After CEO David Hopkinson revealed last week that “the club and owners want to win the league by 2030” it would be reasonable for them to question whether Eddie Howe is the man to lead them to that point.
Brentford plunged the Magpies firmly into crisis on Saturday to make it three defeats from three and leave Howe’s side as close to the relegation zone as fifth place and likely Champions League qualification.
Time to ask the question, then: who will be the next Newcastle manager? These are the latest odds from sportscasting.com.
10) Erik Ten Hag
Of course he’s there. He always is. Genuinely fascinating (to us, anyway) that Ten Hag now occupies such a curious space in English football that there is absolutely no plausibly available Premier League managerial job too big or too small for him to pop up somewhere in the top 10 contenders. We’re weirdly certain he’s going to get one of these jobs sooner or later as well.
9) Marco Rose
He was favourite for the Leeds job, but Daniel Farke has thrown egg in our faces for compiling that particular list. Rose is an excellent example of the lack of imagination from the bookies, who have stuck him almost exclusively because of his availability.
7=) Ruben Amorim
Michael Carrick is well on the way to ensuring that Amorim never works in the Premier League again after Amorim himself did excellent work in the regard during his 18 months at Manchester United.
7=) Edin Terzic
There are certain managers who from very early on just seem to have a dash of Barclays about them. We’ve always felt that way about Terzic, but the more time passes since his departure from Borussia Dortmund – a club that itself has a greater connection than most to the Barclays pipeline both in and out – the harder it gets to see someone from Our League taking a punt.
Feels like he needs an eye-catching spell somewhere else first now.
6) Roberto De Zerbi
Can’t wait to have him back. The question is which club will be duped into thinking they can fix the unhinged Italian before early signs of promise and some excellent football shift into growing tension between De Zerbi and the club owners, or the media, or anyone frankly and he leaves in a blaze of ill-will and expletives.
5) Kieran McKenna
Really interesting. As a neutral observer, you’d really love to see a big club take a punt on a coach we have a strong suspicion could really fly if given that kind of chance. But you still wouldn’t necessarily want it to be your club taking said punt. It’s a massive gamble, and Newcastle aren’t currently in a position where massive gambles seem wise. Which is a shame, because we honestly think this could be amazing.
4) Marco Silva
We are fascinated to know if Silva can or will manage anyone other than Fulham. We suspect he can’t and won’t.
3) Xavi
Certainly ticks the ‘statement signing’ box if Newcastle did manage to entice the Barcelona legend back into the coaching game.
2) Oliver Glasner
He’s so far kept his reputation in tact thanks to all of his best players leaving with the carpet that’s been pulled from underneath him at Crystal Palace. Any sort of uptick in Palace’s form in what remains of the season will ensure he’s in the running for a job of this magnitude.
1) Andoni Iraola
Currently doing sterling work with Bournemouth and it does feel like it’s probably a matter of time before someone with deeper pockets and grander ambitions wants to see what he’s made of.
