THE SPECIAL - PSG Away
PSG v Newcastle United, Parc Des Princes, 27/Jan/26, KO: 8pm, Champions League.
The grumbles are getting louder. After Sunday’s toothless submission to Villa, United return to the scene of one the greatest crimes in the club’s recent history, in the hope that once again their Champions League form can assuage the increasingly vocal and entirely legitimate concerns regarding the current trajectory of the team.
Be it easier fixtures, more enthusiastic players or a style more suited to the continent, this season has been the first in living memory where European games have felt like so much light relief for the Mags when compared to the arduous, at time torturous experiences on home soil - the likes of Wolves away, Spurs at home, Brighton away, West Ham away… need I go on?
So - has the time come to admit that Howe is under serious pressure? Has he reached his ceiling? It so happens that yours truly wrote a Howe in/Howe out article for True Faith way back in October 2024 (or 5 months BCC for those who use the Carabaoan Calendar). I won’t go over old ground in too much detail, but safe to say the crux of the arguments have not changed - and I doubt you need me to explain those arguments to you, as you were likely having them yourself at around 4pm on Sunday.
The fact that this publication has been churning out op-eds speculating on the manager’s future for nearly 18 months now suggests the writing may well be on the wall. If the same problems persist for long enough, they eventually become fatal, and there is a lot about Eddie’s approach that seems to be stuck in first gear, bound by his innate conservatism.
And yet, and yet…
Where should the ultimate judgement of Eddie lie? In his inability to stray from his preferred system? In his poor recruitment? In his inexperience when it comes to managing a packed schedule?
In-game rigidity and the signing of flops could be equally levelled at the likes of Guardiola, Klopp and Arteta. Many would say it’s part and parcel of being an elite manager, and Eddie’s inexperience at the top level is something that would be matched or exceeded by many, if not all, of the names linked and likely to replace him.
In the wider context of Newcastle United’s progression towards the upper echelons of world football, all that really matters at this stage of the trajectory is finishing in the European places and making a fist of it in the cups, year on year. We are on course to achieve that, according to the bookies, and that is no mean feat given the merry-go-round at executive level and the farce of last summer.
Simultaneously, Newcastle are clearly trying to transition from a team that wins games with sheer intensity to one who dominates possession and chokes the life out of the opposition. The latter is the mark of the true elite and (needless to say) requires elite players in every position. It also requires time, and patience.
The last time I suggested patience to a fellow fan was in the first six months of Lewis Hall’s United career, when the £30million left back was not trusted with a minute of football and seemed only to have been signed to warm the bench. I was scoffed at, at the time, and am only bringing this up now because I haven’t previously had the opportunity to indulge in the sweet narcissistic vindication.
I can only hope that saying we should apply that same patience now to the team and the manager doesn’t come back to bite me too hard. But, speaking personally, after the first cup win in my lifetime and the best nights of my life as a fan all concatenated into the last three years, patience is something I have in abundance (when we end up finishing 11th in May, I will make myself readily available for mockery).
What’s more, would anyone who has paid proper attention to Newcastle Untied over the last four years really be *that* surprised if we were to pull out a performance in Paris tonight, win by the odd goal, and secure our place in the latter stages of Europe’s elite competition?
Were that to happen, not only would it feel incredibly gratifying given the injustice we endured on our last visit here, but it would also cement Eddie in his role until the summer, if not beyond. It would also be incredibly on-brand of our manager. A man who can frustrate to the point of incredulity with his predictable decision making against a team in the relegation zone, but then a week later can inspire a gladiatorial performance on the biggest of stages.
In truth, I quite enjoy the Howe debates. It’s interesting and engaging to speak with fellow fans about tactics, systems and trajectories - and most of the time we can all just end up agreeing that Anthony Gordon is a complete waste of space.
Away from United, but not entirely unrelated to our current situation, I thought it might be interesting to do a short assessment of the difference between Arsenal fans and Crystal Palace fans. The former decided on Sunday to boo their team off the pitch, after Arteta’s men had the temerity to lose for the third time in 35 matches. Across town, Palace fans have witnessed an almost absurdly cataclysmic six months unfold in front of their eyes, bordering at times on the farcical, and yet still choose week after week to belt out their lusty hymn; ‘lost again who gives a fuck, we won the FA Cup’.
Admittedly, context and circumstance vary wildly between those two London clubs, and our own. Smaller clubs like Palace know that they’ve been lucky to see the greatest moment in the club’s history, Arsenal fans are anxious as they know if they slip up in the title race, they only have themselves to blame. In some ways, Palace can’t lose, as they’ve already won, while Arsenal can’t win, as the title has already been bestowed upon them by most onlookers.
United sit somewhere in the middle, a club caught between gold and rubble. A team that bounces from ferocity to farce. The manager is hailed as an all-time club legend for the success he has achieved but simultaneously derided in the day-to-day for his lack of imagination and ingenuity.
He’s bound by contradictions: the weight of his high standards vs his seeming reverence for his favoured players, his humble lower-league foundations vs the wild ambitions of the current United owners, his blinkered resolve that both drives and limits him, presiding over a team perfectly capable of snatching failure from the jaws of success, and success from the jaws of failure, often in the very same week.
Lose in Paris and, performance depending, the grumblings will only get louder still. However, it will at least feel achingly familiar to end an away day at one of the elites having been ruthlessly reminded of our place in the pecking order.
Win, and phenomenal as it would be, it would also just make those contradictions all the more stark.
Into these/ on leur rentre dedans!
Ed Cole
P.S – a word for Andrew Walker, an actor and Newcastle United fan from South Shields, who was taken far too soon last week.
Rest in peace, mate.
TF LIVE SHOW
True Faith LIVE Show - Friday 27th February - buy tickets now
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We are hosting our rearranged get together the day before the Everton game (Friday 27 February) at The Alchemist in Newcastle. We have space reserved in the bar from 1800 in the evening if you’d like to join us and other Patreons for a drink, we’ll then do a show discussing all things Newcastle United at 1930-2200 in the private event space. George Caulkin of The Athletic will be our special guest. This is a small private ‘thank you’ show for Patreons and we don’t record the event.
Tickets to this show are £7.50 but entry gets you one free pint or bottle of beer or cider, a glass of wine, a spirit with mixer or two soft drinks. This gathering is our way of saying a huge THANK YOU to Patreons for supporting us and allowing us to do what we do. We’d love it if people could join us for a catch up and a drink before the show too.
If you bought a ticket for December’s rearranged show, it will be valid for this show. If you bought a ticket can’t make this show, please drop us an email at tfpodcast@1892media.com and we will process a refund if you let us know before February 14th.
By tickets: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/1892medialimited/2031318
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Every time I read the comments about Eddie Howe I think about the Charlton fans who wanted Alan Curbishley out all those years ago. They felt that he wasn't good enough to get Charlton much higher then 10th in the Premier League, they wanted a manager to take them to the next level.. so he went and Charlton vanished from sight never to be seen again.
We did a similar thing with Bobby Robson, 6th wasn't good enough and he couldn't control the players was the cry, so he went and Newcastle crumbled over a disastrous 20 years.
Yes, all the comments about Eddie are fair/reasonable and sort of understandable... let's face it we're in the champions league after all ... but be very careful what you wish for.
It's Eddie for me.
Absolutely spot on with your preview, Ed. Especially with the middle paragraph. Newcastle are indeed “trying to transition from a team that wins games with sheer intensity to one who dominates possession and chokes the life out of the opposition.” Sadly we don’t yet have enough players who can do that week after week. But hopefully it will come. After all, the hierarchy still insist to staff that we will win the league by 2030. A draw tonight would be nice. A win would be amazing - and you can never say never when it comes to Newcastle United.