Eddie Howe will head to Newcastle with two doubts above his head following his spell at Bournemouth. The Magpies are widely expected to appoint the 43-year-old following a chaotic few days.
On Monday, Howe was still behind Unai Emery in the race to win the lucrative St James’ Park hotseat.
Newcastle have been searching for a new manager since parting ways with Steve Bruce on October 20. The club’s oil-rich new owners had been widely expected to dismiss the unpopular head coach upon their purchase of the club a fortnight prior.
Bruce was handed his 1,000th game in football management but supporter unrest boiled over following a 3-2 defeat by Tottenham. The boyhood Newcastle fan then departed within three days.
Director Amanda Staveley, who helped broker the eye-watering £305million Saudi-backed takeover, has overseen the recruitment process.
Former Roma boss Paulo Fonseca was the initial favourite before talks broke down. Earlier this week, ex-Arsenal head coach Emery was sounded out.
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Newcastle appeared confident of appointing the 50-year-old, with them apparently willing to pay the £5m buy-out clause in his Villarreal contract. However, that plan was thrown into disarray when Emery released a statement on Wednesday to confirm he will be remaining in Spain.
Newcastle moved on quickly to their next choice in Howe. It has been widely reported that a contract has been finalised.
But the 43-year-old will head to Tyneside with many in football doubting his credentials. According to The Athletic, insiders had two big doubts about Howe in the aftermath of his Bournemouth spell.
He took charge of the Cherries in 2008 when they had been handed a 17-point deduction in League Two. Eight years later, Bournemouth were a Premier League club.
Howe maintained the South Coast outfit’s top-flight status for five years before relegation and his eventual departure in the summer of 2020. He has been without work since.
At the time, figures inside the game felt that Howe had it ‘easy’ at Bournemouth, the report claims. There was a lack of pressure and Howe was allowed the kind of control that would not be granted at a so-called bigger club.
The latter fear will be of concern to Staveley and her fellow shareholders, who are widely expected to appoint a Director of Football to oversee the sporting operation.
Newcastle supporters are renowned for their sizeable expectations, with no major trophy being won since 1955.
It will be a vastly different experience to that at Bournemouth. Even when Howe’s side seemed destined for relegation, and despite having spent £225m on assembling a squad, there scarcely seemed any pressure on his shoulders.
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Howe will need to prove that he can guide a club to success when vast sums of money are spent. Staveley has already promised that the new boss will be supported by ‘world-class’ signings.
“We are in the market to compete for world-class players,” she told journalists of Newcastle’s plans in the aftermath of helping to broker the takeover.
“We have great ambitions — I hope it’s going to be a game-changer for Newcastle United.
“But if you don’t put the infrastructure around that world-class player and you don’t have a team that can play with him, you’ll get nowhere.”
With Newcastle placed 19th in the Premier League and without a win all season, Howe will need to be an immediate success. Trumping those doubts would be an excellent start.