Newcastle United told to ignore ‘nonsense’ around Eddie Howe and make sack decision

Newcastle United have been urged to keep Eddie Howe on as manager with Ally McCoist branding the prospect of him being sacked as “nonsense.”

Newcastle have endured an underwhelming campaign, which took another blow in Monday’s 3-2 defeat to Chelsea. The club remains 10th in the table and 15 points off the top four, having finished bottom of their Champions League group before Christmas.

Howe’s position has been a subdued topic of discussion as a result of the sluggish campaign, which has been littered with injury setbacks and hampered by Financial Fair Play. However, it is not thought that Newcastle are poised to change boss anytime soon.

McCoist is baffled by the thought of Newcastle showing the door to Howe and has implored the club to refrain from making a snap decision. Speaking on talkSPORT, the former striker said: “He’s got to be given time surely. I’ve said all along Newcastle are a work in progress.

“They take two steps forward, one back, two forward, maybe a couple back. Surely it’s a lot of nonsense talking about his job, surely.”

Several names have been linked with Newcastle this year, including former Chelsea and Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho, who was sacked by Roma in January. Meanwhile, Thomas Tuchel is reportedly eyeing a return to the Premier League when he exits from Bayern Munich this summer.

Neither are deemed to be considerations of Newcastle and Howe is expected to stay in his role beyond the summer as things stand. There were inklings that the Football Association may make an approach for Howe should Gareth Southgate step down as England head coach at the end of Euro 2024.

However, this has not been confirmed and Southgate recently hinted that he might stay on beyond the end of this summer’s tournament. Howe penned a new long-term Newcastle deal in August 2022, extending his stay beyond the initial expiry date of summer 2024.