Eddie Howe sentimentality claims are laughable

Eddie Howe is under the spotlight.

If he didn’t know when he took the job in November 2021, just how intense things can get at Newcastle United, he certainly does now!

All Newcastle United fans have an opinion.

Which is how it should be.

At times like this it reminds us how brilliant The Mag is, offering us all the chance to have our say.

Even though I might find them frustrating at times when reading things I disagree with, I always enjoy hearing what other Newcastle United are having to say, including/especially this Eddie Howe debate.

Since the defeat against Man U, things have gone up many more notches with that debate.

On The Mag, fans not holding back with their views on how they see where we are currently at.

One article did especially capture my attention on Sunday, that was ‘No room for sentimentality with Eddie Howe at Newcastle United’ by Nick Dryden.

It got me thinking.

Is this really what Nick and others believe about the Eddie Howe debate?

That those Newcastle United fans who want Eddie Howe to stay in the job, at least to the end of this season, are basing this on sentimental reasons?

They want to believe that we are naive happy clappers who see Eddie Howe as forever untouchable because he led us to a trophy triumph.

I find that thought process laughable, indeed it is the exact opposite of that reasoning.

My belief and that of pretty much all Newcastle United fans I know, is that Eddie Howe needs to stay in the job until the end of this season at the very least, because of what has happened since November 2021.

I want him to stay in the job because I have seen his ability proved time after time at Newcastle United. Eddie Howe has shown numerous times that he can work it all out, when a way needs to be found to get our team back on the up. The Champions League qualifications, the Wembley finals, the trophy win, are all evidence of how good the NUFC boss has been AND how potentially good he can still be in the years ahead, if having the opportunity to do so.

It is not naive sentimentality to put our trust in Eddie Howe to get it right in the second half of this season.

It WOULD be naive (and daft, in my opinion) at such a pivotal stage in this 2025/26 season, to get rid of the person who is surely the best chance of making this a(nother!) successful season for Newcastle United.

Eddie Howe knows the players, there are most definitely still playing for him, whilst so many injuries and trying to manage the minutes of his squad across so many matches in quick succession, who would do a better job?

To put blind faith in a new manager to come in mid-season and inherit the exact same situation as Eddie Howe is currently dealing with, I find it staggering that anybody thinks this is a great idea.

From what I can see, most of these Newcastle United fans wanting rid of Eddie Howe seem to think that this is as bad as it can get, that anybody who came in would do better, or at the very worst, do just as good as Howe.

It really can’t be repeated enough, Newcastle United are currently one step away from another Wembley final, have a great chance of reaching the last 16 of the Premier League, plus six points away from a Champions League qualifying place.

This isn’t to say everything has been perfect.

However, it isn’t the disaster that some fans want to see it as.

As for the whole sentimentality thing.

It isn’t sentimental to have faith in somebody who has done such a brilliant job over a matter of years, indeed, only months since winning that trophy AND then getting Champions League qualification. Eddie Howe has shown time and time again that he can put winning runs together after a downturn, downturns that often have coincided with other factors, such as a lengthy injury list.

A decision based on pure sentimentality would be for example, thinking bringing back a now 74 year old Kevin Keegan as manager, would be the answer. We all love KK (or should do anyway) BUT he is the past when it comes to managing Newcastle United.

The same with Rafa Benitez, who I have seen some Newcastle fans suggesting. Not the levels of Keegan of course but yes I still love Rafa for what he did in the past at NUFC, but this sums up the simple blind faith of some who want Eddie Howe out no matter what. Sadly, Rafa’s modern day managerial credentials have fallen off a cliff since leaving Newcastle United, failing in China, Spain and in England, now ending up in the Greek domestic league. Whilst all that has been going on for Rafa, Eddie Howe smashing it with Newcastle United.

Keeping faith with Eddie Howe is no show of sentimentality, it is based on cold hard fact.

He is the person who is most likely to make the second half of this 2025/26 a success, in Eddie we trust.