How insiders at Newcastle United are feeling after a shaky start to the season

With 12 points on the board it's all a matter of perspective as to whether Newcastle United have had a good or poor start to the season.

The campaign got underway with Newcastle picking up points their performances perhaps didn't deserve and in the last four games our performances have been considerably better but our points tally has been shocking with two defeats and two draws either side of an unconvincing Carabao Cup win over League Two opposition.

Four Premier League games without a win is a cause for concern, sure, especially when you factor in the quality of opposition - Newcastle should be picking up wins against Fulham and Everton and getting at least a point against Brighton at home.

However, despite what some corners of the internet may think, it's way too soon to be hitting the panic button and thinking about a change of manager.

Lee Smith/REUTERS

Eddie Howe is not under pressure at Newcastle despite the questionable start to the season

That sentiment is echoed behind the scenes at St James' Park too according to The Athletic's Chris Waugh who has addressed the feeling in the camp in his latest Q&A when discussing the pressure on Eddie Howe.

"Newcastle could stall in the league and still launch a second-half-of-the-campaign revival, but exiting the cups early would be damaging.

"Nevertheless, the job Howe has done is massively appreciated by the hierarchy, and (Darren) Eales and (Paul) Mitchell have stressed how much they want the head coach to remain long-term. Obviously, results will dictate that but there also has to be an acknowledgement of the failure to strengthen and the impact that has had.

"Howe needs positive results, but the knee-jerk reaction from some quarters is premature. There is no sense of panic inside St James’ Park, even if there is a keen desire for wins to arrive quickly."

The cracks are starting to show but we still back Eddie Howe to fill them

It's going to be another case of Eddie Howe having perfect excuses to avoid criticism again after last season having the injury crisis and congested fixture list, this season he's got the fact that he wasn't backed in the transfer market again and all the upheaval behind the scenes.

At a certain point, though, we do have to start wondering if Eddie Howe is the right man for the job. We're not there yet, in my opinion, but these excuses are becoming less bulletproof and we do have to start wondering how the man who turned Joelinton into a 'world class' midfielder and even got a tune out of Miguel Almiron for a while, can't get this team which contains Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton and Alexander Isak to actually win games.

Again, we're not at the calling for Eddie's head yet, far from it, but we also can't defend him forever. It's great that there's no panic behind the scenes and there'll be no kneejerk reaction and Howe will be given the time to get things moving in the right direction. A change of manager could set us back again, and whoever we bring in will still have the same transfer struggles as Eddie Howe's had.