Eddie Howe Prepares Newcastle United for Premier League Finale Against Fulham
Eddie Howe is preparing for Newcastle United’s final act of the Premier League season with one eye on Fulham – and the other on Sandro Tonali’s hamstring.
The Italian midfielder limped off in the win over West Ham last week, raising fears that his campaign might be over. Howe moved quickly to calm those concerns.
“Sandro, potentially, will be available,” he said. “We will look at him again today. We don’t think it is anything serious.”
It is the kind of update that changes the mood around a training ground. Tonali’s energy and control have been central to Newcastle’s late-season surge, and even the possibility of his involvement at Craven Cottage gives Howe another option in a game he clearly views as more than a dead rubber.
Osula’s rise and a statement win
If Tonali’s fitness is the short-term worry, the longer-term excitement sits further up the pitch.
Osula, who struck twice in that 3-1 victory over relegation-threatened West Ham, has barged his way into the conversation about Newcastle’s future. The goals were one thing. The manner of them, and the authority of his performance, were something else.
“He is at a really good age,” Howe said, clearly enthused by the forward’s potential. “Lots of things to continue to work on, there are lots of untapped areas we can develop.
“The ceiling in his development is really high. He has the raw ingredients, the physical profile too.”
Those are the sort of phrases managers reserve for players they believe can change the trajectory of a team. Raw ingredients. High ceiling. Untapped areas. Howe sees a project, but also a weapon he can already use.
That West Ham win, Newcastle’s last outing at St James’ Park this season, felt like more than a routine home send-off. It was a statement that a campaign which threatened to drift has been dragged back into focus.
“It was great to win our last home game. That left us all with a great feeling. We want to end the season on a real high,” Howe said.
From slump to surge
A month ago, Newcastle looked stuck. Legs heavy, ideas blunted, results sliding. Their last defeat, away to Premier League champions Arsenal in April, was a reminder of the levels they needed to reach, not yet a sign they were close.
Since then, the mood has shifted. The performances with the ball have sharpened, the confidence has returned, and the table looks kinder.
“Newcastle’s form has turned on its head over the last month” is no exaggeration. The results back it up, but so does the eye test: quicker passing, more aggression without the ball, and a front line that suddenly smells goals again.
Howe wants that to carry into Sunday.
“We hope to continue the upturn in our recent performances, upturn in our in-possession play, we want to end the season high, it is an important match for us.”
No talk of holidays. No sense of easing off. For Howe, Fulham is not a gentle curtain call; it is a chance to cement momentum, to underline that the Arsenal defeat was a turning point rather than a warning.
Tonali’s availability, Osula’s emergence, the restored edge in possession – they all feed into the same question as Newcastle head to London:
Is this just a strong finish, or the start of something more substantial next season?
