Beleaguered Newcastle boss Eddie Howe has insisted he will not waver in his belief that he is the right man for the job despite another dispiriting Premier League defeat.
The Magpies’ hopes of securing European football for next season were dealt another significant blow on Saturday when Bournemouth left St James’ Park with a deserved 2-1 win, condemning the hosts to an eighth defeat in 11 league outings and fifth in six at home.
Having heard his team leave the field at both half-time and on the final whistle to boos, head coach Howe was asked if had started to doubt himself.
He replied: “My belief in myself can’t waver, and it’s not. That’s in every moment.
“That’s in good moments where I try to stay very level and very calm, where I don’t believe the hype one way. It has to work in reverse the other way, where I have to retain a real belief in my work and my staff and what I do.
“Despite what other people may say, that’s there. But of course I’m very aware of those results and they’re not good enough.”
Newcastle were once against a shadow of the side which ended the club’s 70-year wait for a major domestic trophy and qualified for the Champions League last season as they turned in a disjointed and blunt performance in which too many players were nowhere near their best.
Will Osula’s second goal in as many games looked to have rescued a draw after Marcus Tavernier had fired the visitors in front, but once again the Magpies could not hold on to what they had and full-back Adrien Truffert took full advantage with five minutes remaining to claim his first goal for the club.
Howe had defiantly said on Friday that he still had the fire to turn things around, but asked after the latest reverse if his players did too, he paused for a full seven seconds before saying: “I’m hesitating because I’m speaking on behalf of other people and that’s very difficult to do.
“I believe they do and from what I see on the training ground, I don’t see any sense of poor attitude or poor commitment to their work. I see a group of players that are always giving their all.
“Of course we all need to give more, the players need to give more, I need to give more, to turn the results around.”
By contrast, opposite number Andoni Iraola, who this week announced that he will leave his role as Cherries boss at the end of the season - former Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig head coach Marco Rose has been heavily linked with the coming vacancy – will attack the remaining five games of the campaign with Europe very much in his sights.
Iraola, said: “It would be massive, massive, believe me. After announcing the other day and telling the players, for me it’s even more important.
“You want to finish in a strong position. Also, I want the players to feel and to have this chance. It would be amazing because it would mean a lot for the players, for the supporters. It would be the first time in our history to – but we are still very far.
“We cannot get ahead of ourselves because we still need a lot of points, a lot of wins because there are a lot of teams in that fight.”
