Fans are furious with Newcastle United for dropping a whopping four points to a promoted side.
Newcastle played out a 4-4 draw at home to Luton Town in the 23rd round of the 2023-24 English Premier League on Thursday morning (ET) at St. James’ Park in Newcastle, England. With the win, Newcastle remained in ninth place (33 points). They are a whopping 13 points behind fourth-placed Aston Villa (46 points), which is the cutoff for qualification for next season’s UEFA Champions League (UCL).
The game was ‘poor’ from a Newcastle fan’s perspective. They took an early lead in the seventh minute through Sean Longstaff. Kieran Trippier’s low pass from the right flank was met by Longstaff, who darted into the center of the penalty area and slotted home between two defenders.
But in the 21st minute, Gabriel Osho equalized. A defensive error from a free kick was the problem. Again, June Longstaff equalized in the 23rd minute when she pounced on a loose ball from the goalkeeper, only to concede again in the 40th minute to Ross Barkley. A ball in from the flank was cleared off the line by the keeper, but it found its way to Barkley and he slotted home.
After a frantic first half, Newcastle conceded a second 14 minutes into the second half through Carlton Morris, who was awarded a penalty on video assistant referee (VAR) after failing to stop a flanking challenge. Morris stepped up and slotted it home. In the 17th minute, Elja Adebayo finished off a pass from Barkley to make it 2-4.
Angry Newcastle fans reportedly booed manager Eddie Howe when his face was shown on the scoreboard. “After conceding four goals, there were voices of criticism at St James’ Park,” said the Express. Some fans even booed.
With no answer other than goals, Newcastle barely recovered from the deficit in the 22nd minute when Bruno Guimarães’ pass was met by Trippier, who beat a defensive challenge and turned with his left foot to score the winner, before Harvey Barnes made it 4-4 in the 28th minute.
However, fans’ anger was not easily quelled. Many reacted by saying they couldn’t understand why Newcastle, who finished fourth and qualified for the UCL last season, had gone from bad to worse in one season. According to Talk Sport, “Newcastle fans took to social media with the hashtag #HoweOut after Adebayor’s goal 토토사이트 made it 2-4,” calling for Howe to go.
Coincidentally, Luton are the first team to be promoted this season. They met away from home on Boxing Day last December, losing 0-1. With Luton manager Rob Edwards claiming to be better, the anger towards Howe is unlikely to be quelled.
The outlet added: ‘Fans have reacted strongly to the news that Newcastle wanted to appoint Jose Mourinho. There have been calls for the club to cut ties with Howe, saying Mourinho would be far better than what they have now,” emphasizing that the outpouring of anger is likely to continue for some time.
This is a management team that is under the influence of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund (PIF) and that has done exactly what Howe wanted in last summer’s transfer window, bringing in the likes of Harvey Barnes, Sandro Tonali and Valentino Livramento. Howe’s situation is only getting worse.