Howe dismisses any speculation over Newcastle future after dismal run of form

22 December 2023 , 12:29

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Eddie Howe insists there is no target on his back after Newcastle crashed out of two cup competitions in a week.

The Saudi ownership regime indicated they want “to be No.1” eventually, and the club only has the FA Cup as a realistic prospect of a trophy this season after exiting the Champions League and Carabao Cup.

A run of six defeats in their last ten games means Howe’s side are experiencing a rare blip in two years of progress, having suffered horrendous injury problems and extremely tough cup draws.

Howe has transformed the club but there is a thirst for the progress to convert into silverware. He said: “Of course, there's an ambition, but there's a difference, I think, between an ambition and a target that's on your back.

“My discussions with everyone connected with the football club here and the running of the football club, there's never been that pressure of this season or next season in terms of positions in the league and expectations to win competitions. That's all come from us internally.

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“Everyone here wants to see growth. They want to see growth in the team, they want to see improvement and of course then longer term, those thoughts, I'm sure, will change to tangible targets and to set things that we have to do.

“But at this moment in time, we started from such a low base that we're just trying to build and we've built really quickly. For my mind, we want to increase that speed, everything has to come tomorrow, but there needs to be a realisation of where we're at also.

“I don't really want to under-cook the expectation with the players, I want to push them every day. I've got a delicate balance. Externally, I don't want to put pressure on the players. I want them to play in a really good environment, I want them to be able to express themselves and then internally at the club, we then need a realisation that we're still building, we're still very early in the journey."

Kieran Trippier has a nightmare final few minutes against Chelsea (ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)

The trip to Luton is a chance to turn around their worst season of away results since they were last promoted and they’ve only won once at Sheffield United.

Howe described England defender Kieran Trippier as “fine” after his nightmare error and penalty miss at Chelsea. He added: “I have always said the internationals, especially at clubs that are involved in Champions League and European competition, have the hardest schedule, bar none.

“All year round they have to be on, they have to be at it, physically, mentally. I’d like to see them given a little bit longer at certain stages of the season, whether we can create a window where they get guaranteed switch off time.”

Sven Botman is in line to start again, but Alex Isak is 50-50. Howe said: “2023 has been a great year and every experience, even the bad ones, we learn from. We soak up the negativity and the disappointments and hope it can fire us up to another year.”

“Last week was a really good example of how close you can be and how cruel football sometimes can be. We've had to absorb those hits, there's no hiding place from it. You feel the pain, you take the hits and get back up and go again.

“We have to be mindful of the fact we're still in a very good position in the Premier League. It's very easy to slide into negative thinking, let's have positive thinking.

“This next group of games is really important for us because January looks difficult on paper but they're great games for us. If we can get some good results between then and now then I think we'll be in a great position."