Eddie Howe Insists He Would Step Aside If Not The Right Man To Lead Newcastle United

Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe has insisted he would step aside if he did not think he was the right man to lead the club.

The Magpies were booed off by supporters following a damaging 3-2 defeat against Brentford at St James’ Park on Saturday. Howe admitted afterwards that he was “not doing my job well enough at the moment” as Newcastle slipped to 12th place in the Premier League table.

However, two days later, Howe—who ended the club’s seven-decade wait for a major domestic trophy just 11 months ago—said there was “no doubt in my mind” that he remains the correct man for the job.

“That’s why I’m sitting here,” Howe said on the eve of Tuesday’s game at Tottenham Hotspur. “If there was doubt, I wouldn’t be—because the club is the most important thing. I’ve never put myself before the club. If I didn’t think I was the correct man to take the team forward, and I couldn’t give the players what they need, then I would step aside and let someone else do it.”

Newcastle have won only one of their last eight games in all competitions, but Howe retains the backing of the club hierarchy. Since his appointment in 2021, he has had a transformational impact, beating Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final last year and guiding Newcastle into the Champions League twice.

Newcastle will be favourites to progress to the last 16 of the Champions League against Azerbaijan side Qarabag and face a FA Cup fourth-round tie against Aston Villa on Saturday.

Howe acknowledged he is going through one of the toughest periods of his reign but is drawing on the experiences of previous difficult spells to turn things around.

“Those experiences I have been through countless times before stand me in good stead for this moment,” he said. “The collective spirit is what we’re after. We’re after the collective fight from all the players and if you have that resolve within the group, you can do amazing things again, so it can turn very quickly. The momentum is against us at the moment. We have to swing it back and then the world can look a very different place within a couple of games.”

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