‘From my side’ – Eddie Howe pushes back after Newcastle CEO casts doubt over future | OneFootball

Eddie Howe insists he remains “100% committed” to Newcastle after chief executive David Hopkinson opened up on an “intense” chat with the Magpies boss during the international break.

A report last week claimed that Howe’s future is ‘in doubt’, and ‘there is no guarantee the most successful manager in Newcastle’s recent history will still be in position come August’.

And CEO Hopkinson did little to dispel those doubts after opening up on his “intense” chat with the Magpies boss following Newcastle’s 2-1 defeat to bitter rivals Sunderland before the international break.

“I don’t have a stance on his [Howe’s] future,” Hopkinson said during a media briefing this week.

“What I can tell you is that the derby loss hurt. We take it seriously. There’s nothing within us that thinks: ‘Well, it’s just three points and on we go.’ It has resonated.

“I spent a couple of hours in a one-on-one lunch with Eddie and we talked through a multitude of things including Sunderland.

“Eddie’s our manager. I expect to have a great run to the end of the season and we’ll talk about the future when it’s time. Right now, we’re focused on this season’s competition.”

Asked if Howe has until the end of the season to prove himself, Hopkinson added: “I would not frame it that way. We are not looking to make a change at the moment. We are not having those conversations. We are still in the midst of our season.

“We are focused on the seven matches we have remaining and not distracting ourselves with speculation about what we may or may not do in the summer. All of us have only got so much bandwidth and we are focused on finishing this season strongly.”

Howe insists “commitment has never wavered from my side” in response to Hopkinson’s comments ahead of Newcastle’s clash with Crystal Palace on Sunday.

He said: “For me nothing has changed, I am absolutely 100% committed to the job. That commitment has never wavered from my side. I have been working during the break to make sure we come back as a stronger team.

“In this day and age it is very difficult to look too far in the long term. I can only look to these seven games and make sure we perform at our very best level and make sure the players are ready for these games and we go right to the end of the season.”

On the criticism following the derby defeat, Howe added: “The break probably came at a good time for us on reflection. At the time I think we probably wanted to play as soon as we could, but I think it gave the players a chance to detach.

“The majority went away internationally, so a different focus for them. For us who were here – the group of six players we trained with and all of the staff – we were very much focused on reflection and analysis and team performances.

“So we have gone into a very analytical mode to try to focus on the next seven game and try to get back to our very best form.

“Very quickly we went back to that. Criticism is part of the deal and we have had to take that and we are fully prepared to do so.”