Dwight Yorke believes that Newcastle United's home and away losses to Sunderland AFC last season made Eddie Howe's job 'unsustainable.' He also believes that finishing five places below them in the Premier League didn't help matters.
Howe's departure
The 48-year-old has decided to part ways with the Magpies after a largely successful five-year tenure, with Matthias Jaissle touted to take the reins at St James' Park following his exit. It comes after months of criticism from select Newcastle fans, coupled with the club's damning approach to the summer transfer window thus far.
The Magpies have already lost Anthony Gordon to Barcelona and Sandro Tonali to Tottenham Hotspur, and are on the verge of parting ways with club captain, Bruno Guimaraes, amid a wealth of interest from Arsenal. That would ultimately leave Howe without star talent for the upcoming season, making it incredibly difficult to improve on last term's 12th-place finish.
Derby defeats
However, the performances on the pitch in 2025/26, particularly against their biggest rivals, were especially problematic for Howe, with Yorke claiming that back-to-back losses to the Black Cats made the Englishman's position 'unsustainable.'
Speaking to BOYLE Sports, who offer football odds, Yorke - who played for Sunderland between 2006 and 2009 - said: "Eddie Howe losing twice to Sunderland and finishing below them last season didn’t resonate very well with the fans.
"It doesn’t matter where you are in the world, when it comes to your local derby, you cannot lose both of those games in a season. No matter what else is going on against the other teams, you have to get a result in these games.
"To lose both home and away to your rival like that, it’s unsustainable because the local fans know what comes with it."
It was an increasingly tough watch for Newcastle United fans last season, who lost local bragging rights with an inability to defeat Regis Le Bris' Sunderland. The Black Cats hosted the Magpies at the Stadium of Light in December, winning 1-0 through a catastrophic Nick Woltemade own-goal.
While Newcastle were heavy favourites to atone for the loss during March's reverse at St James' Park, Sunderland prospered once again. While Gordon opened the scoring for his team just 10 minutes into play, Chemsdine Talbi levelled matters early in the second-half.
Brian Brobbey then converted from close range at the death to secure a 2-1 win for Sunderland, and bragging rights for another season. It comes as Al-Ahly coach Jaissle is set to take up tenure on Tyneside following Howe's departure.
Whether the 38-year-old will sink or swim in his first taste of Premier League action remains to be seen, as he only entered football management in 2021 and has never played for or coached an English team.
