Newcastle United And Eddie Howe Are Not Learning From Same Mistakes

BRENTFORD, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 09: Eddie Howe, Manager of Newcastle United, applauds the fans following the team’s defeat in the Premier League match between Brentford and Newcastle United at Gtech Community Stadium on November 09, 2025 in Brentford, England. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)

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Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe said something extremely relevant last week, as pressure mounts over the team’s Premier League away form, which suddenly looks to be a bigger problem than many had realised.

Ahead of the 2-0 win over Athletic Club in the Champions League last week, Howe was discussing consistency and said this:

“The competitions we are in make it difficult because you can find consistency in one and it seems like you are consistent.”

Newcastle has a perfect record in Europe since losing to Barcelona at St James’ Park in September and currently sits in the automatic qualification spots for the first proper knockout round after four matches. In the Carabao Cup – a trophy it is defending – it faces a winnable tie against Fulham before the prospect of a third semi-final in four years.

But, ultimately, the Premier League is most important. Newcastle’s 3-1 defeat at West Ham a week ago set alarm bells ringing, so much so that the Athletic game was a bit of an afterthought. At home, Newcastle is a different beast, even without playing at its best, results are rarely an issue. But on the road, a troublesome trend is developing; not only is Newcastle without a win since April in the league, but too often the team looks lethargic, lacking in ideas, dynamism and creativity and completely unable to compete when under duress from the opposition.

It was hoped that losing at West Ham would be a wake up call, a catalyst for better. Last season, a similar defeat at Brentford was followed by 10 wins in a row, but when Newcastle returned to the Gtech Community Stadium last weekend, the same issues were exposed again. Now, that worrying trend is threatening to develop into a full blown crisis. Howe’s team is 14th in the table with the visit of Manchester City next up after the international break; in early December, the Wear-Tyne Derby casts a shadow, with bitter rivals Sunderland unbeaten at home since promotion in May.

Tentative questions are being asked of Howe and more generally over his future after Sunday. It is not the first time this has happened, in fact it has been a debate for the third fall in a row, which illustrates the depths of the problems plaguing Newcastle and how they have appeared consistently for a while.

Is Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe under pressure?

It has not got beyond a few people suggesting Howe’s long-term future should be in doubt yet, but that noise could get louder should results fail to turn around in the next batch of fixtures, which also include difficult trips to Marseille and Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League. If pressure mounts, the discussion will be polarizing, but will require nuance and calm heads all round.

Some supporters will back Howe with immense faith and it is hard to argue against that. He has seen this sort of difficulty before, albeit in different context, and pulled Newcastle through, not to mention winning a first domestic trophy for 70 years and securing Champions League football in two of the last three seasons.

In many ways, Howe has achieved more than could be expected in the first four years since the Saudi Arabian-led takeover. In this writer’s opinion, given how well other facets of the campaign are going too, he deserves nothing but support and time to get things right again.

But that doesn’t mean criticism isn’t justified and his ability to turn things around is guaranteed. It is concerning that, for the third season running, Newcastle looks susceptible in the same ways away from home, and in 2025, has only beaten Tottenham, West Ham, Leicester City and Southampton on the road in the league. None of those teams finished above 14th in the Premier League last season and two of them were relegated.

Howe is arguably too stubborn and loyal to certain players, too. On Sunday, he neglected to replace Dan Burn before he was sent off despite Brentford specifically targeting him when he was on a yellow card, while Nick Woltemade was isolated in attack with minimal impact having been double marked, but there was no plan to exploit the extra space elsewhere on the pitch.

For the second week in a row, Howe’s response to going behind was to make a flurry of substitutions, but that did little to unsettle the opposition and only made Newcastle more dysfunctional. It wasn’t calm or calculated, two words usually so tightly associated with his management.

At its best, home or away, Newcastle bullies teams. Not only does it overrun and play through them, but it is also uncomfortable to face; nasty, physical and in your face. But that has gone and, in truth, hasn’t been there in certain settings for some time. Now, Newcastle is passive, unable to react to changes in momentum. With expectation higher than ever, thanks to Howe’s work, he needs to turn it around in order to save another flailing season.