Luke Edwards has been speaking on the BBC’s Football Daily podcast about how Newcastle United’s Eddie Howe should be nominated for the Manager of the Season award.
Howe took over from Steve Bruce when the club’s new owners decided a change was necessary to keep the club in the Premier League, and despite coming in when the Magpies had not yet won a game all season, Howe appears to have them on the brink of safety.
Should Howe be nominated for MOTS?
Yes!
No!
Newcastle took a huge step towards Premier League safety last weekend by picking up three points whilst watching on as Burnley failed to beat Norwich City, meaning that the Magpies are now 10 points above the dreaded bottom three with just seven games left to play.
Edwards has made the case for Howe being on the shortlist for the Premier League’s Manager of the Season.
He said: “Eddie Howe, brilliant job. And we talk about David Moyes being a candidate for Manager of the Year – I think he makes the shortlist, certainly the long list as well.
“They were bottom of the table when he took over in November, one win by the middle of January, just dumped out the FA Cup at home by Cambridge United.
“Yes, they spent £93m in January, that undoubtedly has helped, but that should not distract from the job that Eddie Howe did.
“He led recruitment, he signed the players. Four of those five players are Eddie Howe’s signings that he wanted, that he went out and got, and they have played their part, so you have to take your hat off to Eddie Howe and the job he’s done.”
TIF Thoughts on Howe for Manager of the Season…
It certainly isn’t wild thinking from Edwards that Howe should at least be nominated for the award given that, as Edwards said, Newcastle were rock bottom when he took over and are now just three points off the top 10, which is a stunning turnaround.
Although the five new signings have certainly played their part, it’s not all down to them, with Bruno Guimaraes having only started one game at home, while Kieran Trippier has missed the last eight games and Chris Wood has just two goals to his name, so a lot of credit should go to Howe and his coaching staff, who have got every last drop of potential out of the squad.
In other news: Ghodoussi loves what Newcastle’s Saint-Maximin has just posted on Instagram