Newcastle United to replace Eddie Howe this summer as part of 'job swap' - journalist
Eddie Howe has had a few wobbles as Newcastle United manager, and the former Bournemouth boss has always managed to recover, but this time feels a bit different.
More and more fans are starting to turn on the manager as the team's form has nosedived of late, and the narrative right now is that the Toon boss is under immense pressure.
Even Eddie Howe himself is struggling to put his trademark positive spin on things at the moment, which is when you know we're in the mire.
On the flip side, there are still plenty of fans who back him as the right man for the job and those who feel he's still got plenty of credit in the bank after leading the club to its first domestic trophy in 70 years.
ESPN think Thomas Tuchel and Eddie Howe will swap jobs this summer
We still believe there are a lot of mitigating factors that take this dip in form out of Eddie's hands. He's still responsible for a large chunk of it, for sure, but he was let down in the summer, the fixture schedule has been insane, and his players have fallen apart. But he's the one who kept picking the same players rather than rotating when he had a fully fit squad, so he has to take responsibility for a lot of it too.
ESPN journalist Mark Ogden doesn't believe those mitigating circumstances will be enough to save his job, however, and backs Newcastle to let him leave and take up the England job this summer with the current England boss coming in to manage Newcastle.
"Eddie Howe has brought stability and success to Newcastle since being appointed as manager -- manager, not head coach -- in November 2021.
"But despite ending the club's 70-year wait for a domestic trophy with last season's Carabao Cup and also guiding Newcastle into the Champions League on two occasions, the team's form this season has led to supporter unrest for the first time during Howe's reign in charge.
"Newcastle's progress since being taken over by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund in 2021 has slowed to a halt and repeated problems in the transfer market have frustrated Howe.
"With the England job likely to become available when Tuchel's contract expires after the World Cup, a natural parting of the ways could happen at Newcastle this summer.
"MOST LIKELY OUTCOME: Howe leaves for the England job, Newcastle go for Tuchel."
Even if Eddie Howe goes, we're not sure Thomas Tuchel replaces him
While we're still in the 'Howe In' camp, we definitely wouldn't say no to having Thomas Tuchel at the helm. He's proven himself many times to be a top manager, guiding Chelsea to the Champions League and winning Ligue 1 twice with PSG (and England to a World Cup this summer?).
Whether Tuchel sees Newcastle as a top job and one that he'd take, we're not convinced. We're sure he's seen what Eddie Howe has had to work with, the ever-changing boardroom, the club being absolutely terrified of spending money, and is that an environment he'd want to work in?
We think fans are going to have to get their heads around the fact that Eddie Howe will still be here next season.
