A lot of pressure has grown on Eddie Howe in the last few months as Newcastle United sit below the European spots.
After qualifying for the Champions League last season there would always be expectations for the following campaign, but injuries, suspensions and a packed fixture list have made things tough for Howe.
Speaking on talkSPORT, former Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has suggested that Howe has done enough in the past to warrant overseeing a big summer transfer window and competing again next year.
Pardew says Howe has the ‘respect’ at Newcastle
Newcastle enjoyed a brilliant campaign last season and looked to get almost every decision right both on and off the pitch, but this season has proven to be a lot tougher to navigate.
The season kicked off with an unexpected blow as star summer signing Sandro Tonali was suspended for 10 months for gambling, and since then the squad has had to deal with a never ending injury list.
An early Champions League exit and defeat in the Carabao Cup in December as well as a run of eight defeats in 10 games put a lot of pressure on Howe as Newcastle drifted towards mid table in the Premier League.
Things look a bit brighter for the team who have now gone unbeaten in five and Pardew thinks Howe has done enough to warrant overseeing the next transfer window and having another crack at next season.
On the show, Pardew said: “It was always going to be a difficult year after the fantastic year they had last year and with the Champions League campaign which I actually commentated on and went to most of their games.
“They got found out a little bit, the quality was above them, and they’re suffering, they’re not as fluid as they were last year. There needs to be some surgery on the squad in the summer.
“I think Eddie has earned the respect to do that surgery. The problem that they face with the financial rules is how much they can spend and how much manoeuvrability they have got.”
Howe still has a lot of work left to do
There is some belief that Howe is not the manager to take Newcastle to the very top and that they need to bring in a proven winner at some point in the future to take them to the next level.
The problem with that idea is that Newcastle are massively restricted by financial regulations which would still be in place regardless of who is manager, so it makes little sense to replace the head coach who is getting as much out of these players as he can.
This is not yet a Champions League level squad and most would claim that they had overachieved last season, so if they didn’t reach top four because of the quality of players it must be down to the manager.
It’s very difficult to see who is out there who could come in and do a better job than Howe has done so far with all the restrictions and injuries he has had to deal with.
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