Ally McCoist has shared what he’s been so relieved to see from the Newcastle United fans despite their poor form as of late.
Newcastle have lost eight of their last 10 games and are slipping down the Premier League table, but that hasn’t stopped them supporting the team or Eddie Howe who is under a lot of pressure.
Speaking on talkSPORT, McCoist spoke about the conversations he had with Newcastle fans after the City defeat and was pleased to see how supportive they were of Howe despite the result.
McCoist says Newcastle fans are backing Howe to succeed
Football has become a very fickle sport in the modern era and if things aren’t going smoothly for you then you’re immediately on very limited time before someone decides enough is enough and you’re out of job.
That was what was largely expected to happen to Howe the moment things took a turn for him at Newcastle with many believing the owners would be too impatient with him, but it’s proved to be the opposite.
At the end of the devastating defeat to Man City, you wouldn’t have thought that a team who were in the Champions League over a month ago had just conceded a last-minute winner to cement their mid-table position.
There was still a number of fans waiting to applaud the Newcastle team, led by Howe and Jason Tindall, round the pitch after almost securing a crucial result, and McCoist was overjoyed with the reaction.
On the show, McCoist was asked if there was pressure on Howe: “None. None whatsoever. Football never surprises us, however, it would be madness. Newcastle fans love him.
“Right now there is a completely realistic approach to where the team are and where they were five, six, seven years ago. It’s a breath of fresh air listening to the fans.”
Newcastle must stick together
We’ve seen it so many times before where overpaid footballer’s aren’t having things go their own way for once and start to throw the toys out of the pram, refusing to play for the manager and creating a toxic environment at the club.
But while the results haven’t been what Howe would have wanted, the one thing he does seem to still have is a very strong presence in the dressing room with every single player buying into his style of play.
That loyalty will be tested in the coming months as games start to become must win’s and the pressure starts to build on Newcastle to climb back up the table.
For the moment, however, everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet and Howe can take solace in the fact that every player will run themselves into the ground for him.
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