John Barnes believes Newcastle United could bring in another manager should they have ambitions of truly challenging for the Premier League title in the years to come.
What’s the latest Newcastle United news?
In the immediate aftermath of the October takeover, director Amanda Staveley bullishly claimed the vision was to compete for the top prize in English over the next five to ten years.
Clearly, it’s difficult to imagine Newcastle bothering Manchester City and Liverpool at the division’s summit any time soon, although the end goal is to do so. Little about what the club has done in the two transfer windows under Saudi Arabian ownership would suggest they will act recklessly in order to do so, although spending over £200m in that process is a statement of intent.
Many will laugh at the idea of Eddie Howe’s battling City and Liverpool across a 38-game campaign, but to see the ambition is surely enough for a fanbase deprived of any semblance of hope for so long under Mike Ashley. Having battled both in one-off games already this season, it appears great strides have been made.
This is the start of the process and both players and managers will come and go over the coming years. Such is the nature of modern football, head coaches are not often in place for many years at a time, so predicting a managerial change in the seasons to come is less of a reflection on Howe’s (excellent) standing amongst Newcastle supporters, but more so one on the landscape of elite football.
Indeed, Manuel Pellegrini won trophies with City but was discarded for Guardiola. Thomas Tuchel has been sacked by Chelsea less than two years after winning the Champions League, having reached both domestic cup finals only a matter of months ago. Changes in the dugout are just part and parcel of football.
What did Barnes say of Howe?
Speaking to BonusCodeBets, former Newcastle winger Barnes said: “Eddie Howe is absolutely the right person to take Newcastle to the next step, I’m very pleased with him as a manager.
“If they have ambitions of winning the Premier League in 2 or 3 years they could maybe bring in another manager, but he is the right manager for Newcastle right now.”
What has been said of Howe’s long-term future at Newcastle?
Speaking to The Athletic in February, Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi spoke in glowing terms of the former Bournemouth manager.
“I would love Eddie to be the next Alex Ferguson,” said Ghodoussi.
Staveley, meanwhile, added “We know Eddie has the ability to keep us up. And it was always with a view to a long-term future. We hope and think that Eddie will be with us for a very long time.”
