Eddie Howe has always had quite the job on his hands since taking over at Newcastle.
Not only did he need to quickly put his stamp on the team and ensure that the squad would play front foot attacking football that would excite the St. James’ Park faithful, but he would then have to temper supporter expectation once success started to be the reward for all of the hard work put in on the training pitch.
Though they’ve not yet won any silverware under their new manager, it appears to be only a matter of time before Howe brings the glory days back to Tyneside.
His team are one of the strongest in the division, playing their most vibrant football seen since the 90s when Kevin Keegan’s swashbucklers came within a whisker of Premier League glory.
For all of the brilliance that Howe has in his squad, there are still players left from previous eras that need to be moved on.
The Northern ECHO are reporting that as soon as the January transfer window opens, both Emil Krafth and Javier Manquillo will be made available for transfer.
The latter joined the Magpies when Rafa Benitez was manager way back in 2017, whilst the former was signed by previous managerial incumbent, Steve Bruce.
Given how well Newcastle’s transfer decision making has gone since Howe and his backroom team were employed, they deserve the respect of their judgment and the players themselves would surely prefer to be back out playing on a pitch again rather than staying in the shadows.