This has been a challenging summer at St James’ Park, with the Magpies having struggled to make signings and now facing uncertainty surrounding the future of their star striker Alexander Isak, who wants out.
This summer’s troubles led to boss Howe being asked in his press conference on Friday night, after the 2-2 draw with Espanyol, whether PIF are still as “engaged” as they have been in the past.
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And his answer was emphatic.
“The owners are very much engaged, as much as they always have been,” said Newcastle’s head coach.
“There’s a lot going on at the football club behind the scenes to take the club forward, whether that’s stadium-related, training ground-related…
“These things, unfortunately, do take time and there’s not a quick decision-making process that can fast-forward things any quicker than they take.
“Obviously I’m not in control of any of the details of that, but I am part of board meetings and [there’s] a lot of talk about the future. They are very much here and desperate for success and t take the club forward.
“This has been a challenging period where there’ll be a lot of different opinions on different subjects, but I can assure everybody connected with Newcastle that the owners are very much behind the project and fighting every day for the club.”
Howe also sought to assure fans that, despite Newcastle’s off-field struggles, he is doing everything in his power to ensure the Magpies are as well prepared as possible for next week’s Premier League opener at Aston Villa.
He said: “The message is that we are working as hard as we can to the benefit of Newcastle to try one, to improve the squad, two, keep the squad together and harmonious and I think the biggest thing for the supporters is that they see everyone fighting for the same cause on the pitch, fighting with every ounce they have for the long-term success.
“I don’t expect that to change. I expect us to be ready for when the season starts to give our all.
“And we need that united feel throughout the club – and that’s again why we’ve had success, because the supporters have been with us, they’ve seen the effort that we’ve given and now it’s our job to make sure that’s evident again.”
