Eddie Howe is not a choker - Newcastle United are just English football’s greatest underachievers

Gut-wrenching.

That was the overriding - yet all too familiar - emotion for Newcastle United supporters on Wednesday night. A topsy-turvy game with frustration, elation, expectancy and disappointment rolled into one.

In many ways, the 3-2 defeat to Manchester United was a microcosm of Newcastle’s season. There is now a real possibility that 51 games of toil will end in failure should the Magpies slip up against Brentford - and miss out on Europe altogether - this weekend.

Many questioned Newcastle’s mentality under Eddie Howe following the defeat. After all, Man United were there for the taking.

Erik ten Hag’s men had won just one from eight games and are guaranteed to record their worst-ever Premier League total. This was not the swashbuckling side from yesteryear, managed by a ferocious winner and dominated by the best players in the country.

It was an injury-stricken, confidence-bereft, flimsy outfit with their chins in the air ready to be stunned by a knockout blow. And yet, when the stakes were raised, Newcastle crumbled.

But this is not a Howe problem - everything about his manner since arriving on Tyneside screams winner. Newcastle simply have an innate ability to blow the big occasion.

Whether it be the 12-point collapse in 1995-96 or a record nine Wembley defeats on the bounce, decades of rot, decay and underachievement weigh heavily on those in black-and-white shirts. Liberating the club from 69 years of failure will prove the Saudi-backed regime’s biggest challenge. 

They came so close in the Carabao Cup last year. Sandwiched between that defeat to Man United and Wednesday’s were three resounding wins over the Red Devils.

The difference? Pressure. Diamonds are often created under such conditions - but not in Newcastle.

To be fair, Newcastle have dealt with adversity well in recent months, namely following the poor December run, a controversial Champions League exit and the Sandro Tonali fiasco. But in one-off games or individual moments, a fragility remains.

Think Liverpool, Nottingham Forest, Luton Town and Everton at home this season. All games Newcastle should have won and, if they did, would be sitting one point behind fourth spot.

Turning English football’s greatest underachievers into a global powerhouse will take time. A panacea to detox the club’s mentality over several generations does not exist.

Howe arrived when the black-and-white ship sailed through treacherous waters and deserves the backing to steer his vessel towards brighter, sunnier lands. Beating Brentford, by hook or crook, will take a small step towards erasing the choker mentality that has become synonymous with Newcastle United.