Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe is going absolutely nowhere, despite a fake story going viral on social media on Sunday night.

The Magpies suffered a really disappointing defeat at the weekend, losing 2-0 to Bournemouth to end their impressive unbeaten run in the Premier League.

Newcastle were powerless against Bournemouth, with the number of injuries and suspensions meaning the were unable to lay a glove on a side that had only won one game all season before Saturday night.

It was a rotten performance from Eddie Howe's side, but context is everything. You shouldn't make excuses, but you can't hide from the fact that this Newcastle squad is staggeringly depleted right now.

Everyone can see that, and it is making Howe's job incredibly difficult.

Viral tweet says Eddie Howe is on the brink of being sacked as Newcastle manager Sadly, we live in an age where anyone can post anything on social media, and people can pretend to be someone they are not.

That happened on Sunday evening, when someone pretending to be a journalist that is 'in the know' posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) about Howe being set to lose his job as Newcastle manager.

The account wrote: "Newcastle's board convened last night re: the future of Head Coach Eddie Howe. Consensus amongst head figures is he's taken the club as far as he can. No imminent decision to be taken in days ahead but likely to change in weeks ahead if results continue. More to follow."

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It was obviously fake, but looked convincing enough for people on social media to given it enough attention to go viral. It even caught the attention of former Stoke City forward Jonathan Walters, who responded as if it was a credible story!

This then forced the Telegraph's Luke Edwards to set the record straight - which he never should have even had to do.

He wrote: "Complete and utter nonsense. I've no idea why people make this stuff up on here pretending they are ITK! Embarrassing."

He also replied to Walters on X, writing: "It's not true in the slightest."

We saw it earlier this season with Sean Longstaff. A tweet went viral about him asking for time off to go travelling with his brother, which was obviously a joke. But it only takes a few people to think it is legit for it to snowball into something serious.

And this is just football we are talking about. The issue of misinformation is far more concerning with regards to genuine problems in the world, not just some blokes kicking a ball about for 90 minutes.

Of course, Eddie Howe is not going anywhere. The tweet was obviously fake, but it did not stop thousands of people declaring that the Toon owners will eventually get rid of Howe because they will want a bigger name.

It is almost as if they haven't been paying attention. Luckily, Newcastle fans are, and they are united behind Eddie Howe.