‘Alarm bells’: Paul Merson says Newcastle’s board may soon start to worry about one man

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Eddie Howe is a contender for Manager of the Season, but Paul Merson believes that the Newcastle board may begin to lose faith with Howe soon if the Magpies pick up more bad results.

The Tyneside club were hammered by Aston Villa last weekend, and Merson believes that if they lose any more games in that kind of fashion, Howe’s future may begin to be questioned.

Merson made this point in his SportsKeeda column ahead of Newcastle’s game against Tottenham Hotspur this weekend.

Howe could be questioned

Merson gave his verdict on the Newcastle boss.

“Eddie Howe has been brilliant for Newcastle but if they keep losing games like they did last week, things could change. They’ve got to get into the top four now. A couple of big defeats and the board will start wondering how far Eddie Howe can take this team,” Merson wrote

“This is a massive match. Both teams had absolute shockers last week. I thought Tottenham were definitely going to beat Bournemouth. Their season’s on the line, and if they lose this game, that’ll be it. If they lose to Newcastle, they’ll be lucky if they finish in fifth place.

“If Newcastle lose this game, alarm bells will start ringing – they need to raise their standards. Eddie Howe needs a big result, and I think they’ll pull it off against Tottenham this week.”

Unfair

Newcastle will probably eventually outgrow Eddie Howe as a manager. After all, they’re aiming to be the best club in the world one day.

However, we’re still some way off that point and Howe deserves a massive amount of credit for what he’s done this season.

Make no mistake about it, the Magpies are ahead of schedule. Howe is still working with a number of players who almost got the club relegated under Steve Bruce and he has them in a Champions League spot, it’s nothing short of a minor miracle.

There may come a time where Newcastle need to begin to question Howe, but right now, he’s clearly the right man for the job.