The Mag
·9 November 2024
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·9 November 2024
Eddie Howe – success or failure?
The Newcastle United Head Coach passing a major milestone on Friday.
Eddie Howe starting his job at St James’ Park on 8 November 2021.
So Friday 8 November 2024 marking exactly three years in charge.
So how has Eddie Howe performed?
Well, the stats don’t lie.
One Football have produced this graphic below showing the Premier League points gained by Newcastle United in the opening few months of the 2021/22 season, then what NUFC have done since under Eddie Howe:
As you can see, things have ‘slightly’ improved.
It is of course sensational what Eddie Howe has achieved in these three short years.
When he arrived in November, he was faced with an absolute mess, courtesy of Mike Ashley and Steve Bruce.
A demoralised squad who he had to get properly fit, first of all.
Indeed, the stats above can be significantly improved upon, if you give Eddie Howe the benefit of three weeks and five Premier League matches to get his feet under the table and start trying to turn it around.
So if you take it from mid-December (still weeks before Eddie Howe could even add a single signing), you have stats for Newcastle United under Eddie Howe of:
Most recent 108 Newcastle United Premier League games picking up 185 points.
Most recent 108 Tottenham Premier League games picking up 184 points.
The bottom line for me is that, in reality, Newcastle United under Eddie Howe have been the fourth best Premier League team these past 35 months, since mide-December 2021, better than Chelsea, Tottenham, Man U and so on. With only Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool performing better than NUFC during these last 35 months.
Considering all of the in-built advantages these other clubs had over the Newcastle United that Eddie Howe inherited AND continue to have, squads costing far more than Newcastle’s and much bigger wage bills.
If that doesn’t convince you that Eddie Howe has worked miracles (and continues to do so), then I don’t know what will.