So why do I blame Eddie Howe today?

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The Mag

·27 December 2023

So why do I blame Eddie Howe today?

Over the last two years and especially the last few months, I have fully backed and defended Eddie Howe throughout all the poor games and poor results.

Today against Forest however, I do feel he needs to take a great deal of responsibility and blame.

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Last year, regardless of the team we were playing, I had every confidence going into each game knowing two things

1) Newcastle United would never be physically outworked and

2) For a team to beat us, they’d have to perform something special. That, as of late, has not been the case. Today against Forest has been somewhat reminiscent of ‘Bruce Ball’.

The Luton game, we were outworked and outran. We were physically bullied off the ball. There were changes to the team which were questionable and again, it didn’t work. We had nothing to offer and nothing going forward but that was ruled out as a poor performance.

So why do I blame Eddie Howe today?

Before today, we had lost five out of six, in all competitions, knocked out of the Champions League and the Carabao Cup. With our upcoming fixtures, today was massive.

Today there was some very questionable team changes. It was also very clear what their style and tactic was going to be – lone striker (Wood) and counter us in behind against our not very pacy fullbacks. Which worked, repeatedly.

Dan Burn at left back didn’t work against Luton and didn’t work today against their wingers and it was clear he was going to struggle from the first 15-20 minutes. However, no change was made until 60 minutes. And I sincerely feel for Tino. He has been outstanding in every game he has played.

Along with this, Almiron has been Incredibly poor. He usually gets away with no end product due to his workrate but unfortunately he offers and has offered absolutely nothing. Today, he had the chance to shoot, tried to pass it and they countered and scored.

And, further to this, when he did have a shot, his shot towards his own goal was blocked by a Forest Player. Along with Almiron, we have Longstaff who also offers nothing other than running around and the occasional fall forward, in hope of a foul. Offering nothing other than ‘legs’ does not work at this level if we want to compete.

It would be be fair to say that we have struggled with the amount of injuries and with the fixtures, but ultimately I feel this needs to be managed better, instead of repeatedly using ‘fatigue’ and ‘injuries’ as excuses. Change the style slightly, protect players who are clearly struggling. Swap from three in midfield which is a very difficult and demanding formation and protect the team.

This now brings me to my second point.

We have no real plan B, it is just very predictable. Bring Wilson on. Push Isak out wide. Copy and paste. With that being said, nine of those players today certainly did not perform at all. Isak and Miley for me were the only two positives and the only two who appeared to offer any positive.

My final point is directed towards Tripper.

I sincerely feel for him as it seems as though his head isn’t quite there. Should this be addressed directly by giving him some time off? I hate to be ‘that guy’ but Krafth since returning from injury looked very solid and comfortable and somewhat more ‘with it’ than Tripps.

It is a very difficult time for us and I do fear for the coming month and fixtures. I can’t see our next win and I have no confidence in keeping a clean sheet at this current moment.

I also hate to tinker with the idea… but we could also be out of the FA cup against a team with nothing to lose.

With all that being said, I hope Eddie Howe is given time to turn this around.

He has got players playing above their ability, which sadly I feel is becoming evident what their true ability is.

January is going to be huge.

Is this really our level?

Or are we just going through a rough set of fixtures?

Time will tell and I hope he is give time to prove his worth.

Stats via BBC Sport:

Newcastle 1 Nottingham Forest 3 – Tuesday 26 December 12.30pm

Goals:

Isak 23 pen

Forest: