Eddie Howe will soon lead Newcastle United into their final game of 2025, a year in which he cemented himself as a club legend.
Sadly for the Newcastle United manager, however, he’s coming under increasing pressure.
While there’s no suggestion that Howe is currently facing any pressure internally at Newcastle United, it is difficult to ignore the growing unrest among sections of the fan base.
Indeed, Newcastle fans are starting to question Howe after a difficult period.
Was Eddie Howe just being honest here or are you reading something deeper into the quote?
His team sit 14th in the Premier League table and have won just one of their last five Premier League games.
It’s not all bad, of course, and both the Carabao Cup and the Champions League offer – albeit unlikely – avenues of success.
Still, the manner of Newcastle’s loss to Manchester United on Boxing Day was bitterly disappointing and those hoping for extensive updates ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Burnley won’t be getting them.
Eddie Howe has already held his pre-Burnley press conference
Howe won’t be speaking to the media at his usual slot of between 9-9.30am GMT the day before a game.
There is, however, nothing to fear.
Given the tight turnaround in games over the festive fixture schedule, Howe fielded questions about the Burnley game in the Old Trafford press room on Boxing Day.
Some of the quotes from those may have been held back to an embargo and Geordie Boot Boys will run through them all to deliver updates for you ahead of Tuesday night’s game.
If Eddie Howe isn’t going to be Newcastle United manager, who should be?
What Eddie Howe has said before Newcastle United play Burnley
Ahead of the trip to Turf Moor, Howe was asked by The Chronicle about where Newcastle’s intensity had gone.
At their best under Howe, Newcastle have been a pressing machine and a team capable of blowing opponents away.
That hasn’t been seen all too often this season and Howe believes it’s because of the fact his team are battling across so many fronts, meaning there is limited time to rest and recover between games.
“It has certainly been more difficult for us to do that because we have played every two or three days,” he said.
“But I have seen it, it is still there, it is still part of us. You look back at that Chelsea first half, it was as intense as I’ve ever seen us play, possibly ever.
“I thought we had a brilliant 45 minutes, but yeah, there have been some games I have looked at us, and we haven’t had that. That can be a multitude of reasons for that.”
There are reasons to believe that Howe will turn things around at Newcastle but it’s equally fair to point out why some fans are feeling frustrated.
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