Eddie Howe says he would step aside if he did not believe he was the right man for Newcastle United.
The 48-year-old gave an honest assessment of where he and his team are at in the wake of Saturday’s 3-2 home defeat by Brentford, revealing he was angry with himself and had to perform better as head coach.
Newcastle travel to Tottenham on Tuesday looking for a first win in five in the Premier League and first on the road since December. They have slipped to 12th on the back of three straight defeats.
But Howe, whose team have suffered amid injuries and a relentless schedule, has reaffirmed his belief that he can lead the club from their current situation.
‘There’s no doubt in my mind (I’m the right man) and that’s why I’m sat here,’ he told reporters on Monday. ‘If there was, then I wouldn’t be, because the club’s the most important thing. I’d never put myself before the club.
‘The club’s always No 1. From my perspective, I’ve got to think that I am the right person for the job and I’m giving value and I’m helping the players.
Eddie Howe says he’d quit Newcastle if he felt he wasn’t the right person to take them forwards
Howe’s Newcastle side have slipped to 12th in the Premier League after three-straight defeats
‘So as long as I feel that in my heart and in my spirit, then my desire and my motivation levels are as high as they’ve ever been. But I think that’s the key question I always have to ask myself, “Am I the right person to take the team and the club forward?”.
‘If I didn’t think I was the correct man to take the team forward and could give the players what they need, then I would step aside and let someone else do it. The momentum is against us at the moment. We have to swing it back – the world can look a very different place within a couple of games.’
Howe has tried Anthony Gordon, Nick Woltemade, Yoane Wissa and Will Osula at centre-forward during Newcastle’s last three matches. And he admits it is an area in which he is yet to find a solution this season following Alexander Isak’s summer exit.
‘It’s a valid question (re the striker issues),’ he said. ‘It’s part of the preparation when you’re reviewing a game, which is what I did late Saturday night and most of yesterday. You’re looking at the structure of the team.
‘We need to find the best solution for the next game. That may be something that keeps evolving until we find the solution that we like.
‘We have new players that we’re trying to bed into the team format. I’ve got to be honest, it’s not quite functioned fully yet, with the players mentioned. That is something we have to continue to do (find a solution) until we like the look of it.’
