Newcastle: Eddie Howe future and summer sales – what’s in store for the Magpies?

Howe can’t think like that in the future, given the matches ahead.

A late push toward Europe would put a different color on the painful domestic campaign.

But Newcastle must do everything they can to achieve that, which they have failed to do all season.

When Anthony Elanga publicly asked if the dressing room could show they were fighting for the head coach “over and over again”, in a previous interview with BBC Sport, the striker was alluding to his side’s inconsistency.

“We want to keep fighting for him because he helped us a lot,” he added.

“I would even go so far as to say he is one of the best managers I have ever worked with. I am really grateful to have him as manager and I try to take everything he tells me seriously because I know it is in my best interest.”

“I know it will help me a lot. All the players feel the same way.”

However, you never know what you’re going to get from a Howe team this season.

Just as Newcastle can beat Manchester United with ten men and pull off a rare win over Chelsea, so too can this leaky side concede and concede seven goals at the Nou Camp or waste a first-half lead against Sunderland.

All in the same month.

Is there a degree of mitigation of the ups and downs of a season in which Newcastle reached the Champions League last 16 and the EFL Cup semi-final for the third time in four years, but also suffered 13 Premier League defeats?

Even in the fall, there was an internal belief that there would be choppy waters to navigate after a turbulent summer.

Newcastle missed out on a host of better goals, gave up and eventually sold star striker Alexander Isak to Liverpool on deadline day and dealt with a crucial transition period without a chief executive and sporting director.

Also, while the so-called ‘Big Six’ are used to fighting on multiple fronts, with deeper teams, this has been relatively uncharted territory for Newcastle, who have played more games (51) than any other team in Europe’s top five leagues this season.

The nature of the schedule was brutal, with a feeling within the camp that they “couldn’t breathe” at times.

But the team’s standard will soon be lifted by the return of talisman Guimaraes, who is known to be “working hard every day” after being sidelined with a hamstring problem, as well as midfielder Luis Maele and defender Fabien Schar.

Howe will also have a clear weeks to prepare for the final seven games of the season – and a rare extended period to work extensively with record signing Nick Woltemade following the German striker’s recent spell in midfield.

The head coach and his staff won’t need reminding that they need to make this time count in what feels like a defining few months on Tyneside.