With Newcastle sitting in 14th place, Eddie Howe will get the chance to explain why the season is fizzling out
11:56, 21 Apr 2026
Newcastle chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan with Eddie Howe (Image: Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe will face an in-person board meeting with Toon chiefs next week.
Chronicle Live understands that Howe will contribute to the meeting in terms of performance and future planning with PIF officials set to jet into the city from Riyadh. Chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan will be present at the meeting alongside CEO David Hopkinson, financial chief Simon Capper and stadium chief Brad Miller.
Both the club’s new training ground and stadium projects will be up for discussion, too. But Chronicle Live has been told that Howe still retains full support internally, although there is an acceptance, both by the head coach and the board, that everybody is in a results-driven business.
Nevertheless, sources insist that relationships remain strong and while there have been calls for clarity on Howe’s position, the plan remains to give the head coach time to turn things around.
Newcastle chiefs woke up to screaming headlines on Howe’s future today sparked by club legend Alan Shearer who stated he could not see the head coach surviving beyond this season. But Toon sources have told us that Shearer’s stance was merely an opinion and not guided by anybody internally.
The word coming out of St James’ Park is that the focus – via sporting director Ross Wilson and Hopkinson – is to ensure Howe and his coaches have what they need to succeed. That will start with a European training camp in pre-season after the club scrapped any plans for a long haul summer tour to the United States or the Far East.
The understanding behind the scenes is that Newcastle don’t want to drain the players after a long season, plus the forthcoming World Cup. Dragging some stars back to the States after the tournament has been deemed a bad idea, while trying to tap into an exhausted US market so soon after FIFA’s global showpiece doesn’t help Newcastle commercially.
Howe’s date with PIF and the club board has been in the diary for weeks and is not deemed as the dreaded vote of confidence by insiders. It is one of several per season and should not be looked at as out of the ordinary.
Al-Rumayyan remains hugely influential at St James’ Park despite his lack of appearances at games. He attended the Champions League match against Paris St Germain and also the home clash against Liverpool in August, but his presence has been rare.
However, that was always part of the PIF strategy, with the ownership empowering Hopkinson and the rest of the board to deal with the day-to-day running of the club.
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