When Eddie Howe was appointed by Newcastle in November 2021, the club was 19th in the Premier League with no wins after 11 games. He steered them to 11th by the end of the campaign, and they finished 12th last season.
- Eddie Howe's tenure: only four teams earned more Premier League points; three had better goal difference, all recent title winners.
- High point: finishing fourth in 2022-23, two Champions League campaigns and first major trophy in decades.
- Final season: injuries hit; only Harvey Barnes, Aaron Ramsdale and Malick Thiaw featured in all 38 matchday squads; no other player made over 27 starts.
At some clubs there would have been little deviation across that period. Crystal Palace, for example, have ended every one of the previous 13 seasons between 10th and 15th in the Premier League. For Newcastle under Howe, the journey was rather more scenic.
As he prepares his CV for his next job application, the 48-year-old would be wise to highlight that only four teams earned more Premier League points during his time in the Newcastle hot seat. Three clubs had a better goal difference across the 179-match period, all of whom have won the title within the last three seasons.
You’ll never sing that? Well, quite. As much as this might be the fairest way to assess a manager’s tenure, football doesn’t work like this. It’s what you deliver between August and May that determines how you are remembered.
The clear highlight of Howe’s reign (in the league) was finishing fourth in 2022-23. The miracle of Leicester’s title aside, no other team from outside England’s established big six clubs had taken a top four berth since Everton in 2004-05. Newcastle last finished so high in the table in the days of Sir Bobby Robson.
But their 12th place in 2025-26 was also worse than the club performed in several campaigns in the Mike Ashley era. That was always going to be hard to defend given the club’s budget under Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
Howe could point to a degree of misfortune in his final season. Injuries hit hard, with Harvey Barnes, Aaron Ramsdale and Malick Thiaw the only players included in their matchday squad for all 38 Premier League games. Apart from the latter player and Sandro Tonali, nobody else made more than 27 league starts; no other side in the division had so few players reach this arbitrary benchmark.
There was also underperformance at both ends of the pitch. Newcastle scored 4.1 goals fewer than their expected goals implied they should have, while they conceded 3.7 above their xG at the back. If the league were decided by Opta’s expected points metric, the Magpies would have finished ninth.
That would have been about par. The available wage data suggests Newcastle have the eighth-highest salary bill in the Premier League and that has been their average finishing position under Howe. He delivered two Champions League campaigns, several very famous nights at St James’ Park and a first major trophy in decades. It has been a successful period in Newcastle’s history but the direction of travel means that – fairly or not – Howe’s exit was not a complete shock.
