The first rule of Newcastle United : Don’t doubt Eddie Howe’s judgment | OneFootball

Fight Club was a commercially successful 1999 movie starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter.

Grossing more than $100m, it was adapted from Chuck Palahniuk’s first novel, published three years earlier.

I haven’t read the book, so cannot say whether Hollywood did it justice. In my opinion, David Fincher’s 139-minute production was overlong, repetitious and forgettable.

Except for one line, taken faithfully from the novel. You probably know it. “The first rule of Fight Club is: you don’t talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is: you DO NOT talk about Fight Club!”

Would I enjoy the film more today than when watching it at a central London cinema 26 years ago? Perhaps. According to artificial intelligence, which is presumably superior to my limited intelligence, it features “innovative storytelling, impressive direction, iconic performances and cultural commentary.”

Not that I noticed. Let’s stick to overlong, boring and forgettable. Apart from that Palahniuk line, a rule I’m clearly breaking, with no regard to the consequences.

Here’s the first rule of Newcastle United: do not doubt His Howeness Sir Edward of St James.

Yes, he has made mistakes and he will make some more. Of course he does, being a fallible human, not a faultless supercomputer.

Maybe Eddie Howe could be a bit quicker with his tactical and personnel changes in some matches. The head coach is in the best position to decide, however. Don’t doubt him.

Maybe he could change his starting line-up. He sees the players nearly every day on the training pitch. His job is to pick the most effective team, which is different from picking the best 11 players.

Maybe he has been too loyal, simultaneously denying other members of the squad the chance to shine. If he had dropped one of the regular starters, the wonderful team spirit that is evident in every performance might have dipped.

United do not, unfortunately, have the most skilful squad in the Premier League. Skill, though, gets you nowhere without determination, application, desire, a never-say-die attitude. Name a rival team with as much of those essential qualities.

They are engendered by showing loyalty, endangered by chopping and changing.

In the words of Kenny Rogers: “Every gambler knows that the secret to surviving is knowing what to throw away, knowing what to keep.”

Whom to throw away, whom to keep. Bluntly, that’s a manager’s most important job, if he’s in charge of hiring and firing. After the events of this summer, we can assume Howe is in charge.

Two years ago, before our injury-wrecked 2023-24 season, the sidelining of Kieran Trippier would not have bothered me. He had been the new regime’s first signing in January 2022 and probably the most important, with United floundering near the foot of the league. His leadership over the next 18 months had been instrumental in avoiding relegation and then qualifying for the Champions League.

Not just his leadership; his defensive nous, his flourishing partnership with Miggy Almiron on the right flank, his free-kicks, corners and all-round game were massively important to the team’s success.

So why would I have lost little sleep if Trippier had left, with grateful thanks and all best wishes? Because the signs were there. He would be 33 in September 2023 and his apparently declining speed was leaving him and the team exposed.

Once age catches up with a full-back, there’s no hiding place. One of my favourite memories of United at the Boleyn Ground aka Upton Park was seeing Shola Ameobi run past Nigel Winterburn in January 2003 as if the ex-Arsenal cheat was a pensioner. Which, at the age of 39 years and four months, he almost was.

My fear was that Tripps was on the same slippery slope in the summer of 2023. We had just paid £32m for Tino Livramento. Why not give him his head while boosting our coffers?

In the end, Tino made 35 appearances that season, including three in Uefa’s Group of Death. Trippier made 51, including all six in the Champions League and another half-dozen for England at the Euro finals.

A few weeks after United finished last in the Group of Death, Bayern Munich offered £12.8m for him. United said: “Nein, danke.”

I thought Howe was allowing sentiment and loyalty to blind his judgment, especially because Trippier was struggling in an injury-ravaged team. The confrontation with a fan at Bournemouth, followed by the League Cup nightmare at Stamford Bridge, told me our former captain’s time with United was over.

How wrong could I be? On a scale of 1-10, I turned it right up to 11-plus. Not for the first time . . .

After our most successful season since 1968-69 and our first Wembley cup final win since 1955, the importance of Trippier, who turns 35 in September, cannot be overstated. More than one spectator among the joyful hordes on March 16 made him man of the match.

He is no longer an automatic starter and racked up “only” 31 appearances in 2024-25 compared with Livramento’s 48 (and counting). Next season, on our return to the Champions League, his experience and ability will again be invaluable.

Having gracefully withdrawn from the England set-up a year ago, there will be just the four trophies to chase. All with United, for whom he has given his all since arriving from Atletico Madrid. The images of his pre-season training in the Middle East tell me he’s back to his best.

If I’m lucky enough to see him in action, he can expect a prolonged and heartfelt cheer from the fool in the black-and-white bobble hat.