Former Newcastle Unite stalwart Rob Lee has given his thoughts on Eddie Howe’s future at St James Park.

Former Newcastle United captain Rob Lee believes his old club have experienced a ‘pretty poor season’ - but insisted Eddie Howe should be given ‘a little bit of leeway’ amid speculation over his future at St James Park.

The Magpies have enjoyed some positive moments during the season after reaching the Carabao Cup semi-final and securing a place in the knockout rounds of the Champions League for the first time in their history. However, there have been consistent struggles to find consistency throughout the campaign and it now seems likely United will finish the season in the bottom half of the Premier League table just 12 months after securing a top five spot.

Questions have been asked of Howe increasingly throughout the season as he struggled to find a winning formula for his side and a number of results and performances have brought understandable frustration from supporters. The momentum of last season’s historic Carabao Cup final win appears to have been lost and there is a battle to get the club moving forwards once again - but Lee, who gave over a decade of service at St James Park, believes the Wembley win against Liverpool has earned Howe a chance to remain in position.

Speaking on the Adopted Geordies podcast, the former Magpies captain said: “I don’t think anything is success really, we’ve had a poor season. It’s remarkable because two or three months ago we were in four competitions and within three or four weeks we found ourselves out of all of them really. Not playing well, manager getting stick, players getting stick, so I just think we hope it’s been a blip in Eddie’s career at Newcastle because everything else has been upwardly mobile.

“It’s always been going forwards and to win a trophy, we can’t underestimate it, he’s won a trophy for the first time in 70-odd years for Newcastle. That has to give him a little bit of leeway - but it hasn’t been a successful season. By the standards he has set, and by the standards Newcastle have set, it’s been a pretty poor season really.”

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