It's that time of year again when the media decide to link Jose Mourinho to the Newcastle United job regardless of his current position and, indeed, the position of the current Newcastle manager.
The links between Jose Mourinho and Newcastle have persisted for years as it's well known that, thanks to Sir Bobby Robson endlessly talking about his beloved Newcastle when mentoring Mourinho, the Portuguese has developed a huge soft spot for the Magpies.
When the PIF-backed takeover went through back in 2021, Mourinho was heavily linked with the Newcastle job as he was seen as the type of manager to take a newly rich club to glory.
Newcastle ultimately appointed Eddie Howe and on the day he celebrates his three-year anniversary in the job, The Guardian has run a story saying that Mourinho is after his job. Classy.
Mourinho is currently manager at Fenerbahce in Turkey but he seems to be doing all he can to get sacked after saying how nobody wants to watch the Turkish League.
“Nobody abroad wants to watch the Turkish league,” he said. “Who wants to watch this Turkish league abroad? They have the Premier League, they have the French league, they have the German league, they have the Portuguese league, they have the Dutch league. Why should they see this? … It’s too grey, it’s too dark, smells bad. But that’s my job, and I will give everything to my job, to my club.”
The Guardian ran those quotes in their report suggesting that Jose Mourinho has reached out to representatives to be told to be kept abreast of any developments with regards to Eddie Howe's job.
That claim is backed up by precisely no factual information.
We know about Mourinho's fondness for Newcastle, we don't need reminding of it every six months with false reports of him gunning for the job.
It does feel inevitable that he will one day get his shot at Newcastle, but Eddie Howe still has the full backing of the board, especially after turning things around with back-to-back wins over Chelsea and Arsenal.
We have said that this feels like a make or break season for Howe, and we do stand by that, but that's not to say that we don't have full confidence in Eddie Howe to deliver a successful season.
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Liverpool
|
14 | 18 | 35 |
2 |
Chelsea
|
15 | 17 | 31 |
3 |
Arsenal
|
15 | 14 | 29 |
4 |
Manchester City
|
15 | 6 | 27 |
5 |
Nottingham Forest
|
15 | 1 | 25 |
6 |
Aston Villa
|
15 | 0 | 25 |
7 |
Brighton
|
15 | 3 | 24 |
8 |
Bournemouth
|
15 | 3 | 24 |
9 |
Brentford
|
15 | 3 | 23 |
10 |
Fulham
|
15 | 2 | 23 |
11 |
Tottenham Hotspur
|
15 | 12 | 20 |
12 |
Newcastle United
|
15 | -2 | 20 |
13 |
Manchester United
|
15 | 1 | 19 |
14 |
West Ham United
|
15 | -8 | 18 |
15 |
Everton
|
14 | -7 | 14 |
16 |
Leicester
|
15 | -9 | 14 |
17 |
Crystal Palace
|
15 | -6 | 13 |
18 |
Ipswich
|
15 | -13 | 9 |
19 |
Wolves
|
15 | -15 | 9 |
20 |
Southampton
|
15 | -20 | 5 |