The issue at Newcastle United – and it isn't Eddie Howe
Newcastle United are 12th in the Premier League following an under-whelming transfer window amid boardroom and backroom change.
It’s said that clubs always buy when they’re at the top.
I remember Kevin Keegan saying that during his time as Newcastle United manager, and the adage still holds true today. You just can’t stand still in football.
Newcastle, under Eddie Howe, hadn’t quite got to the top, but they could almost see the summit of the Premier League after finishing fourth the season before last.
The club had invested heavily that season. Alexander Isak, Sven Botman and Nick Pope had joined in the summer of 2022, and Anthony Gordon was signed in a £45million deal in the January window.
Those deals would prove to be transformative.
United’s new owners were able to invest heavily, while staying within the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), following the takeover in late 2021 because of the club’s parsimony in the Mike Ashley years, which were often profitable.
Yet once those years started to drop off the three-year cycle, further investment was going to be dependent on increased commercial revenues.
The club, which will open its new “flagship” adidas club store at St James’ Park this week, is making strides commercially, but it’s still playing catch-up with its rivals.
What followed was three windows in which the club barely strengthened as it stayed within what outgoing chief executive officer Darren Eales has described as the “guardrails” of a PSR system which needs clearly reforming.
Today, Howe’s side is 12th in the Premier League table, and without a win in five games, ahead of tomorrow night’s sold-out Carabao Cup home tie against Chelsea. The fixture follows a weekend 2-1 loss at Stamford Bridge, where Isak was on target.
The issue, however, isn’t Howe. The issue is under-investment in those windows in which the club has been constrained by PSR.
There was some money to spend in the summer – the club tried to sign defender Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace – but it was largely left unspent amid a number of off-field changes at the club.
Fans, understandably, have been asking why at least some of that money wasn’t spend before the transfer deadline.
End of an era
Co-owners Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodouiss left St James’ Park as the post-takeover era came to an abrupt end, and Paul Mitchell succeeded Dan Ashworth as sporting director.
Howe admitted that the summer, which saw Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh sold to ensure PSR compliance, had been “difficult” for a number of reasons.
Mitchell, starkly, described the club’s recruitment strategy as “not fit for purpose”, and hinted at a “more intelligent, data-informed” approach to transfers, once the summer transfer window closed.
“Is it fit for purpose? Not last winter gone, the winter before that. Is it fit for purpose in the modern game?
“Because other clubs that have adopted a different approach over time, with more intelligence, more data-informed than we are, actually prospered in this window. That's where we have to grow to be now.”
What is clear is that there needs to be regular squad renewal whatever the approach. Squads must be refreshed to ensure a team doesn’t go stale. Players can’t be allowed to get too comfortable, and increased competition is a must if a club is to progress.
There’s room for sentiment in football, but not too much, and a degree of ruthlessness is needed in squad management. Players must come AND go each season.
Howe, for his part, is always looking to improve the overall strength of the squad.
But it’s clear this summer’s low-cost arrivals, among them two goalkeepers, didn’t reinvigorate a group which needed a summer refresh in a couple of key positions after a particularly gruelling season.
Injury problems
Callum Wilson’s non-availability has also been an issue up front for Howe, who also lost Isak for almost a month.
Striker William Osula, signed from Sheffield United in the summer as one for the future, has been limited to just nine minutes of Premier League football so far this season amid a call for “patience around his development” from Howe.
“He certainly has the attributes, but we as coaches need to take our chances to work with him in the areas of the game he needs,” said Howe last week. “Everyone on the outside needs to have patience around his development.”
Defenders Sven Botman and Jamaal Lascelles, meanwhile, suffered long-term injuries late last season.
Howe has been short at both ends of the pitch, and it shouldn’t surprise us that the team has scored too few goals, and looked vulnerable at the back, in the first couple of months of the season.
Speaking to Match of the Day after the Chelsea defeat, Howe said: "No one can change it but us, and we’ll continue to attack games and attack teams.”
Yet Newcastle, while far from their best, have still been competitive this season, and that’s to the credit of Howe and the players he has at the club.
The team must stay competitive until January, when one or more reinforcements should belatedly arrive.
United must make up ground on the field, as common ground is found off the pitch between Howe and Mitchell ahead of the next transfer window.