Newcastle United’s malaise persists. Despite a three week break to reset and reflect, Eddie Howe watched his side surrender yet another winning position at Crystal Palace, the 25th point they have thrown away from ahead this season.
Twenty five. Let that sink in.
If those points had been held, Newcastle would be sitting near the top of the Premier League on 67 points. Instead, they are mid table. Frustrated. Vulnerable. And wondering what might have been.
“Those numbers are incredible, really, and it’s blighted our season,” Howe told PA.
Same story, different week
Newcastle led 1-0 at half time. Will Osula, the club’s third choice striker at the start of the season, scrambled the ball home in the 43rd minute. It was not pretty. It was not convincing. But it was a lead.
Then came the collapse.
Jean Philippe Mateta, benched at kick off, came on in the 65th minute and turned the game around. A 94th minute penalty decision will be disputed, the validity of it will be argued all week but the facts remain.
Newcastle conceded late. Again. And handed over points. Again.
“It was a game of few chances, but we still looked vulnerable towards the end of the game; that’s hugely disappointing,” Howe admitted.
“The first goal we conceded, I think, is self inflicted, not good enough, it’s come through a minimal threat, and of course the second goal is an individual error with very little time left in the game.”
£230m on the bench
Here is the detail that will sting. Newcastle had roughly £230m worth of summer 2025 signings sitting on the bench. Nick Woltemade. Yoane Wissa. Anthony Elanga. Jacob Ramsey.
None of them started. None of them could change the game when it mattered.
A side that recorded almost 60% possession against Crystal Palace managed just seven shots and three on target. That is not a tactical instruction problem. That is a creativity problem. A dynamism problem. A player problem.
Howe: ‘We don’t want to defend leads’
The manager is running out of explanations.
“I’ve said many times that’s not the tactical instruction we give the players,” Howe said. “We don’t want to go 1-0 up and change the mentality of defending, but we’ve done it, so I can’t say it hasn’t happened.
“But then if you are going to defend, you’re going to have to defend better than we did.”
The buck stops with the manager. That is football. But the players also need to take responsibility. Individual errors are costing Newcastle. Game after game. Week after week.
‘How about some fight in the players?’
There is still fight in Howe. You can see it. Hear it. Feel it.
But the players? Several look like they have already checked out. One eye on the summer transfer window. One foot out the door.
If they are going to wish away their Newcastle careers, Howe might as well ask them to show some of the determination that helped the club win its first trophy in 55 years. There are six games left. European football is still possible.
But not if they keep throwing away points. Not if they keep collapsing late. Not if the manager is the only one still fighting.
The bottom line
Newcastle have six games to save the season and potentially Howe’s job.
The statistics are damning. The pattern is entrenched. And the excuses have run out.
Howe needs a reaction. The players need to step up. And the fans need something, anything to believe in.
Because right now, this season is slipping away. And no one seems to know how to stop it.
