Alan Pardew says Eddie Howe is dealing with ‘religious’ Newcastle United supporters
Eddie Howe is under the cosh more than at any stage of his tenure as Newcastle United manager.
Alan Pardew has backed Eddie Howe to weaponise the Newcastle United support and turn the club’s season around.
An international break has come at a welcome time for the Magpies following back-to-back Premier League defeats. A dismal 3-1 defeat to Brentford last weekend leaves Newcastle sitting two points above the relegation zone.
Manchester City up next hardly makes life easier for a Toon outfit desperate to get their season on track. The concerning form has resulted in faint noises emerging about Howe’s long-term future.
Newcastle United ‘religion’
Speaking to talkSPORT, former Newcastle manager Pardew tipped Howe to turn the tide at St James’ Park. He also discussed football being a “religion” on Tyneside - and how that ramps up the pressure levels.
“No one would be more concerned than Eddie,” Pardew said. “I've seen (it be said that) ‘He's too nice, he's this, he's that’. Eddie's got more about him than just being a nice guy. He knows how to manage a football club.
“He's done a great job there. They've had resources that have improved the club to no end. Forget about the signings, the training ground and everything has improved massively.
So it's a club that's definitely going up the graph and they find themselves for the first time two or three years now on the way sliding and that's uncomfortable.
“The pressure is going to kick in. The football in Newcastle is religious. It's the only comparison you can make. It's a religion, it really is for the fans. And so they'll be scrutinising everything that happens there and the pressure will really start to kick in. I am a great lover of Eddie Howe and I hope he gets the results he needs. It's the away form that's a massive problem.”
‘Support is off the scale’ - Alan Pardew
“That midfield, (Bruno) Guimaraes, Joelinton and (Sandro) Tonali is one of the best midfields in the Premier League,” Pardew added. “If you ask me which midfield three would I really, really want, that would be in there.
“(There are) some issues there that need to be resolved but they've got the man to do it. Newcastle are one of those clubs as well, the fan base goes like that on a negative and then suddenly, when they get a next home game, it goes through the roof. The support is absolutely off the scale and I hope that happens for them.”
Alan Pardew on his Newcastle United struggles
Pardew also noted how he failed to win the Newcastle fans over before leaving in December 2014. He said: “It was different for me at Newcastle because it was getting to a point where the fans didn't seem to want to come back to me.
“Obviously, I had a couple of great years there and then we struggled with the Europa League football. We had a difficult year and it just seemed to fit everybody for me to move.”