Newcastle boss Howe desperate to break club’s trophy drought as he sets his sights on winning the Carabao Cup.
Newcastle boss Howe accepts Newcastle’s season could hinge on their Carabao Cup quarter-final against Brentford.
“I feel we can still grab the season and be very successful,” Howe said. “But games like this become pivotal to that. We can achieve great things but, likewise, the opposite can happen if we don’t have the right attitude to this game.”
Howe, a 2023 losing finalist against Manchester United, would become the first English manager to win the Carabao Cup since Steve McClaren at Middlesbrough in 2004 if he were to do so.
“That’s not so much in my thoughts,” he said. “It’s for Newcastle, trying to end this club’s wait for a trophy is the burning desire.”
Newcastle have not won a domestic cup competition since the FA Cup in 1955. “We want to be the team that gets over the line and achieves something special,” Howe said. “Nothing will be taken for granted but we know, if we can hit the correct levels of performance, we’re a match for anyone in the division.”
The Premier League’s profit and sustainability regulations continue to severely limit the manager’s options in the transfer market. Howe’s club has been wildly erratic in recent weeks.
“I’d say PSR have had a dramatic effect on the speed of our journey,” said Howe, who has been tasked by the club’s Saudi Arabian ownership with hoovering up silverware and turning his side into European regulars. “Of course that reflects on our ability to change things as quickly as possible in terms of winning trophies.
“But if there isn’t a burning desire to win a trophy from me, then there’s something wrong. It’s what we’re here to do. I desperately want to win a trophy for this football club. For the supporters, for their patience and for the support I’ve had here. Nothing would please me more.”