Eddie Howe’s winning percentage with Newcastle United in the top flight is the second highest in the club’s history, surpassed only by Kevin Keegan, who operated free from financial control (yes, Eddie has even surpassed Sir Bobby).
He is the first Newcastle United manager since Joe Harvey to reach two cup finals.
Eddie Howe became the first manager in the Premier League era to avoid relegation with a team that failed to win any of the first fourteen PL games of the season.
His 2023-2024 side scored 85 Premier League goals, a club record in this PL era, surpassing Keegan’s Entertainers.
His team recorded the club’s biggest ever away win (8-0 at Sheffield United).
Eddie Howe went through three successive transfer windows without immediately signing a first-team player (due to the incompetence of PSR and Paul Mitchell), during which time the club sold Yankuba Minteh, Elliot Anderson and Miguel Almiron.
Eddie Howe then delivered the first domestic trophy in 70 years and also qualified for the Champions League.
But how quickly do we forget?
But let me digress a little further.
Over the past 25 years, studies from economists such as Chris Brady (University of Salford) and data-driven analysis from sources such as Soccernomics (Stefan Szymanski and Simon Kuper) have shown that a club’s wage bill is the most reliable financial indicator of league performance. The wage bill correlates with 70% to 90% of success. This contrasts with net transfer spend, which only correlates with around 16% of success.
So let’s look at labor costs.
Premier League clubs are among the eight highest wage bills (according to each club’s accounts for 2023/24):
£413.0m Manchester City
£386.1 million Liverpool
£364.7 million Manchester United
£338.0m Chelsea
£327.8m Arsenal
£233.0m Aston Villa
£222.0m Tottenham
£218.7 million Newcastle United
As you can see, Newcastle United is only in eighth place. The NUFC wage bill has never been higher than 8th during Eddie Howe’s time at St James’ Park, but the team has not finished lower than 7th in the league in any full season under Howe to date.
Eddie has simply overachieved in every Premier League season.
But let’s see what we could have gained behind door number two.
Below is every manager who has left their respective Premier League clubs since Eddie Howe took charge:
Dean Smith (sacked, Aston Villa, November 7, 2021)
Ole Gunnar Solskjær (sacked, Manchester United, November 21, 2021)
Rafael Benitez (sacked, Everton, January 16, 2022)
Claudio Ranieri (sacked, Watford, January 24, 2022)
Marcelo Bielsa (Sacked, Leeds United, February 27, 2022)
Sean Dyche (sacked, Burnley, April 15, 2022)
Ralf Rangnick (End of interim period, Manchester United, May 22, 2022)
Scott Parker (sacked, Bournemouth, August 30, 2022)
Thomas Tuchel (sacked, Chelsea, September 7, 2022)
Bruno Lage (fired, Wolves, October 2, 2022)
Steven Gerrard (Sacked, Aston Villa, October 20, 2022)
Ralph Hasenhüttl (Sacked, Southampton, November 7, 2022)
Frank Lampard (sacked, Everton, January 23, 2023)
Jesse Marsch (sacked, Leeds United, February 6, 2023)
Nathan Jones (sacked, Southampton, February 12, 2023)
Patrick Vieira (sacked, Crystal Palace, March 17, 2023)
Antonio Conte (Mutual Consent, Tottenham, March 26, 2023)
Brendan Rodgers (Mutual Consent, Leicester City, April 2, 2023)
Graham Potter (sacked, Chelsea, April 2, 2023)
Cristian Stellini (fired, Tottenham, April 24, 2023)
Javi Gracia (sacked, Leeds United, May 3, 2023)
Sam Allardyce (Mutual Consent, Leeds United, June 2, 2023)
Gary O’Neil (sacked, Bournemouth, June 19, 2023)
Rubén Sellés (End of contract, Southampton, June 30, 2023)
Julen Lopetegui (Mutual Consent, Wolves, August 8, 2023)
Paul Heckingbottom (sacked, Sheffield Utd, December 5, 2023)
Steve Cooper (sacked, Nottingham Forest, December 19, 2023)
Roy Hodgson (resigned, Crystal Palace, February 19, 2024)
Mauricio Pochettino (Mutual consent, Chelsea, May 21, 2024)
David Moyes (End of contract, West Ham United, June 30, 2024)
Jürgen Klopp (resigned, Liverpool, June 30, 2024)
Erik ten Hag (fired, Manchester United, October 28, 2024)
Steve Cooper (sacked, Leicester City, November 24, 2024)
Gary O’Neil (fired, Wolves, December 15, 2024)
Russell Martin (sacked, Southampton, December 15, 2024)
Julen Lopetegui (sacked, West Ham United, January 8, 2025)
Sean Dyche (sacked, Everton, January 9, 2025)
Ivan Jurić (sacked, Southampton, April 7, 2025)
Ange Postecoglou (Mutual Consent, Tottenham, June 2025)
Nuno Espírito Santo (sacked, Nottingham Forest, September 8, 2025)
Graham Potter (sacked, West Ham United, September 27, 2025)
Ange Postecoglou (sacked, Nottingham Forest, October 18, 2025)
Vítor Pereira (fired, Wolves, November 2, 2025)
Enzo Maresca (Mutual Consent, Chelsea, January 1, 2026)
Rúben Amorim (sacked, Manchester United, January 5, 2026)
Thomas Frank (fired, Tottenham, February 11, 2026)
Sean Dyche (sacked, Nottingham Forest, February 12, 2026)
Billions have been spent chasing short-term solutions.
With a small handful of exceptions (with significantly stronger squads upon arrival), none have matched Eddie Howe’s combination:
Champions League qualification (twice)
Trophy success.
Sustainable overperformance in relation to wage expenditure.
Eddie even outperformed Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool in his first full season as manager.
The grass isn’t greener…
Eddie Howe publicly stated during the final press conference of the 24/25 season that it is important to move quickly in the transfer market. It then took over six weeks for the owners to approve the first incoming transfer, combined with the incompetent negotiations of Paul Mitchell who, after telling everyone how incompetent they were, failed to sign a first-team player and subsequently walked away. During this slow, arduous process of owners approving the sale, several targets were lost to direct rivals.
Eddie Howe is one of the most highly regarded managers in football (I don’t think some of our fans realize how good he is). The reason there isn’t a weekly headline about where Eddie will go is down to Eddie; he has dismissed all speculation – a testament to the man’s commitment to Newcastle United. It’s time to repay that loyalty and trust.
We see the green shoots of recovery for our away form. Anthony Gordon is moved into the number 9 role and is being worked on by Eddie, Jason Tindall and the rest of the hard-working coaching staff on the training ground as striker starts to work. Slotting Nick Woltemade into midfield has improved the team’s overall performance when under pressure away from home, giving the opposition something to worry about when they are on the front foot. Our front three are fast and can scare the opponent)
Eddie Howe did something similar last season when he moved Sandro Tonali to the 6. Eddie, unlike most managers, can come up with solutions; it just takes time for players to adapt to new roles in the high-intensity environment of the Premier League. Eddie will turn this around; in this instant world and instant gratification, patience is required.
Eddie Howe was never fired. He walked away from Bournemouth when he became disillusioned with the project; he walked away from Burnley for personal reasons. When he says he would step aside if he didn’t think he was the right guy, there’s no reason to doubt him.
To the small vocal minority who want Eddie Howe out: move on, and we will all be damned for what you wish.
Loyalty works both ways.
The common sense defense rests on her position.
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