There is sympathy and understanding in the air at Newcastle United as season takes alarming slide
Newcastle United’s head coach Eddie Howe
Eddie Howe did not lay into his players in the Anfield dressing room after the 4-1 defeat to Liverpool.
It is understood that Howe opted to sympathise with his troops after they started the match well and enjoyed the early momentum and the lead until a sticky spell just before the break, in which Hugo Ekitike helped himself to two goals. Newcastle struggled to get a grip of the game in the second half before Florian Wirtz and Ibrahima Konaté inflicted further damage on the Toon defence.
As players trudged out of Anfield, there was a stony silence in the camp, and it is believed to have been a quiet journey home for the Magpies. The powers that be will not make a knee-jerk reaction but it is now the club’s Premier League position that is the main concern.
Should Newcastle fail to succeed in the cups they are going to be left with an almighty scramble to get into one of the European competitions, and the Champions League via the Premier League places is now slipping away with Liverpool six points clear in the table.
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Howe retains support of the likes of CEO David Hopkinson and sporting director Ross Wilson and there is an appreciation of United’s PSR situation behind the scenes.
Quite simply, Howe will only be judged on “managing the squad” he has while Wilson and Hopkinson try to open recruitment and financial openings behind him.
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The worrying part is Newcastle have won just nine games from 24 in the Premier League this season but they have also lived up to expectations in every other competition.
As Newcastle trail the top five with 14 matches left, it will not be lost on the owners PIF that the Magpies must still tackle Premier League away games such as Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur while trying to keep in touch at the business end of the table.
It will be Newcastle’s final league position not the cups that will be judged by the powers that be at the end of the season. It feels like no Champions League football no party when it comes to PSR, and that is a concern.
Howe told Chronicle Live last night: “I haven’t seen the league table, I am digesting the result. Our league form has not been consistent or strong enough throughout the campaign.
“There is still time left. There are a lot of points to play for.
“And we have to be positive. We are in the middle of a really tough spell of fixtures, the one thing I am not going to do is turn on my team.
“I am going to support my team. The players are giving everything.
“There are a lot of players who aren’t fit or available, those are players that would make a huge difference.”
For now, Newcastle have to dust themselves down and start thinking about the Etihad Stadium and the Carabao Cup semi-finals against City. The tie is still not finished, and while there is doom and gloom in the air at the moment, the picture would change dramatically if Howe reached his third Wembley showpiece.
With the FA Cup fourth round tie at Aston Villa to come later this month and Champions League football, with a two-legged play-off against Qarabag on the horizon, there is a case for context from Howe.
Newcastle have been triumphant in four games (three wins in all competitions and a penalty shoot out win vs Bournemouth) from nine so far in 2026 and the glass remains half full for now.