Tim Sherwood has stated that he is ‘worried’ about Eddie Howe’s future at Newcastle United if he doesn’t guide the club to the Champions League.
The former Tottenham and Aston Villa boss thinks Eddie Howe ‘shouldn’t be’ under any sort of pressure, but given the lack of footballing people running clubs now, he fears that those at the top might view it as a ‘failure’ if they don’t finish in the Premier League’s top-four this season.
As things stand, the Magpies are sitting third in the Premier League table, six points ahead of fifth-placed Tottenham, who have played a game extra.
That was helped by Newcastle destroying Spurs on Sunday by, not just beating them 6-1, but going 5-0 up inside 20 minutes.
It would have to be a Kevin Keegan-esque collapse – sorry for the reminder Newcastle fans – for Champions League football not to return to St James’ Park next season, with Sherwood sharing interesting thoughts on the matter, as he told Premier League Productions (23/04/23 at 1:05 pm).
“The footballing people, looking from the outside, think he has done a brilliant job,” said Sherwood. “The recruitment has been outstanding. He has also improved the players already there, Eddie Howe.
“I just worry for him that people who make decisions in football now aren’t the most educated on football. They are very educated in business. I am worried about the people who make the decisions up there, whether they are good, bad or indifferent.
“If he doesn’t finish this league well and he doesn’t finish in the Champions League, then they might see it as a failure. It absolutely shouldn’t be.
“But I worry for Eddie. He will realise that. He knows that he has to finish well and that he continues this journey, which is going to be very exciting for the Newcastle fans.”
HOWE AHEAD OF SCHEDULE
The target this season would have been to go on a cup run, which they did and it all ended in heartache. But then try to secure a European finish.
If Newcastle finished seventh, then it would have been seen as a plus and the club moving forward.
But, to be weeks away from the Champions League, then Howe is ahead of schedule and doing a quite stunning job for the Toon Army faithful.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
