It’s been a memorable 2023 for Newcastle. There’s been a sting in the tail, with the team losing six of their last seven games, but what Eddie Howe has delivered this year has been way ahead of schedule.
As a reporter covering the club, I have really enjoyed seeing how the fans are loving their club again and the real engagement they have with this team and our coverage. It’s fun to cover the club again and the 12 months have flown past. That could not always be said under the previous regime, when relegation scraps were drawn out.
In the past six months, I have travelled to the south-east coast of America, Paris, Dortmund and Milan reporting on Newcastle. The decade before I was lucky to get four days in Dublin under Rafa Benitez.
We can talk about the pressure Howe may be feeling now but that is because he and his players overachieved last season.
The Carabao Cup final at Wembley was an incredible moment. They lost the game against Man Utd but to see 80,000 Newcastle fans take over Trafalgar Square and then the emotion from the supporters both outside and inside the stadium that day was something else. It left a lump in your throat seeing what it meant to fans of all ages watching their club back on the big stage again after years of pain.
Qualifying for the Champions League was a huge moment and I will not forget the pre-match party in Dortmund where 10,000 Newcastle fans were gearing up for The Yellow Wall in the Market Square. I stood on the stage and gazed out to hopes and dreams that had been reignited. It was a snapshot of what the club could be again.
But for all that success, there was an understanding from the owners that there was potential for a sticky patch this season. It’s not been a surprise.
The combination of the unprecedented number of injuries they have suffered, the increased schedule with Champions League football, and the shock 10-month ban for Sandro Tonali have made it difficult.
Perhaps they could have just about coped with a near-fit squad but, with the magnitude of the matches they had to play over the past two months – including 10 games in 30 days in December – it was always going to catch up with them.
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Sky Sports’ Keith Downie weighs in on Newcastle’s current ‘slump’ in form after their 3-1 loss to Nottingham Forest, citing routine and opponent strategy as key players to the lull in performance.
With the injuries, it meant they played the same starting XI for five games in a row in space of a fortnight, with hardly a substitution. Howe had little other option, and at one stage against Chelsea named three goalkeepers on the subs’ bench. The injury list has taken its toll, and only now are we beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel.
But it’s fair to describe recent results as a slump. Not many people expected them to lose to both Luton and Nottingham Forest and that came on the back of the exit from the Champions League, where potential participation in the Europa League was also missed, before days later they were knocked out of the Carabao Cup on penalties at Chelsea when they were seconds away from going through.
Those losses to Luton and Forest look to have been the result of a hangover from the bad week which saw their Champions League and Carabao Cup hopes destroyed and Howe has referenced that.
But there is also the issue of some teams beginning to work Newcastle out a little. Forest did a job on them on Boxing Day and exposed them with raw pace in attack. The fact former striker Chris Wood plundered a hat-trick rubbed salt into the gaping wounds
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from the Premier League match between Newcastle and Nottingham Forest.
Through January he has time to work with players on the training pitch. That’s something he’s not been able to do over the last couple of months, when they have been playing, resting, playing. But with only four games in January and a winter break there is time to get out on the training pitch and right the wrongs which have seen them slip down the Premier League table in recent weeks.
The injury situation is beginning to clear up, too. It’s not quite the 10-12 players that we’ve seen missing over the bulk of the last month, it’s down to five-six players now, which makes it a bit more manageable for Howe. Key players such as Alexander Isak and Sven Botman are back and close to full fitness, too.
There is also the possibility to add some depth in the transfer market. I would be very surprised if Newcastle do not do something in this window. Their squad has been stretched for the past couple of months, and it’s clear to see they need some help with a couple of additions. It would help them both with the physical load and on the mental side of things. But we have seen before that Howe will not add new faces for the sake of it. The have to fit in with his ethos and have the type of character he relies upon.
A holding midfielder and an attacker – someone who can play wide or through the middle – will be on the list. They may also look at a goalkeeper to cover Nick Pope, who is out until April, with some questions over whether Martin Dubravka can be the long-term stand-in.
However, I imagine Newcastle will have to explore the loan market in January as they are under pressure with regards to Financial Fair Play. FFP was something Howe mentioned a couple of times in his news conference on Friday and it feels as though that is the main area of concern as they look to add to their squad in the second half of the season.
The feeling within the club is if an opportunity arose, they could bring forward the budget from the summer, and spend in this window like we saw last January, when Anthony Gordon arrived for £40m plus £5m in add-ons from Everton. There was no budget for January but they brought it forward. That then affected what they could spend in the summer and left them deferring payment on Chelsea’s Lewis Hall.
Manchester City’s Kalvin Phillips could be a January target for Newcastle
Kalvin Phillips, for instance, could be a loan option. With Tonali back in August, a deal until the end of the season could suit Newcastle and Phillips, who is targeting the Euros – but the numbers would have to be right for both clubs. Newcastle may have to wait until closer to the end of the window and hope Man City drop demands they reportedly have for a loan fee.
Newcastle were also one of the clubs which voted to allow players to be loaned in from the Saudi Pro League and it would not surprise me if they look at that option. There are players available in that market with Premier League experience who could do a good job for Howe’s side in the short term.
There were some questions from observers about Newcastle spending money in the summer on players for the future, such as Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento, when they could have done with another player for the here and now. That might be the focus next month. Livramento has been a success and is ahead of schedule having not long recovered from knee surgery.
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Newcastle’s boss Eddie Howe says he’s learned to accept criticism as he addresses the club’s current form, which has seen them lose six of their last seven games in all competitions.
The message from within the club is there’s full support behind Howe. There have been a lot of fans coming up to me worried about Howe and his future under the Saudi regime, but the message is everyone is in this together, they are pulling in the one direction and will stick together through the difficult times.
But Howe will know you cannot keep losing games indefinitely and their fixture list does not get much more difficult than a trip to Anfield to play Liverpool, followed by Man City and Aston Villa.
In the middle of that there is the FA Cup tie against their great rivals Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. That match takes on added significance: it’s the only competition they can win this season and being knocked out by their fierce rivals would make Newcastle a laughing stock within the Sunderland fanbase.
2023 was a standout year for Howe and Newcastle with memories a plenty. But the start of 2024 will be hugely significant for where their journey goes next.
Watch Liverpool vs Newcastle live on Sky Sports Premier League on Monday from 7pm; kick off 8pm.