(Football news) The decision to sack Steve Bruce after the takeover didn’t come as a surprise. Newcastle this season are yet to win a single game in the Premier League as a result of which they lie in 19th position and the odds of them going down again is pretty high. Eddie Howe, the former Bournemouth manager has earned his name in world football after his remarkable work at Bournemouth. However the task at hand for the 43 year is not easy considering how poorly Newcastle have begun. Here are a few things that Howe needs to change immediately.

1) To keep the club in the Premier League

The first major task at hand for Eddie Howe is to somehow avoid the drop, especially after the 300 million takeover by Saudi’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). Newcastle this season have conceded the second most goals after Norwich and scored just 11 goals in the process, something that Eddie Howe needs to improve and mainly instil a winning mentality at the club. Newcastle at the current moment are lacking the confidence and sometimes don’t play on the front foot, something that he needs to change immediately.

2) Solve the recruitment problem

The takeover for Newcastle seems to be the only good thing that has happened in Tyneside for the last 14 years. Despite the influx of funds available, it will be a struggle to attract top players to St. James’ Park given that the club has been nowhere close to the team they were reckoned with. For Eddie Howe and his coaching team, it becomes even more difficult to identify players and convince them to play for survival, for him another problem is that he’s here to take the club forward in the short run, which is why he needs ready-made winners now so that they can avoid relegation. January transfer windows are always difficult as a big pool of talented players are unlikely to be available. Eddie Howe, therefore needs to be smart and astute with his signings.

3) Get the team to score goals

Newcastle have just scored 11 goals in the first 10 games which is a concern as this team clearly lacks a proper goalscoring number 9, given Steve Bruce’s style the Magpies lacked a lot of creativity upfront. Eddie Howe needs to first sort out the midfield which has looked out of place since the start of the season and add some bit of creativity and flair in the final third of the field. Allan Saint Maximin  has been carrying Newcastle this season, he has been involved in 50% of the goals that Newcastle has scored so far and injury to their talisman is likely to deplete the goals for the Magpies. Eddie Howe needs to implement a style which can get the likes of Callum Wilson, Miguel Almiron and Saint Maximin firing on all cylinders. It will not be a surprise if Newcastle target a striker in the January window.

4) Solve the leaky defence

The Magpies have conceded 23 goals which is the second worst Premier League record this season. Newcastle’s defence looks all over the place this season and are yet to even register a clean sheet so far and even after going five at the back they have conceded 2.30 goals per game. Eddie Howe who became famous for his defensive managerial abilities has a huge task in front of him, he needs to not only make the current defenders step up their game but also scout for a pacey defender as well. Everytime a player with pace and skill targets the Newcastle backline, they look susceptible to conceding goals. Initially maybe Eddie Howe will go five at the back just to cover up the major flaws in the team.

Also read: Newcastle United appoint Eddie Howe as head coach until 2024

5) Instil some confidence in the team

With the club heading to a new direction after the takeover and managerial change, the fans are very optimistic but this could have taken a toll and caused distress in the Newcastle changing room. The first major task for Howe is to again make the players feel at home and instil some confidence within themselves so that they can again start believing in their abilities. Given the present state of the club, Howe needs to use all of his managerial experience to create some stability. The ambition of the new owners will put pressure on Eddie Howe to produce a string of positive results and more importantly, avoid relegation this season.