There is a feeling amongst a large majority of PL fans that when the oil-rich sheikhs of the Middle East take ownership of a team that you support, your ship has finally come in. Manchester City is to be blamed for this, given how much success they have had since being bought out, in effect, by the state of Abu Dhabi in 2008.
In this respect, Newcastle fans could be forgiven for thinking that their luck would also change after the Public Investment Fund purchased the North East club, but things haven’t yet gone according to plan after Eddie Howe was asked to keep the Geordies out of the Championship.
In fact, if the latest Betfair odds on the Championship are anything to go by, Howe could be waving to his old club Bournemouth as they go up whilst Newcastle go down with the Cherries priced at just 4/7 to win promotion to the Premier League. The most up-to-date Championship tips are unequivocal about Bournemouth’s chances of going up whilst Newcastle are being tipped to go down at bittersweet odds of 20/21.
There’s certainly panic at St James’ Park as Howe hasn’t been able to inspire an upturn in results that normally comes when a new manager takes his place in the dugout. Naturally, this has led to many wondering if the Toon is indeed headed for their third relegation since 2009, given that they look as devoid of ideas as they did under the heavily criticised Steve Bruce before his sacking.
Those fears of going down aren’t unfounded when you consider that a near full-strength Newcastle lost at home to League One Cambridge in the FA Cup whilst fellow relegation candidates Watford managed to snatch a point at St James’ Park in a recent relegation six-pointer. The long and short of it is that there is genuine evidence that it simply isn’t clicking under Howe and whilst patience would normally be preached in any other scenario, time is not a luxury that Newcastle have.
Saturday’s 1-0 win over Leeds was a massive win for the Magpies, but as the standings show, they still have some work to do.
Crucially, you do just wonder if Newcastle’s new owners will wheel the sword once more by firing Howe in a desperate attempt to avoid beginning the 2021/2022 season in the Championship. It should be said that Newcastle has an extraordinarily good record in the Championship having gone up straight away, at the first time of asking, both times they were relegated. However, it’s important to remember that getting out of the Championship once there is never guaranteed: just look at Leeds who spent 16 years in the EFL.
The Toon are, of course, in a much better position financially than Leeds were during those years but who’s to say that Newcastle’s new owners will hang around for long, throwing good money after bad in the hope of getting promoted? It is the unknowns of life in the quagmire of the Championship that may just see the powers that be in Newcastle forced to act by firing Howe.