Eddie Howe is confident he will be Newcastle United head coach next season following talks with the club’s ownership — but accepts he needs wins from the final four Premier League games to secure his future after facing “challenging questions” from the board.

A 25-strong delegation from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Newcastle’s majority owner, flew in on Thursday for a series of annual meetings at Matfen Hall in Northumberland. Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the club chairman and governor of PIF, was present, as was Jamie Reuben, the minority owner.

Newcastle have lost nine of their last 12 Premier League games and are 14th in the table, just eight points above the relegation zone, a huge regression on the fifth-placed finish last season.

Howe made a presentation to the board, outlining why he believes Newcastle have struggled this season and how he intends to evolve the side moving forward. The head coach felt support and unity throughout the day, he insisted at a press conference on Friday.

“There is an opportunity to see a lot of the people I haven’t seen in a while,” Howe said of the meetings. “Obviously, the owners and representatives of PIF were over and (they were) constructive, good meetings. I was a small part of that.

(The conversations are) always constructive because I think they (the owners) clearly care so much about the football club, the long-term planning that’s clearly going on at a number of levels. Very exciting times for the club, regardless of what happens short term. So, the long-term vision is clearly there.”

Al-Rumayyan was part of the PIF delegation over for Newcastle meetings this week (Jan Kruger/Getty Images)

Pushed as to whether he is confident he will still be Newcastle head coach come the start of the 2026-27 campaign, Howe stressed he maintains that mindset. But he also knows positive results are required during Newcastle’s final four games, starting with Brighton & Hove Albion at St James’ Park on Saturday, when Anthony Gordon may return from a hip problem.

“I have to retain that confidence,” Howe said. “I don’t think it serves anybody not to have that long-term vision.

“I’ve never needed clarity in my head (what the ownership think), in the sense that I’m here, I’m working and I’m committed. A football club has to do what a football club has to do. The football club needs to see we are going in the right direction and there’s a positive feeling and fighting on all fronts.

“You can talk as much as you want but the proof is in how the team performs. I’m under no illusions that that needs to be positive.

“In my position, I am under no illusions I have to get results to keep that feeling, that strength and that trust and that will be regardless of whatever moment we’re in. I am well aware there is a responsibility that comes with the job.”

Howe was asked to present analysis of Newcastle’s season so far, as he has been in previous years, and admits that he faced far more probing questions back than in those other annual meetings.

“Yeah, I presented, we discussed,” Howe said. “There were challenging conversations, challenging questions, but that’s all part of it. Those meetings, I’ve had that every year, regardless of our league position, where you’ll be challenged and probed on certain decisions that you’ve made, how we’ve ended up in certain scenarios, and then you explain the process behind it.

“This year, of course, slightly more difficult questions because of our league position, there’s no getting away from that. But the process behind it was exactly the same as it has been every year.”

Crucial final games for Howe to prove himself

The general tone Howe projected from the Matfen meetings was one of unity, support and an air of confidence that he would remain as Newcastle head coach going into next season.

But the reality is that the past 24 hours have not actually materially altered his situation. As Howe repeated several times — seemingly having been reminded during those conversations with ownership, given he accepted they were “challenging” — he has been told in no uncertain terms that Newcastle cannot just keep losing matches and he merely retain unwavering backing.

Should Newcastle lose their final four games, it feels inconceivable that Howe could remain. He needs to demonstrate that he is still able to extract positive performances and results from this group of players before he can be trusted to oversee a significant squad overhaul this summer.

More encouragingly for Newcastle fans, Howe reiterated that, despite PIF pulling funding from LIV Golf, he believes the owners are still fully committed to the club and remain hyper-ambitious.

Unfortunately, he could not offer an update on the key stadium and training-ground infrastructure questions, having not been party to those meetings. But it would be a surprise if Newcastle made a firm announcement immediately on either, even if a new training ground site has been identified.