‘He’ll get sacked’ – John Barnes rains on Carabao Cup parade with shameful Newcastle United rant

While Newcastle United fans continue to bask in the euphoria of ending their 70-year wait for domestic silverware, former Liverpool and England star John Barnes has delivered a sobering—and somewhat perplexing—reality check.

In a surprising critique, Barnes suggested that manager Eddie Howe could still face dismissal this season if results take a dramatic downturn, despite the Magpies’ historic Carabao Cup triumph over Liverpool at Wembley.

The celebrations in Newcastle have been nothing short of monumental, with an open-top bus parade set to flood the city streets this weekend, followed by a massive gathering at Town Moor.

For a fanbase starved of success, this moment represents more than just a trophy—it’s the culmination of decades of longing. Yet Barnes, who never lifted silverware during his own playing days at Newcastle, has chosen to pour cold water on the festivities, questioning whether the club’s jubilation could breed complacency at a crucial stage of the season.

The former winger, now a pundit, argued that elite clubs and players treat winning as routine rather than a cause for excessive revelry. “The best teams and players make winning a habit,” he said.

“You have to be consistent if you want to be a top player or a top football club. If a player thinks, ‘We’ve won a trophy, I can relax now,’ they’ll just rest on their laurels and lose every game between now and the end of the season.”

Barnes went even further, suggesting that Howe’s position could come under threat if Newcastle’s form collapses in the remaining fixtures. “If Eddie Howe is going to lose every game between now and the end of the season, I think he’d get the sack,” he claimed. “I don’t think he’d be happy if that happened just because he won a trophy. Newcastle would like to think they could challenge for fourth spot, and they have done for the last two or three years.”

His comments strike an odd tone, given that Newcastle’s cup victory—achieved against Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool—was a landmark moment for a club still in the early stages of its ambitious rebuild under Saudi-backed ownership.

For Barnes to imply that Howe’s job security hinges on the final league games, rather than the tangible success of delivering silverware, feels at odds with the broader context of Newcastle’s progress.

Perhaps even more contentious was Barnes’ dismissal of the Carabao Cup as a potential catalyst for future success. While many pundits and fans see the trophy as a springboard for greater achievements—akin to Manchester City’s 2011 FA Cup win under Roberto Mancini, which preceded their dominance—Barnes outright rejected the notion.

“Is winning the Carabao Cup a springboard? I don’t think that this is,” he said. “Your league form is really a springboard for you to challenge either to win the league or to be regularly in the top four. Winning the cup doesn’t mean all of a sudden in the league you’re going to be winning the league or finishing first or second. It’s a feel-good factor that it brings to the city, to the club.”

His remarks overlook the psychological boost that trophy wins can provide. For a club like Newcastle, which has spent years in the shadows of the Premier League’s elite, lifting silverware—no matter the competition—can instill belief, attract better players, and solidify a winning mentality.

What makes Barnes’ stance particularly puzzling is his own history with Newcastle. As part of the 1998 squad that reached the FA Cup final but fell short against Arsenal, he knows firsthand how elusive success can be for the Magpies.

For him to downplay the significance of ending such a long trophy drought feels contradictory, if not outright dismissive of the club’s emotional milestone.

Howe, meanwhile, has already etched his name into Newcastle folklore by achieving what legendary managers like Sir Bobby Robson, Kevin Keegan, and Alan Shearer could not.

To suggest that a potential late-season slump could undo that legacy seems overly harsh—especially when the club’s hierarchy has consistently backed Howe as the man to lead their long-term project.

While Barnes’ comments may be intended as a cautionary tale about maintaining standards, they come across as unnecessarily cynical. Newcastle’s Carabao Cup win is not just a trophy—it’s a symbol of progress, a reward for a fanbase that has endured years of mediocrity, and proof that the club is moving in the right direction.

If anything, the celebrations should serve as motivation, not a distraction. The challenge for Howe now is to channel this momentum into securing a strong league finish and potentially even European qualification.

But to insinuate that his job could be at risk after delivering silverware? That feels less like sober analysis and more like a bizarre attempt to dampen the mood on Tyneside.

One thing is certain: Newcastle fans won’t let Barnes’ words overshadow their long-awaited moment in the sun. And if Howe can build on this success, his legacy at St. James’ Park will only grow stronger—regardless of what critics might say.