'We are fully behind him': Kieran Trippier addresses social media dissenters after Eddie Howe pressure
Eddie Howe probably slept quite soundly on Saturday night after picking up back-to-back away wins with Newcastle United.
It was probably his first blissful sleep in a while as pressure was starting to build on the Newcastle manager after a string of poor performances. One win against a terrible Tottenham Hotspur side probably wasn't enough to open that pressure valve, but the win over Aston Villa in such trying circumstances certainly was.
There are still going to be those who staunchly stick by their "Howe Out" stance, and that's fine; everyone is entitled to their opinion, but the gaffer has answered a lot of his critics this week.
Howe made some big calls with his team selections that paid off, showing that when backed into a corner, he can come up with a Plan B.
Kieran Trippier goes into bat for Eddie Howe live on BBC
Crucially, though, any talk that he's losing the dressing room was put firmly to bed on Saturday with Sandro Tonali's reaction to his first goals of the season, and then with Kieran Trippier's words at full time when speaking to the BBC.
"It always is [a rollercoaster] against Aston Villa, always a high tempo game. We've been under scrutiny a bit, but we regrouped after Brentford, we had a good talk with ourselves - just us players. Good win away from home, I'm delighted for Sandro [Tonali] to score, he's been unbelievable for us.
"There's no VAR - the penalty incident, I'm sure it was a penalty. But this is football, you have to react to disappointments, and we did that. Villa posed a threat with 10 men but that third goal was crucial.
"We looked at ourselves as players in the dressing room [after the Brentford defeat], but also for the manager. I've known him over half my life. You see all this stuff on social media which he doesn't deserve. We are fully behind him and a fully playing for him."
Newcastle have a tough week ahead
Sandro Tonali also echoed Trippier's sentiments, saying his relationship with Howe is 'perfect'. Let's hope the lads can keep up this mentality through this week.
Newcastle will find out their next FA Cup opponents tonight and then it's off to Azerbaijan for the Champions League play-off first leg against Qarabag.
Then, after that 5000-mile round trip, it's just the small matter of taking on Manchester City at the cursed Etihad Stadium again. What a week.
