What people close to the owners are saying about Newcastle after two cup exits in a week

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First it was the Champions League, then it was the Carabao Cup. In less than a week, Newcastle United crashed out of two competitions.

Both exits were crushing. Now Newcastle United are only competing in the Premier League and the FA Cup, where they will face Sunderland in the third round.

There will be no more European fixtures in the second half of the season for the Magpies, with Eddie Howe’s side finishing bottom of the group. That meant they avoided the Europa League, which some pundits believe is a blessing.

Fans will think differently, while rivals have mocked Newcastle for finishing fourth. There were even suggestions that Eddie Howe should be under pressure.

But he certainly is not under any pressure. He has the full support of the fanbase and the ownership, who intend to back him in the January transfer window.

Given the fact that he is not a massive name with a huge reputation, some people do not think Howe is going to last much longer on Tyneside. But they clearly have not been paying attention.

This is just year two of the Newcastle United project

That is according to iNews, who have spoke to people who are close to the Newcastle United owners after the club were dumped out of the Champions League and Carabao Cup.

iNews state that they have been told that the Newcastle owners simply view this as the second year of a ‘long-term project’, adding that those who are judging the club after what has happened over the past few days ‘really doesn’t understand that’.

It is really encouraging to know that the owners continue think long-term. That is why this project is so exciting.

Qualifying for the Champions League was incredible, but it happened earlier than anticipated. While outsiders might think we should be at that level all the time now, the owners are not getting ahead of themselves. And rightly so. It would be so short-sighted to suddenly judge Howe and his players for failing at a level that no one expected them to reach.

It has been an emotionally draining week on Tyneside. Both cup exits were heartbreaking. It has probably been the club’s lowest moment since the change of ownership.

But if this is the lowest then we really have nothing to complain about. We nearly made it out of our UCL group, up against three elite teams. We nearly made it to the semis of the Carabao Cup, only to lose on penalties with a severely depleted side.

It might not feel like it right now, but the club is in such a good place. The past week has merely been a bump in the road, but the bigger picture is extremely promising.