‘Should be happy’ - Eddie Howe disciple tells home truth to Newcastle United supporters
Former Newcastle United midfielder Dan Gosling before joining Eddie Howe at Bournemouth.
Dan Gosling believes Newcastle United supporters should expect a mid-table finish this season.
In an honest assessment, the former Magpies midfielder highlighted poor recruitment as the reason for their struggles. Newcastle spent £500million on incomings during the past two summer transfer windows.
While not net spend, the outlay was largely financed by high-profile sales like Alexander Isak, Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes. But the Magpies still had a pot of funds to splash out on an influx of new arrivals.
Dan Gosling on Newcastle United
Newcastle promised a season of transition and currently sit 12th in the Premier League. Speaking to talkSPORT, former United midfielder Gosling claimed the fan base cannot ask for much more than that given the quality in their ranks.
“It’s been a bit of a mixed start to the season,” he said. “Very early on they had a really good start then they had back-to-back heavy defeats to Leeds and Coventry. All of a sudden, there was a lot of noise and everyone starts jumping on the bandwagon of a poor start.
“They’re mid-table. I don’t see Newcastle challenging for Europe this year. I think their recruitment has been… they missed out on so many targets. It must have been 10 or 15 targets over the last two or three years. They’ve had to go to the second tier and now they’ve had to go even younger.
“It’s going to be really difficult for them this season. A mid-table finish, they should be happy with that to be honest. I don’t want to be saying that because the Newcastle fans demand so much. I just think that’s where they are.”
‘I don’t want to’ - Dan Gosling
Gosling - who played under Eddie Howe for six years at Bournemouth - also noted the “risk” Newcastle took to appoint Matthias Jaissle. He added: “I don’t want to put any pressure on them and start creating the noise of him losing his job. It is a results business.
“Newcastle took a big risk in a young, unknown manager, replacing someone who did so much (Howe) for the club. These next four fixtures are difficult. It’s not looking too good at this moment but one result can change (everything).”