Saudi Arabia's PIF is headed for Newcastle. Eddie Howe must show he has the answers

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No longer losers, no longer a laughing stock, but instead something unrecognisable: flint-eyed warriors. This was 15 months ago, and Newcastle were on a roll, in the middle of a run of nine consecutive victories in all competitions — equalling a club record — including against Arsenal at their Emirates Stadium in the first leg of a Carabao Cup semi-final. This and the tie’s second leg (another 2-0 Newcastle win) was arguably Howe’s masterpiece, not just because of the opposition and the circumstances, but because of how certain and solid it felt. Newcastle could now win anywhere, and they did. What caused pain back at the Emirates on Saturday evening was less to do with the final result and more about how that fine and ferocious team is now reduced to grading shades of disappointment. They weren’t awful — whoopee. But as they wade towards the title, Arsenal played as if their pitch was made of treacle and for all that Newcastle had their moments in the game, they were also witnesses to a private battle, one of mentality, nature and history. From every perspective, it was painful. Howe’s side have lost five games in a row in league and cup. In the Premier League, where they stand 14th, it is nine defeats in 15 matches in 2026, the joint-most in the division along with Tottenham Hotspur and Burnley, both of whom are in the bottom three. Although there is mitigation about injuries, confidence and the patchwork nature of their squad, Newcastle are not finding the kind of answers that bring points. They had a pulse against Arsenal, but is that enough? On a different sort of occasion, Howe will be asked to find more answers this coming week, when members of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Newcastle’s majority owner, travel to the north east for their annual meeting with the club’s departmental heads. Howe will explain, from his point of view, why, away from the cups, this season has been such a slog. He will talk about what Newcastle can learn from it and how they — and he — can improve. He will set out his agenda. “We’ve got a lot to do,” he said post-match. “We’ve got challenges from different sides, on the pitch, off the pitch. We’ve got a big summer coming up, so we need to be fully prepared for that.”  Regarding his upcoming presentation to PIF, he told Sky Sports: “These are things that we always have every year. Obviously, this one will be slightly harder for me, I’m sure, but it will be good to meet with the owners and discuss the future.” What happens next can only be opaque but everybody, Howe included, will have some sort of decision to make. A renewal of Newcastle’s vows to each other, if that is what comes, cannot be based on continuing for the sake of it or hoping for the best. With key players almost certain to go in the looming transfer window and a huge amount of rebuilding to be done — “We need help,” midfielder and captain Bruno Guimaraes told the BBC — there is no room for any doubt. The problem for Howe in the here and now is that losing breeds doubt. Newcastle are 16 points behind Aston Villa in fifth and only eight above Tottenham in 18th, and Howe was asked after Saturday’s match about relegation and whether he was looking over his shoulder with a month of the season to go. “We’re looking at the fact we haven’t won games,” he told reporters. “It’s too many games without positive results. We’re looking at next week (when Brighton & Hove Albion come to St James’ Park), trying to win a game and trying to lift the feeling that we currently have.” Newcastle were not bad against Arsenal. By their own recent subterranean recent standards they were pretty decent, but they were never irrepressible or dominant. They looked allergic to scoring. They had more possession than the side who are now top of the league again, more shots and more big chances, one of which fell to Will Osula after less than 20 seconds — a swing and a miss — and another to Yoane Wissa late on which told a story of agony. Where giving everything used to mean three points, now everything is nowhere near enough. They were energised by the return of Guimaraes in midfield after two months out injured and Joe Willock’s presence in a free role higher up the pitch. They played as if they knew what they were doing and Arsenal struggled to adapt, yet this was reversed at the other end of the pitch precisely when it mattered, with three early short corners in succession finally allowing Eberechi Eze to shape a shot beyond Nick Pope. It was coming, and then it came, and Newcastle could never unpick it. At home against Bournemouth the previous weekend, Howe had named Newcastle’s youngest starting XI for 21 years. A changing of the guard was quickly reversed in north London; in came Pope, Guimaraes, Willock, Dan Burn and Jacob Murphy, none of whom represent the future. It speaks of a coach groping for short-term solutions and hoping for a response, unsure of his best team and what he might get out of them. “(The performance was) Much better from us as a group of men,” was Howe’s response. There was fight. If better and Howe’s “promising signs” lead to a win against Brighton on Saturday then hallelujah, but Newcastle feel like a club on a knife-edge and a team who are anything but dependable. It is easy to say, but last season’s Newcastle side would surely have dismantled this season’s Arsenal. They would have found their weaknesses and Alexander Isak would have exploited them, but their decline over the past year or so is startling. We know the reasons for it, but even so: ouch. Sifting through the detritus of defeats in search of positives — and there were some — is a very Newcastle form of existence. One they thought was a long way behind them. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms