How Newcastle United owners reacted to Champions League exit behind the scenes as 'conversations' take place

Eddie Howe has received the full support of Newcastle United's owners after the club's Champions League exit.

The Magpies fell to a 2-1 defeat against AC Milan on Wednesday evening at St James' Park which saw them finish bottom of their Champions League group and exit European competition entirely. Newcastle took the lead in the match through Joelinton and at one stage looked like progressing through to the last-16 of the competition.

After the defeat, Howe was asked about the response from the club's owners Amanda Staveley, Mehrdad Ghodoussi and chairman Yasir Al Rumaayan.

“I’ve spoken with them – I have regular conversations with them all," Howe admitted. "They’ve been nothing but supportive, not just through this time, but through my whole time here.

"As I’ve said many times, I think they see the work that goes on behind closed doors and they have close relationships with the players. We are like a family, we’re very close.

"That’s not just me with them, it’s everybody connected with the club. I think there’s just that feeling that they’re very supportive of the players and understanding of how much they’ve given.

"They can see the efforts on the pitch, and I think that’s the most important thing. The key thing is always the evidence on the pitch of what we’re giving. How committed are we? Are we giving everything there? And I think we have.

"That’s why I have no regrets over what the players have given over this Champions League campaign. I might have regrets over a couple of other things, but not at all over what the players have given. That’s always the biggest judgement for me."

 With Newcastle qualifying for the Champions League in Howe's first full season in charge at the club, there is a strong argument that the club are still ahead of schedule in the long-term project. Something Howe agreed with.

“I think that’s fair," added The Magpies' boss. "I think if you’re looking at it analytically, the players did incredibly well last year to finish where they did.

"It was miles ahead of schedule because, in pre-season, no one was talking about top four or Champions League football. You have to give the players a lot of credit, so what you can’t then do is give them a lot of credit and then hammer them at the same time because we couldn’t then follow that up.

"Of course, that was the wish and aim, and we will critique ourselves. But I don’t think it’s a time for criticism of the players, I think it’s a time for support.

"Of course, I’m fully prepared to criticise if I feel that is right, but in this moment, with the same 11 players playing for four or five weeks, I think they deserve a lot of credit."

Newcastle will be hoping to bounce back from the Champions League exit when they host Fulham in the Premier League at St James' Park on Saturday (3pm kick-off). The Magpies will be looking to end a run of three straight defeats having never lost four in a row under Howe.