Peterborough United chairman Darragh MacAnthony has been shocked by some of the things that Eddie Howe has been doing as manager of Newcastle United recently.
Newcastle lost to Nottingham Forest at the weekend, probably one of their most embarrassing displays under Howe, and there were few things that left fans frustrated.
On his podcast The Hard Truth, MacAnthony couldn’t understand why Dan Burn was still on the pitch in the second half or why Kieran Trippier was still ahead of Tino Livramento despite his poor form.
MacAnthony says Howe has been making some ‘mental errors’
Many supporters have been left frustrated at the fact that Burn keeps getting in ahead of Livramento at left-back despite what has been a great run of games for the 21-year-old.
This was again the case on Boxing Day as Burn kept getting beat down that left-hand side by Anthony Elanga and it proved costly as Newcastle, after being ahead in the first half, went 2-1 down before Burn was subbed.
There’s a suggestion that Howe is too loyal to the players that got Newcastle into the Champions League last season and that he needs to be able to adapt if the team are going to progress.
MacAnthony acknowledged that the squad looks unprepared for European football, which isn’t Howe’s fault, but he added that the 46-year-old Newcastle head coach looked like a beaten man after the defeat.
“I think he is making some mental errors. When he kept Dan Burn on, I am amazed Livramento has not been given a run at right-back, Trippier is having a horrible run. I think he is too loyal a manager at times, he is playing the same players over and over. It’s catching up.
“They are obviously unprepared squad wise this season for the Champions League and the league which is surprising for one of the richest clubs in the world. It will be interesting to see if they lose a couple of games, because when I saw him yesterday he looked like a beaten man.”
Pressure is mounting on Howe to succeed
Having lost six of his last seven games in charge, there is naturally going to be questions asked about what the owners will do if this run of form continues, especially with the games Newcastle have in January.
Those at the top are believed to be confident in Howe’s ability to turn this around, even if they do fall further next month, but it will be interesting to see how long the boss has bought himself after last year’s success.
Nobody could have expected Newcastle to be in the Champions League this early on, so Howe has plenty of time to achieve the long-term goals that were originally set out by the board.
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