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PIF could hire the “best coach in the PL” to upgrade on Howe at Newcastle
Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has come under some scrutiny at times this season because the 2025/26 campaign has not gone to plan.
Losing Alexander Isak to Liverpool for £125m did not help his preparations for the season, but the Magpies are 13th in the Premier League as it stands, after finishing fifth last term.
Despite the team’s disappointing performance in the top-flight so far this season, Howe is reportedly being looked at by another Premier League club.
Premier League giants looking at Eddie Howe
According to Football Insider, Chelsea are eyeing up the Newcastle United head coach as a potential replacement for Enzo Maresca this month.
The report claims that Strasbourg boss Liam Rosenior is currently the favourite for the role at Stamford Bridge, but Howe is being considered as a manager who has experience in the Premier League.
It adds that, as mentioned earlier, the Newcastle boss has been criticised by some supporters on social media for his performance in the dugout this season, but that has not deterred Chelsea from holding an interest in him.
Football Insider notes that it remains to be seen if Howe would be willing to leave the Magpies midway through a season, though, so it is unclear if he would be interested in joining Chelsea at this time.
PIF, though, could see this as an opportunity to finally land an upgrade on Howe by allowing him to join the Blues before swooping for another manager from the Premier League.
The Premier League manager Newcastle should replace Howe with
Football Insider reported in December that Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola could be the frontrunner for the job at St. James’ Park if Howe were to depart, whether by being poached or sacked.
Journalist James Horncastle, via John Brewin of the Libero podcast, claimed that he is the “best coach in the Premier League“, and you can see the logic behind such a bold claim.
Some supporters may see that Bournemouth have failed to win in their last 11 Premier League matches and not be too enthralled with the idea of him being the next Newcastle boss, but the context is important.
Whilst Howe did lose Isak in the summer, Iraola lost Ilya Zabarnyi to PSG, Dango Ouattara to Brentford, Milos Kerkez to Liverpool, Dean Huijsen to Real Madrid, and Kepa Arrizabalaga’s loan came to an end.
This shows that the 4-2-3-1 manager lost more or less half of his best starting XI in one summer, which was always going to make it difficult for the Cherries to kick on, yet they are still nine points clear of the relegation zone.
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Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth success |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Season |
xPTS |
xPositon |
|
25/26 |
29 |
8th |
|
24/25 |
63 |
6th |
|
23/24 |
53 |
9th |
|
Iraola replaces O’Neil |
||
|
22/23 |
34 |
20th |
As you can see in the table above, Iraola took over a team that had the lowest xPTS in the Premier League under Gary O’Neil in the 2022/23 campaign, and coached successive top-half finishes, based on performances.
With half of the season to go, the Spaniard still has the chance to make it three improved xPTS finishes in succession, unless Newcastle swoop in to take him away from the Vitality.
Whilst Iraola has significantly improved Bournemouth’s performance levels from where they were when he took the job, Newcastle’s underlying numbers have been regressing each season.
The Magpies were third on xPTS in the 2022/23 campaign, fourth in the 2023/24 season, fifth in the 2024/25 term, and they are currently sixth on xPTS, per FotMob.
Whilst these are still strong numbers in isolation, it is a concerning trend that suggests that Howe is not improving the team with the resources that he has, unlike Iraola at Bournemouth.
That is why PIF should take advantage of Chelsea’s reported interest in Howe to part ways with the League Cup-winning boss before Newcastle’s performances get even worse.
Bad news for Miley: Newcastle ready to go big for £52m “difference maker”
Newcastle United signing this much-talked-about star in January would be bad news for Lewis Miley.
Now could be the perfect time for the Magpies to strike by swapping out their manager, whose performance data is regressing, to appoint a Premier League boss who has improved his side significantly and has done a stellar job given the circumstances.
