Time for the silent majority to be heard

I can remember Sir Bobby Robson taking over Newcastle United back in September 1999.

Before his arrival that season, United had picked up only one point from the opening six Premier League games, sitting in the bottom two alongside Sheffield Wednesday.

After an unlucky 1-0 defeat at Chelsea, Sir Bobby’s his first game at St James’ Park was of course the memorable 8-0 win against Sheffield Wednesday.

First home game for a local boy coming home, hammering the opposition, the first thing Bobby did at the end of the match was walk over and hug the young up and coming opposition manager, that act of kindness was the moment I fell in love with Sir Bobby Robson.

I also remember Eddie Howe taking over a Newcastle side that was winless and almost guaranteed to go down without a much-needed change. Our team was much weaker than the one Bobby inherited, yet Eddie guided the club to an 11th-place finish after a run of 12 wins in the final 18 games. Newcastle became the first team in Premier League history to avoid relegation after failing to win any of their opening 14 games.

Both men turned a sinking ship around.

Since Eddie’s first season, I no longer look at the bottom end of the table, wondering who might be worse than us so we can stay up. Now we look upwards, at teams we can beat to push into the Champions League places. The last time I felt that way was under Sir Bobby.

That’s why it still bothers me how Sir Bobby Robson was treated by the owners and a vocal minority of fans who wanted him out. We all knew Bobby was ageing but he still had football left in him. Letting Bobby leave the club on his own terms — choosing his successor — would have been the ending he deserved. I’ve read how hurt Bobby was by his sacking and how he couldn’t understand why he was dismissed after pulling the club from relegation, then later taking Newcastle to finishes of fourth and third, before a fifth-place finish in his final full season. It irks me to this day how he was treated.

The Sir Bobby Robson Institute for Cancer Research, funded primarily by The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, is a testament to the man he was.

In his first full season on charge, Eddie Howe got Newcastle United into the Champions League ahead of Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool and free spending Chelsea. The following season was difficult. The Champions League and domestic cups were taken seriously but especially with a ridiculous number of injuries and Tonali’s suspension, as a squad we simply couldn’t cope. Even so, but for a ridiculous penalty decision against PSG, we would still have qualified for the last 16 knockout stages of the Champions League.

The lesson was clear: we needed a bigger squad. But due to financial restrictions, not only were we unable to bring players in during summer 2024, we had to sell players just to comply with PSR. Can you imagine Pep, Klopp or Arteta having to sell their best young players, not being allowed to improve their squads, and still being expected to outperform their peers? Yet Eddie did exactly that and delivered our first domestic trophy in 70 years, as well as once again qualifying for the Champions League, a second time in three seasons.

Many Newcastle United fans take it for granted but Eddie Howe performed miracles. How many managers in world football could do that with both hands tied behind their back, yet still succeed?

This summer gone, Newcastle United were all set for a new season, ready to bring in reinforcements and kick on. Then Alexander Isak changed the entire summer plan, plus Paul Mitchell quit. Eddie Howe had to run the entire recruitment process again, when the man had fully earned a break from football. The season hasn’t gone completely to plan, but when a manager has over delivered time and time again, he deserves time and patience.

So many clubs have tried and failed.

Manchester United, Tottenham, and Chelsea have all outspent Newcastle significantly. Chelsea alone have spent over one and a billion pounds on new players since the change of ownership in summer 2022, yet their points tally since that takeover is still lower than Eddie’s.

During the Eddie Howe Newcastle United era, the net spend is not significantly higher than the likes of West Ham.

The difference between Newcastle United and West Ham isn’t money, it is Eddie Howe. The Hammers are in a relegation battle, whilst the Magpies are two points off a Champions League spot, in the semi-final of the League Cup, plus a great chance of reaching the knockout stages of this season’s premier European competition. The difference is Eddie Howe.

If the vocal minority of Newcastle United fans got their way and Eddie Howe left. The likes of Chelsea, Tottenham and  Manchester United would be queuing up to double or triple his wages. I have no doubt Eddie would succeed at any of those clubs.

The biggest asset at our club isn’t any player, it’s our manager.

Just like Alex Ferguson, Pep Guardiola, and Unai Emery, managers are what bring sustained success. Eddie Howe is in that bracket of managers who bring success.

We are lucky. We are blessed. We should counting our lucky stars that Eddie Howe is our manager.

Let us not harass and hound the best manager we’ve had in years. Let us not repeat the same mistake we made with Bobby.