Sacking Howe would not improve Newcastle – it’s the old guard who need to go.

There are fair issues about how Newcastle’s season is going, but Howe should not bear the weight of them.

The save rescued Newcastle United’s season.

If Martin Dubravka’s hands had not saved Dom Hyam’s penalty, the black and white story would have been drastically different this week. Not exactly a catastrophe at St James’ Park, but Eddie Howe would have had to answer some serious questions as Newcastle’s recent form slump began to look more than a fluke.

Some of the difficulties still exist. For much of Tuesday night, there was no midfield rhythm or balance. Defensively, they remain brittle and simple to penetrate. Significant progress will undoubtedly be required to get their first home win of 2024 against Wolve.

In private, Howe believes that there are good reasons for almost all of these things – confidence, injuries, conditioning of returning players, and recruitment difficulties that must be addressed – but he would never go through that list in public.

He is astute enough to understand that excuses do not work and that only victories increase your credibility with followers. To put it honestly, Howe knows there haven’t been enough of them lately.

However, there may be a need for perspective. Newcastle are not at their best, but they have only lost one of their previous seven games, are still in contention for European places, and are only one win away from returning to Wembley Stadium in the FA Cup. They’ve recently reached their first quarter-final in 18 years.

If they had done this last season, it would have been regarded as significant progress from the relegation struggle that Howe inherited. Instead, it is compared to something far loftier and more magnificent.

“Last season was wonderful; we accomplished something extraordinary. We have already set a really high bar, so people may expect us to be right there, but it is not always simple,” Dubravka stated on Tuesday night.

It was perhaps telling that the Newcastle custodian went on to say that opponents are now aware of their style of play and are devising counter-strategies.

“We tried to play a certain style, and today teams can prepare using all of these platforms. So it’s not easy [because] at this level, any squad can perform well.

“But I believe we are adapting. We adjusted our structure slightly in the second half, becoming more dangerous. The first half was not our best; however, in the second half, we showed a different