Louise Taylor

Newcastle face Bournemouth on Saturday with the manager under increasing pressure at St James’ Park Eddie Howe has reason to believe that April really is the cruellest month. This time last year Newcastle’s manager was hospitalised with pneumonia and, 12 months later, he can barely switch on a radio or glance at a newspaper without receiving yet another reminder he is “under pressure”. As fans and pundits debate whether Cesc Fàbregas, Xabi Alonso, Andoni Iraola, Oliver Glasner or AN Other might perform a superior job, one thing is clear: Howe has six games to reassure Newcastle’s hierarchy that he remains the right man to lead his 14th-placed team through what promises to be a significant summer rebuild.

Carabao Cup-winning defender signed in 2022 for £12m Howe’s underperforming squad set for summer overhaul Kieran Trippier is to leave Newcastle when his contract ends this summer, heightening the sense of an era ending at the Saudi-owned club. Trippier’s arrival, for £12m, from Atletico Madrid in January 2022 proved a landmark moment in the team’s transformation after the Saudi Arabian-led takeover in October 2021. He has made more than 150 appearances for Newcastle, scoring four goals, and was part of the Carabao Cup-winning team that beat Liverpool at Wembley in March last year.