Howe sack inevitable as Aston Villa end 21-year wait against uninspired Newcastle
Aston Villa finally ended their 21-year hoodoo at St James’ Park. This time, they had a wasteful, Bruno Guimaraes-less Newcastle United to thank, rather than the antics of Steven Taylor, Kieron Dyer, and Lee Bowyer.
Eddie Howe is the first Newcastle manager to lose a home league game against Aston Villa since Graeme Souness in 2005. While Howe was the victim of poor finishing, superb Emiliano Martinez goalkeeping, and the absence of his best player, Souness was the victim of two of his own players fighting each other and another receiving a comical red card.
Ultimately, Howe will point to Martinez’s heroics, Guimaraes’ absence, and the brilliance of Emiliano Buendia’s opener, but he was bested by a tactically superior Unai Emery. Chasing a goal in the second half, it felt like the perfect opportunity to finally see Yoane Wissa and Nick Woltemade paired together; instead, it was the same old story as Wissa made way for Woltemade in the 62nd minute.
Anthony Gordon was replaced by Anthony Elanga at the same time, making Howe’s intentions clear but failing to alter the shape or approach in any meaningful way. While Jacob Ramsey and Joelinton are very different players, that 48th-minute switch was a move forced by an injury to the latter.
In contrast, Emery’s changes showed a clear intent to preserve the lead while evolving the system.
Lamare Bogarde replaced Youri Tielemans, Lucas Digne came on for Buendia, and Tyrone Mings relieved Pau Torres. Earlier, Emery had replaced an unimpactful Jadon Sancho with the returning Leon Bailey, who added immediate pace and directness to the Villans’ attack.
Simply put, a lack of quality in the final third cost Newcastle dearly. Alexander Isak’s exit has left an almighty void, and poor summer recruitment has come back to haunt them. Yes, Martinez made two massive saves – one in the first minute to deny Sandro Tonali and another to thwart a towering Lewis Miley header – but Nick Pope was hardly a spectator. He made several huge saves of his own; though most were from long-range, they were far from comfortable.
Newcastle missed Guimaraes, certainly, but Villa were also missing Boubacar Kamara.
Ultimately, there can be no excuses.
The summer transfer window set Newcastle up for what has unsurprisingly been a miserable season. While Villa also had a rough summer and they sit third after 23 games. They have made the best of a difficult situation because they have an elite manager capable of extracting every ounce of potential from his squad.
It feels like Howe’s race is run. The tactics never change: the same formation, the same substitutions, week after week. St James’ is no longer a fortress. After Villa’s second, the atmosphere went flat, the crowd resigned to their fate as the 21-year unbeaten home run in this fixture ended.
It is hard to find positives. If Wissa and Woltemade don’t play together in a scenario like this, it’s difficult to envision them ever doing so under Howe.
That is just the tip of the iceberg. The football is dire, with an over-reliance on crossing despite having only one specialist, Jacob Murphy, who wasn’t in the squad.
Anthony Elanga has been a disaster, Anthony Gordon has been off the boil for months, and Harvey Barnes remains largely ineffective. Nick Woltemade currently looks nothing like a £73m striker, and Yoane Wissa is starving for service.
These are good players, but they aren’t showing it. When you compare them to Bailey, Watkins, Rogers, Sancho, and Buendia, the gap in quality on paper isn’t massive, but Emery is getting the absolute best out of his men.
Villa are a well-drilled machine that can and will adapt. At Newcastle, things have gone stale. This first home defeat to Villa in over two decades will be the final straw for many. Change probably isn’t coming but if feels necessary.
