The Champions League dream is over for Newcastle at the first hurdle, as manager Eddie Howe saw his team crash out of the group stages on Wednesday night.
Returning to the competition for the first time in 20 years, Newcastle were dumped straight into a group of death with giants Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan, and Borussia Dortmund.
Their exit was ultimately confirmed on Wednesday night, after AC Milan dramatically turned things around at St. James's Park to win 2-1 and end Newcastle's hopes of even finishing third and securing Europa League football.
Eddie Howe and his team will now turn their attention to the second half of the Premier League season - but they do so after a stuttering start which has seen them deal with an ever-worsening injury crisis.
With Kieran Trippier now among those doubtful for upcoming games, things are unlikely to get much easier any time soon for Howe and Newcastle - and ex-Ireland defender Richard Dunne fears that could see Howe get the sack.
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Richard Dunne thinks Newcastle will look for alternatives to Eddie Howe
Ambitions are high for Newcastle after the takeover of the club by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund in 2021. Qualification for the Champions League was just step one on that plan - and doubts may now begin to creep in as to whether they have the right man to take them to the next step.
Speaking on Virgin Media Sport's coverage of Newcastle v AC Milan on Wednesday, Richard Dunne explained why he feared the early European exit could cost Eddie Howe his job.
Does tonight mark the beginning of the end for Eddie Howe at Newcastle?
"I think over the next 6-10 games, if results don't improve and they don't stay in contact with the top four, I think they'll make a change."#NEWACM | #UCL pic.twitter.com/xbX4HSW1iX— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) December 13, 2023
Dunne said that qualifying for the Champions League alone would soon not be enough for the club's ownership, as they seek to push the club on to even greater heights.
The ex-Manchester City man used a comparison with Everton's appointment of Carlo Ancelotti to explain his thinking - that Howe has been the right man to bring Newcastle this far, but that he may not be capable of winning major honours with the club:
If they qualify for the Champions League again, I wouldn't be surprised if they changed and thought, 'that's great, he's done a really good job, we're going to strengthen the squad and we need a manager who can win the Champions League and can win the Premier League.'
It's hard - you don't want to be disrespectful to Eddie Howe, because he's done really well.
A couple of years ago, Everton were in a position where they were 16th and they got Ancelotti in. Ancelotti was not a guy to be coaching that team - he's top four. They needed somebody to be that interim manager, and then you go for an Ancelotti or someone like that.
That's where Newcastle are. They're obviously too good to go down and too good for mid-table but, to really get on to that next level...there's only a few. There's not many of those managers who can.
I think Eddie Howe is a great manager, I think he's done really well, but I don't think he has that star quality to take them on. He's got the best out of Newcastle with the squad that he's got, the tactics he uses...they just need that next star to really push them on.
Eddie Howe has been in charge of Newcastle for virtually the entire spell of PIF ownership. Despite that, the seeds of doubt have been planted by their shaky start to this season and Champions League exit - even if the club is ravaged by an injury crisis.
Newcastle face Fulham at 3pm on Saturday in their next Premier League assignment, before a League Cup quarter-final against Chelsea at 8pm on Tuesday.
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