Joe Thomlinson, who works as a presenter for Sky Sports and Football Daily, spent some time talking about the possibility of former Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe replacing Steve Bruce at Newcastle United during a recent video for the Football Daily YouTube channel.
Criticism has been mounting on current Newcastle boss Steve Bruce of late and Howe, who is currently without a club after leaving Bournemouth in the summer following their relegation from the Premier League to the Championship, is one manager who has been discussed as a potential replacement for the 60-year-old.
While discussing the possibility of Howe taking the reins at St. James’ Park during this YouTube video, Thomlinson shared that he thinks the Toon would have nothing to lose by ditching Bruce for the 43-year-old, declaring that he believes the quality of football couldn’t be worse than it is at present and indicating that he thinks Howe showed more than enough ability during his time at Bournemouth to warrant being considered for the role of Toon manager if Newcastle were to part ways with Bruce.
The presenter said: “The football is as bad as I’ve ever seen a Premier League side play, so Eddie Howe, at this stage, he’s basically risk-free, isn’t he? Because he’s not going to be playing worse football than this Steve Bruce team, I would be slightly worried about that Burnley stint that Eddie Howe had that just failed and fell apart, but nevertheless, I would like to see this happen.
“Eddie Howe back in the Premier League, I think he’s warranted that move from what he’s done at Bournemouth. Newcastle would be a step up in club from Bournemouth, if he could keep [them] in the division, maybe snatch some funds out of Mike Ashley’s pocket somehow – I believe this could be a good move.”
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TIF Thoughts on what Thomlinson had to say about Howe joining Newcastle United…
Following Saturday’s Premier League clash with Aston Villa, Newcastle are without a win in their last 10 competitive games under Bruce, so you could certainly argue that managing director Lee Charnley – who, alongside Justin Barnes and Keith Bishop, is said to guide club owner Mike Ashley’s hand on matters such as changing manager – should be thinking about life after Bruce.
It’s clear that Thomlinson feels Howe would be a good option for those behind-the-scenes at the North East club to keep in mind when it comes to replacing Bruce, with the presenter urging Newcastle to offer Howe a route back to the Premier League.
So, with it having been claimed that it would take a drop into the relegation zone for the Toon to consider sacking Bruce, it will be interesting to see, if the 60-year-old fails to turn Newcastle’s form around and the club does opt to part ways with him, whether or not the Newcastle decision-makers share a similar view to Thomlinson on Howe, as it has recently been claimed that he might well be exactly what Ashley is looking for based on comments he made about working under a strict budget at Bournemouth.