Newcastle United were beaten 2-1 at St James’ Park by Sunderland before the international break. A chorus of boos echoed around St James’ Park following the full-time whistle, which were directed at both the players and manager Eddie Howe.
Bristol City manager Roy Hodgson has questioned the Toon Army’s jeers, slamming the actions of a famously loyal Magpies fanbase.
On the Wayne Rooney Show, he said, “That’s unthinkable. Newcastle was one of the teams that didn’t boo the (players) off, even if you go back 20, 30 years.”
Hodgson questions Newcastle United support
The former England manager has been a gaffer in six different decades, with him starting his managerial career at Swedish side Halmstads BK, and was recently appointed Bristol City boss after a period away.
Hodgson believes that the way football is in today’s world would make it difficult to be a manager. He said: “If I were 28 now, I think it would be very hard to have any length of career (in management)”
Hodgson believes it all comes down to results nowadays, rather than seeing the team progress or the manager being allowed to turn things around.
He claims he was left bemused by the scenes at St James’ Park following the full-time whistle in the Tyne-Wear derby.
Hodgson explained: “A team is doing really well in the league and (the fans) must be delighted. The game ends with them having lost it, I mean, take Newcastle… I saw that they were booed off the field by their fans. Now that’s almost unthinkable. Newcastle was one of the teams that didn’t boo the fans off, even if you go back 20, 30 years.”
Newcastle fans voice their opinion
Howe and his side have had great seasons on Tyneside, where they have rightly been praised by the supporters and the media. In a period of decline, it was always going to be likely that the English manager would face criticism, especially when they are failing to learn their lessons.
Back-to-back losses against Barcelona and Sunderland saw the Black and Whites invite pressure onto themselves. Reacting to the boos following derby defeat, Howe said: “Very, very painful … most of all, painful for our supporters.
“And they’re the ones I think about now. I’ve got very little to sort of use as an excuse and I don’t want to go down that road, never have. I never believed in that method once you haven’t performed.
“You know the size of the game and you don’t deliver, you expect to be criticized and you understand why. So I understand the reaction at the end of the game. We haven’t done our jobs well enough today and we’re desperately disappointed in ourselves and I think we have to absorb it.
“The only thing we can do is try and come back stronger from it.”
In other news, ‘I Think’ – Eddie Howe Responds to Julian Nagelsmann’s Woltemade Dig.
