A derby defeat to Sunderland finished off a Newcastle United manager who had reached a cup final the previous season. His team were on a losing run, he compounded it with a disastrous team selection and a loss to local rivals. He left a few days later.
Eddie Howe, it is safe to say, has rarely been compared to Ruud Gullit. He proved the first Newcastle manager since the Dutchman to take United to Wembley, and also lost to Manchester United there, but the similarities are otherwise superficial. Sunderland do not hold such immediate peril for him: not when the vast majority of the Newcastle fanbase appreciates his overachievement in the two years before a disastrous last month and when he retains the backing of the club’s powerbrokers; or the more known quantities, at least, such as co-owner Amanda Staveley and director of football Dan Ashworth.
