set in stone already.
Now, for the fun part, you can see what’s coming. A Howe-led transfer market, another poor run of results to start next season, and a mid-season managerial change trashing a whole campaign. Welp.
