Former Sunderland manager Roy Keane weighs in on Eddie Howe sack race as Newcastle United boss comes under pressure
Depending on where you look for your news, Eddie Howe is either under pressure as Newcastle United boss or has one of the safest jobs in the Premier League.
The reality is, unless results don't improve soon, the voices of dissent will keep growing, and there will come a point where the board will have to start to take notice.
Personally, I hope that doesn't happen. I still think Eddie Howe is the right man for the job, as evidenced by the fact that he's saved us from certain relegation, got us into the Champions League twice and into two cup finals, one of which we won.
My patience isn't endless, however, and the away form this season has been a huge cause for concern, and while I'm still a long way from visiting the 'Howe Out' camp, I am thinking about perusing the brochure.
Roy Keane backs Eddie Howe to right the ship
Realistically, though, there have been no indications from the board that they're considering his future and all the noise is purely driven by a small pocket of fans and a few people in the media.
Even former Mackem boss Roy Keane is standing by Eddie Howe, and we're sure he'd love to fuel any anti-Newcastle narrative he could. Speaking on Sky Sports (h/t Newcastle World), Keane says he expects Howe to turn things around.
"They will have to start turning results around soon. They have nine games in January so they will be tested in terms of the squad. But the one thing with Eddie Howe that we've seen over the last few years is that he's calm with all of this stuff.
“I know there can be extreme reactions up at Newcastle, the same as Sunderland, but he's a calm influence. He'll look at these games and they will regroup and they will go again."
We back Eddie Howe to take us on a run of form in the new year
As I've said many times, when the fan pressure builds, Howe has guided us out of tough spots plenty of times in the past, and what tends to follow is a run of blinding form.
If that doesn't happen this time, we at least owe it to the man to see out the season, and if we finish with no trophy, no European football and a bottom-half league finish, then we can talk about change.
However, as we pointed out yesterday, the options aren't great, so we have to be careful what we wish for.
