From the Bottom to the Top Four, and Back
The cold November air in Tyneside carried the weight of a desperate hope when Eddie Howe took charge of Newcastle. The club sat 19th in the Premier League, winless in 11 games. By the end of the season, they had clawed their way into 11th place. The following campaign saw them settle into 12th, a position that left the Toon faithful scratching their heads.
Crystal Palace, for all their consistency, would have been envious of such a fluctuation. Newcastle, on the other hand, had taken a detour through the scenic route of football survival, ambition and near misses.
Howe deserves credit for more than just the optics. In the 179 matches he oversaw, only four teams in the Premier League earned more points. Three of those clubs had lifted the title in recent seasons. But numbers don’t always tell the story the press or the fans want to hear.
The 2022-23 season will be the one Howe takes to the next job interview. Newcastle finished fourth, breaking the cycle of outsiders trying and failing to crack the top four. No club outside the elite six had managed it since Everton’s 2004-05 run. It was the first time since Sir Bobby Robson’s era that the Magpies had reached such heights.
Injuries and Inconsistency
Newcastle ended up 12th, which was worse than some of their results under the frugal Mike Ashley regime. The financial ceiling under the Public Investment Fund made it hard to justify such a fall.
Howe could look to the injury report as an excuse. Only three players made all 38 league appearances—Harvey Barnes, Aaron Ramsdale, and Malick Thiaw. Sandro Tonali was close with 27, but no one else in the squad reached that mark. No other side had such a fragile squad in terms of league starts.
Defensively and offensively, the Magpies were misfiring. They scored 4.1 goals below their expected goals, and conceded 3.7 more than expected. If the league were judged by expected points, they would have finished ninth, a far cry from the shock fourth place.
Still, there was success. Two campaigns in Europe, nights at St James’ Park that echoed with memories, and a long-awaited major trophy. Newcastle had the eighth-highest wage bill in the league and finished in the top 10 twice under Howe. That’s not bad by anyone’s measure.
Yet the direction the club is moving in, and the whispers already surrounding Howe’s departure, made his exit feel inevitable. Whether it was fair, only time will tell.