Newcastle: Eddie Howe confident ‘ambitious’ Saudi backers PIF remain committed to club after ‘challenging conversations’ | Football News

Eddie Howe is convinced Newcastle’s Saudi backers remain firmly behind the club’s efforts to establish itself as one of the best in the world after “challenging conversations” with the owners this week.

The 48-year-old head coach emerged from a review of a disappointing season at Matfen Hall on Thursday believing that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which holds an 85 per cent stake in the club, are still committed to the ambitious vision set out when they took control in October 2021.

His “constructive” discussions with Yasir Al-Rumayyan – chairman of both Newcastle and PIF – came as the Saudis announced their decision to stop funding LIV Golf, into which they have ploughed more than $5bn (£3.7bn), at the end of the 2026 season.

Asked if he had been given any assurances about PIF’s future financial support, Howe said: “No, and I didn’t seek any either.

“But I’d say that what came through was the determination to succeed and to continue to grow the club in every aspect.

“The desire is unchanged, to try and get to the top of the Premier League, to try and win as many trophies consistently as possible. I don’t think while PIF are, our owners, or part owners, majority owners that will change. They are very ambitious for the football club.

“A lot of things they need to do to elevate the club will take a bit of time. We are going back to the stadium, the training ground, these things don’t happen with the click of fingers because everything of course is interlinked to income.

“As much as everyone wants to fast forward that, sometimes these things, to get it right, take a bit of time.”

‘Long-term vision there for Newcastle’

On meeting the club’s owners, he added: “There was challenging conversations, challenging questions, but that’s all part of it.

“Those meetings, I’ve had that every year, regardless of our league position, where you’ll be challenged and probed on certain decisions that you’ve made, how we’ve ended up in certain scenarios, and then you explain the process behind it.

“This year, of course, slightly more difficult questions because of our league position, there’s no getting away from that. But the process behind it was exactly the same as it has been every year.

“It’s always constructive because they clearly care so much about the football club, the long-term planning that’s clearly going on, on a number of levels.

“It’s very exciting times ahead for the club, regardless of what happens short-term. The long-term vision is clearly there.”

Howe has twice guided the club into the Champions League and ended Newcastle’s 70-year wait for a major domestic trophy during his four and a half years on Tyneside, but admits this season’s league form has not been good enough and that was reflected during Thursday’s talks.

‘I have confidence I’ll be here next season’

Howe’s own future has been a topic of intense debate in recent weeks following a run of nine defeats in 12 Premier League games which has left Newcastle in 14th place in the table, eight points shy of European qualification, but separated from the relegation zone by the same margin.

While he knows a continuation of that run – they face Brighton at St James’ Park on Saturday – could prove problematic for him, he insists he remains fully focused on taking the club forward.

He said: “I’ve never needed clarity in my head [on the future], in the sense that I’m here, I’m working and I’m committed. A football club has to do what a football club has to do.

“The football club needs to see we are going in the right direction and there’s a positive feeling and fighting on all fronts. You can talk as much as you want but the proof is in how the team performs. I’m under no illusions that needs to be positive.

“I don’t need reinvigorating. I’m invigorated. My motivation levels are really high.

“I think you learn a lot from these moments we are in. I’m learning a lot currently. Difficult runs force you to really revaluate everything and improve. Sometimes in the most disappointing moments are the times when you improve the most.”

“I have to retain that confidence [that I’ll be here next season]. It’s doesn’t serve anybody, not to have that long-term vision. But we need to win games.

“I feel there’s unity within the football club. But in my position, I’m under no illusion, I have to get results – to keep that feeling and that trust. It’s a responsibility that comes with the job.”

Midfielder Joelinton is available after serving a two-match ban, while Anthony Gordon could return from a hip flexor injury.

Neville’s backing for Howe

Last weekend, Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville backed Howe at Newcastle despite a poor recent run of results that has taken the Magpies from the European football picture to the bottom half of the Premier League table.

“It’s a really disappointing season,” he told The Gary Neville podcast.

“The transfer business at the end of the window in the summer was a real problem for them. They ended up with [Nick] Woltemade and [Yoane] Wissa and that’s just not paid off yet.

“I think full faith and trust in Eddie Howe is the way to go.

“They’ve got a really good manager. Where at some clubs it’s easier to say ‘let’s shift the manager and keep the players because they’ve got five or six-year contracts’, [it’s] absolutely the other way around at Newcastle.

“They will be thinking ‘if we lost him [Howe], we’ve lost an eight-and-a-half out of 10 manager, someone who’s a real solid performer – reliable, consistent, someone who’s got a great attitude’.

“I hope they’re sitting down with Eddie Howe and they’re going through [the squad] and he’s saying ‘these are the players I want, he’s a shift for me, these are the players I’m going to buy into for next season, I want to get these four or five in, and I want our business done early while everyone’s thinking about the World Cup’.

“They’re a really good side, I like watching them and they’re going to need to back their manager properly, buy into him, back him.

“That’s what I’d do if I were Newcastle because I think they’ve got one of the very best there and I think he’ll get them back up challenging for Champions League next season.”

Howe knows support won’t last forever

Sky Sports News reporter Keith Downie:

“Eddie Howe was fresh into his press conference from yesterday’s top-brass meeting at the exclusive Matfen Hall in Northumberland.

“Word I was getting overnight was that majority owners PIF are supportive of Newcastle’s plight and understanding as to the reasons why this season has been largely disappointing.

“And nothing Howe said today went against that. He described the unity at the club and underlined PIF’s ambition to get to the top. Sitting 14th in the Premier League table though, Newcastle seem a long way away from those lofty heights.

“He did say that he was asked “challenging questions. More difficult questions [than usual] due to their league position.” But he also got the feeling there was support and understanding to his mitigation.

“Howe said again that he needs no clarity on his future, he needs no reinvigoration. Despite that, it still doesn’t feel nailed on he will be here next season. And that outcome depends on what happens between now and the summer.

“Four games left, having lost five on the bounce. “I’m under no illusions, we need to win games,” he repeated a number of times. In football things change quickly, and Newcastle need to start winning pronto.

“He may have the backing of PIF for now, but he knows that won’t last forever if Newcastle keep losing football matches.”