Eddie Howe hits back at Newcastle claims with admission on transfer "war chest"
Eddie Howe has insisted Newcastle have not written off the season - and can still sneak into European qualification.
The Toon are struggling to refresh their squad in the transfer market and have slipped to tenth in the Premier League on a miserable run of league form. They are 14 points behind their position after 21 games last term when they finished fourth, and have conceded a goal a game more.
Aston Villa are the opponents on Tuesday night needing to spark a run of wins to catch their rivals. Newcastle are 14 points behind Unai Emery ’s fourth placed team which means they will likely be without the £37m of income the Champions League group stage earned this year. That will be partially offset by new sponsorship deals in the pipeline.
Newcastle have lost six of their last seven league games, including the last four. The one win was against ten man Fulham. Howe says United now have to keep chasing and build momentum after "massively overachieving".
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He said: “I'll never say no to any target that's still achievable but we just need to take small steps and win games on a regular basis. Let's not worry about the top four, let's try and beat Aston Villa. If we are able to do that and we build momentum then who knows?
"I believe in the group that we have. I believe in everything that we're trying to do. So nothing is ever over. We will keep going, we will give everything to achieve the best league position that we can and to progress as far as we can in the FA Cup. That'll never change, right until the last kick of the season.
“I think it's been there in flashes. In phases in games, we've been very good; in phases in games, we've not been so good.”
Howe admits FFP rules means the days of Newcastle having a ‘war chest’ are over… even in the summer. As he confirmed Callum Wilson won’t be sold this month he added: “The ‘war chest’ days are gone. Every club is doing what we’re doing. The summer may well be the same in the sense that it’s a different way of doing transfer business now for football clubs.”
His ideal scenario this week is “keeping the squad intact. But we are guardians of the club’s future and we want to make the right decisions for the club’s future and for FFP. We don’t want to breach FFP. That is where I will support the decisions that are made for the long term and that will benefit the club.”
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