Sources: 'No guarantee' Eddie Howe stays at Newcastle as PiF stance revealed
Eddie Howe is not guaranteed to remain at Newcastle United next season if the team continues to implode following their exit from Europe, sources have told Football Insider.
Speaking to Football Insider's Inside Track podcast, editor Wayne Veysey revealed that the club's Saudi-based owners PiF expected the team to have remained in European competition in to February and beyond.
Sources have told Football Insider that there is more pressure on Howe than many expect and that PiF do not share the view of the vast majority of the fanbase that the team has been punching well above their weight.
Many supporters are elated with the rapid progression of the club since PiF's 2021 takeover from the tumultuous tenure of former owner Mike Ashley.
However, sources say that the owners are unhappy to have crashed out of the Champions League in midweek and to have finished bottom of what was albeit arguably the toughest of the eight groups.
They "expect results" from Howe and his coaching staff even though they were widely seen to have been well ahead of schedule by ending their first full season in charge with a fourth-place Premier League finish.
Howe is revered by most supporters but sources say the owners have "no guarantee" over his future and the excuse of a savage injury list and congested schedule will not suffice for long.
Newcastle's 2-1 defeat to AC Milan on Wednesday night (13 December) confirmed their exit from the Champions League after they finished at the foot of Group F.
A draw against the Italian giants would have seen them finish third and enter the Europa League, but the complete lack of continental football has angered the owners who expected more after heavy investment.
PiF is also angered by the lack of due diligence in signing Sandro Tonali following his 10-month ban for gambling violations, and as revealed by Football Insider (15 December), they are investigating how the club’s recruitment team failed to discover the extent of his addiction.
Newcastle sit seventh in the Premier League following consecutive defeats against Everton and Tottenham and next welcome an in-form Fulham to St James' Park on Saturday (16 December).