Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Howe will face Mour questions if Toon’s season ends today
NEWCASTLE UNITED are finding that even with Saudi Arabian cash becoming trophy contenders is not easy.
In these ultra-competitive days, even money doesn’t guarantee success, especially when you are playing catchup, and the financial rules of the Premier League and UEFA are putting the brakes on any investment.
I remember a year ago when Newcastle lost the Carabao Cup final, fans consoling themselves by saying it didn’t matter, because it was the first of many.
And that they were nailed on to win a cup soon because of their new owners.
Well, it is make or break time today for Newcastle and Eddie Howe’s for another season.
The nation will tune in to see the Geordies visit Manchester City in the FA Cup quarter-final, where they’ve lost the last 15 league games to a combined score of 49 goals to seven.
It will be a shock if Howe can pull off a win, given their current form, but good luck to them. Seeing 50,000 Geordies go mad at Wembley is always uplifting.
But the Toon are at a crossroads in their rebuilding. The big question that fans are starting to debate is, do they stick or twist with Howe?
It seems the Uk-based owners are patient and have a good relationship with Howe, but who knows what the Saudis think back in Riyadh?
Jose Mourinho is out of work and always delivers a trophy. Julian Nagelsmann, the Germany coach, is available after the Euros. Big clubs are jostling for the big names.
Will Newcastle go for a reboot with a bit more stardust and global recognition? Football-wise it may make more sense to keep Howe in charge.
But impact-wise, building the brand, getting noticed for sponsors and commercial deals, would an icon like Mourinho not suit their next stage?
And he’d shake it up and scare the players who looked like they couldn’t be bothered against Chelsea last Monday.
For all the insistence that Howe stays even for next season, these questions will be being debated.
Howe has done a brilliant job for two years. He’s revived a relegation-threatened squad, got them to fourth last season with a brave, forceful brand of football.
Everything went right last year. This year lots has gone wrong. Injuries have left him short of options off the bench. Energy levels dipped, confidence ebbed away. I reckon the turning point was that ridiculous penalty awarded to PSG in the 97th minute to deny them a win which would have meant progress in Europe.
Nick Pope has been out and they are seriously leaking goals.
So what now, if they don’t make it through in the cup? Newcastle are 10th in the Premier League, and effectively battling for seventh place which might get them into the Europa Conference League.
Are Bruno Guimaraes and Alexander Isak going to hang around when they’ll most likely be wanted by Champions League clubs around Europe who can give them a £100k-aweek pay rise?
Manchester City would be the best destination for Guimaraes if they meet the £100million release clause. It will be a slow revival, hemmed in by financial rules that hand the top six, with turnovers three times Newcastle’s, the status quo.
Newcastle may have to be patient and content with being a top-half team rather than a regular top six outfit for a few years.
But how they do at City this weekend, and in the final 10 games of the league season, could determine how ruthless the Saudis are in their pursuit of winning.