Howe sack incoming at Newcastle? ‘Unhappy’ PIF create feeling of ‘the unknown’ for ‘uncomfortable’ boss

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is creating a feeling of ‘the unknown’ at Newcastle United amid rumours they are ‘unhappy’ with Eddie Howe, according to reports.

Chris Wood netted a 15-minute hat-trick as Nottingham Forest came from a goal down to beat the Magpies 3-1 after Alexander Isak had given Howe’s side the lead from the penalty spot.

Newcastle are now on a run of eight defeats in 12 matches with their chances of qualifying for the Champions League for the second time in two seasons taking a blow in recent weeks.

At this time last season the Geordies had only lost one match in the Premier League and were sitting second in the table as Howe oversaw a wonderful campaign at the club.

But Howe admitted to an “uncomfortable feeling” after their defeat to Forest and vowed to end their poor form by working hard on the training ground.

The Newcastle boss told reporters after the match: “Whenever you lose games it is an uncomfortable feeling, when your team is not at its peak.

Are you worried? When you don’t achieve the desired outcome, you have to deal with a lot of emotions. That is what I’m sensing. I prefer to organize my ideas, do thorough analysis, and make necessary corrections.

“I have a strong feeling that the solution is inside. The players we now have are adequate. Those wounds are ours. It hasn’t been easy for us. Physically, we’re not at our best.

“We weren’t exactly at our best, and poor performance is met with consequences. Although there was a lot of excellent play in the first half, it was disappointing that the final move or pass was absent. Making it 2-0 and in a dominant position was our goal.

“It has been an intense period. The players have physically given everything and we have acknowledged we have not been at our best and that is all we can do. We can now return to the training pitch for the first time in what feels like months. We need training ground time to refine missing parts of our game.

“Some of our decision making was off, positioning or technically. It wasn’t a big tactical issue, we didn’t deal with moments in the game.

“I’ll be prepared to make any change that I think can benefit either the performance or the result and of course players are accountable for what they deliver.

“No amount of credit in the bank is big enough, you have to earn everything you get from the game. I’m a firm believer in that so players know they have to perform and we have to change our short-term form for sure.

“It will be nice to build up to games and training. I think we have suffered not having training ground time. And the inability to rotate the team has caught up with us.”

Eleven days ago, a source stated that PIF did not agree with the majority of fans’ perspective that the squad has been performing well above their weight and that they were “unhappy” to see Newcastle lose to them in the Champions League. Additionally, the article claimed that “there is more pressure on Howe than many expect.”

A 3-0 success over Fulham provided a momentary lift, but losses to Chelsea, Luton Town, and Forest have increased the pressure on Howe once more.

Furthermore, Chris Waugh of The Athletic maintains that despite the British co-owners’ backing for Howe, there is a sense of “the unknown” at St. James’ Park because nobody knows what the majority ownership is thinking about the team’s current performance and results.

Waugh stated: “There has only been internal support from the club’s British-based co-owners, despite Howe’s admission of “an uncomfortable feeling” at managing such a tough patch and the uncertainty surrounding how Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Newcastle’s majority stakeholders, will react to such a downturn.”