Newcastle fans reach major decision as Barcelona thrashing prompts meltdown

Newcastle fans have made up their minds after being thrashed 7-2 by Barcelona in the second leg of their Champions League last 16 tie.

Newcastle twice equalised in the first half, through Anthony Elanga and Anthony Gordon, to make it 2-2 shortly before stoppage time.

But Lamine Yamal netted from the penalty spot after Kieran Trippier hauled down Raphinha to restore Barca's lead heading into the interval.

They would not cede that advantage again, scoring four second-half goals to move 8-3 aggregate ahead on aggregate and crush any hope Newcastle had of getting back in the contest.

They were 6-2 up on the night after 61 minutes, with Fermin Lopez and then a quickfire double from Robert Lewandowski opening up the second half.

Raphinha then extended the margin on 72 minutes.

Given the scale of the result, some Magpies fans believe that it is time for manager Eddie Howe to move on - if not now, at the end of the current season.

"Eddie Howe out. If this team loses the derby [against Sunderland] he should be sacked on the spot," one wrote.

"Thank you Eddie Howe, time to move on in the summer," a second said.

"Sack him now, it's the biggest game in the club's history and goes out like this," a third fumed.

While another surmised: "The defence has gotten drastically worse season on season since the fourth-placed finish, this is unfortunately a massive trait of Eddie Howe since the Bournemouth days. It's time to say goodbye in June."

And a fifth wrote: "Think Eddie Howe is out of time, this is really not acceptable by any stretch of the imagination."

Newcastle currently sit in ninth place in the Premier League, having lost 12 of their 30 matches this season.

They did secure a vital 1-0 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, however, on Saturday to lift them to within three points of a place in Europe next season in seventh.

Depending on whether fifth place is enough via UEFA co-efficients, they are currently seven points behind Chelsea in fifth.

Howe - whose length of contract is not publicly known - spoke of Newcastle's inconsistency this season last month following their 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur, explaining (via BBC Sport): "It has ended up being inconsistent and a little bit up and down.

"Don't get me wrong, we could have done better, and there are certainly things that we could improve.

"But I think longer term we'll be better for it if we can work through this season and this period.

"The biggest thing is to find a clear identity and a clear way of playing, and then we can see what the future looks like with this team. If it's positive then that could be a great thing."