Newcastle United will sack Eddie Howe and replace him with one of football’s most successful managers.
That is the view of former Aston Villa and Liverpool attacker Stan Collymore, who made a wild prediction in February that the Magpies would part ways with Howe by the end of the year.
And although it looks unlikely PIF will axe the popular Englishman before the year is out, Collymore remains adamant the club’s wealthy Saudi owners will be on the lookout for a top-tier manager to soon take charge.
“I do believe PIF will already be looking at candidates to come in and take over from Howe,” Collymore said in an exclusive interview.
“Don’t get me wrong. He has done a remarkable job since he took charge. He’s taken the Geordies to Wembley and got them back into the Champions League. But there is a huge gap between being a club that qualifies for Europe and reaches a Carabao Cup final and being a club that is virtually nailed on to win the Carabao Cup, such as Manchester City, and a team that routinely competes for the Champions League trophy, again, such as Manchester City — and Newcastle’s owners will know this.”
Using Manchester City’s dominance since the side welcomed Sheikh Mansour as their new owner in 2008, Collymore compared at-the-time manager Mark Hughes to Newcastle’s Howe.
“Let’s not forget either – Manchester City, post-takeover, started with Mark Hughes and they’ve ended up with Pep Guardiola,” he added.
“The former has just been sacked from his role at Bradford City and the other has just lifted the treble.
“PIF will show the same level of ruthlessness with Newcastle and Howe. They’re here to win and to win it all. Howe will not be able to do that. He’s a good manager but it’ll be one of football’s elite few that ends up in the St. James’ Park hot seat in the near future.”
Although Howe penned a new “long-term” deal last summer, the length of the 45-year-old’s deal remains unknown (BBC Sport).
I recall Cllymore being described as really thick by more than one person, including former managers. It’s best to keep your mouth shut when you’re stupid, rather than open it and prove it. You