Eddie Howe holds talks with Newcastle hierarchy after Sunderland defeat - Report

Eddie Howe's job as Newcastle United boss appears to be safe despite a difficult season and an absolutely rotten past seven days.

Despite widespread discontentment amongst the fanbase after what was a very difficult week, seeing the Magpies battered 7-2 in Barcelona and then falling to another derby defeat, it seems that where it matters, Eddie Howe has the support.

Several reports sprang up on Monday from journalists with actual contacts at the club, and all agreed that Howe's job is secure. However, the iPaper's Mark Douglas added an extra layer to the idea. Douglas believes there's an agreement that there must be changes in the summer if the club is to succeed next season.

That sounds obvious, as we can't go into next season with the same ideas and expect different results, but it's the nature of the changes that are outlined in the article that gives us hope.

Eddie Howe will be expected to change

Douglas claims that while the players were given the day off on Monday, Eddie Howe was on 'supportive' calls with the hierarchy after the manager faced all of the backlash head-on on Sunday, even shielding his players from the criticism by not sending them out for media duties.

Insiders claim that there's an agreement that changes have to be made in the summer, and it's not just in terms of players, but that Eddie Howe has to change things up, too.

🚨 Eddie Howe is safe - but change is coming at #nufc

⚫️ Support today... summer planning underway
⚪️ '5 or 6' first team players could go
⚫️ 'Introspective' Howe questions himself

That and more. Read 👇 https://t.co/NvQ8CaBuRW

— Mark Douglas (@MsiDouglas) March 23, 2026

One fair criticism we often see levelled at Howe is that he is too stubborn. He seems to have a set way he wants to play, and he struggles to deviate from that even when it's clearly not working. That's probably something he's going to have to work on. The biggest casualty of this stubborn streak this season has been Nick Woltemade, who is being asked to do things that don't suit his playstyle.

To give Howe the benefit of the doubt, though, he's not had the time on the training pitch to work on new things as the games have come thick and fast since August. Now we only have the Premier League to focus on, there should be more time available to take to the training ground and work on new ideas, and that's what the club's higher-ups are banking on.

Newcastle's transfer strategy will change

The biggest changes are going to be in terms of transfers this summer, it seems. Not just in terms of the player turnover, but the approach to recruitment as a whole.

Under Howe, Newcastle have been overly reliant on trying to find Premier League-proven players, and that has held them back massively in the market. With Ross Wilson ready to take over transfers, the focus is reportedly shifting to looking for European talent who can grow with Newcastle, and honestly, we're all for it.

Without wanting to praise them too much, you look at Sunderland's recruitment in the summer - how many of those players had you even heard of? Granit Xhaka and that's it, probably, and they've done alright.

It's not just recruitment, though. There are expected to be as many as six first-team players to depart this summer, with Fabian Schar and Kieran Trippier expected to leave when their contracts expire. Aaron Ramsdale is expected to return to Southampton, and Joe Willock's time at the club looks to be up, too.

Then there's the likes of Tino Livramento, who many fans are resigned to seeing leave for Manchester City. We're also going to have to face intense speculation over Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes.

It's going to be a testing summer and one that could see a huge transformation on Tyneside, but it looks like the manager won't be one of them.