After turning a relegation scrap into a mid-table finish in his first half season, and subsequently leading us into the Champions League, Eddie Howe has proven to be Newcastle’s best appointment in 20 years.
However, with The Magpies sitting in 10th at the moment and just about on the fringes of European contention, Eddie Howe has endured his worst spell at the club this past month, after 4 league losses in a row, and a dramatic exit from Europe.
Add to that a current lack of movement regarding incoming players, and bigger clubs circling Howe’s best players. It spells the potential for more bumps up the road.
Much like someone enjoying a hot streak at Rajbet, Newcastle may be tempted to cash in on their big-money investments such as Bruno Guimarães, Sven Botman and Alexander Isak, with one of their big names possibly leaving to facilitate incoming players.
FFP has left Newcastle with very little to work with at the current time, so the way for anyone of real quality to come in will be to sell off one of their major assets.
But there is a potential alternative to turning the season around, one most daren’t suggest but could provide some needed momentum back into this Newcastle squad. Or it could make things much worse. I’m talking about the possibility of a managerial change.
Howe has done fantastically up this recent spell of bad form, and to sack him would be cruel and unfair, to say the least.
But this is the first time the new owners have been faced with a bad run like this, which gives us a chance to see the first signs of how strict the new owners will be with sacking managers.
The argument for a managerial change would be that it’s better to chop and change now and give the new man more time to turn teh season around and get the club back in European places, but being too hasty can make things much worse.
A change in personnel with time left in the transfer window could make all the difference compared to potentially changing managers in a month’s time if results continue in the same vein.
A new man would still have to offload a few players anyway, but it’s not secret Newcastle are looking to sell some players.
Callum Wilson has been the latest target of speculation, with Atletico Madrid reportedly interested in the former Bournemouth striker.
There seems plenty of interest and opportunity to help move a few players on, but Howe may worry the funds this could generate may not be raised with him in mind
When you take a look at some of the managerial talent available at the moment, you can understand why Howe might be looking over his shoulder. Jose Mourinho would be a likely candidate for the role.
A serial winner, having been relieved of his post in Rome, Mourinho could inject both star power and a winning mentality. But, he’ll likely expect a hefty paycheck and struggled in his last stint in England at Tottenham.
Another big name available would be Antonio Conte, also having recently managed Tottenham. A similar style of coach to Mourinho, the project could tempt the Italian, along with a lucrative contract.
However, while these two may have Champions League pedigree, neither are well known for their good football.
With both options, when the results don’t come, the fans can turn on them very quickly, thanks to their temperaments and more defensive, Cattanaccio style of play.
Howe will likely get more time to turn things around, but if Newcastle fail to win in their next 2 or 3 games, the chopping then you’d have to think the chopping block isn’t far away.
With a challenging game at Villa as their next league game, followed by games against Luton, Forest and Bournemouth, 7 from an available 12 would be the bare minimum you’d expect, and it would still be a bit of a disappointment.
Any less and I’d consider Howe under serious pressure.
