The Toon boss revealed he brought on attacking subs Bruno Guimaraes and Callum Wilson for a “training session” – with 26 minutes still left of Wednesday’s 3-0 win at Old Trafford.
That comment from Howe – whether intended as a jibe or not – was the final straw for many United fans worried their team is now a laughing stock.
But other supporters were shocked the Magpies chief went so far.
One posted: “Nah no way he said training session.”
Another wrote: “First you defeat them with the football. Then… with some words. Cold man, that Eddie.”
Newcastle made their double change just four minutes after Joe Willock’s solo goal had put them 3-0 up.
Asked to explain the switch, Howe said: “The intention was to give minutes to players, so they could use it as their training session.”
One United fan responded online: “It literally never f***ing ends. We’ve become the biggest banter club there is. Even f***ing Spurs fans laugh at us now, how did we sink this far?”
Another replied: “We’re starting to hit (David) Moyes level lows, of course they’re gonna take the p*** more.”
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A third wrote: “It’s like people realised just now that we have sucked for a long long time.”
With United losing 3-0 against Manchester City last Sunday, their midweek mauling means it’s the first time in 61 years the Red Devils have lost two successive home games in a row by three goals.
And you have to go back to 1930-31 to find the last occasion United have been defeated in five straight home matches.
One fan posted: “Sunk my opinion of (manager Erik) Ten Hag, thought he did a great job last season, but he’s had a year in charge and got a lot of his preferred players in and things have not progressed at all, they’ve arguably gotten worse.”