New manager is making his presence felt but has to take points while he can with difficult fixtures loomingWelcome to Newcastle. Twenty-two days into his bespoke survive-and-build mission, Eddie Howe finally got to sit in the home dugout at St James’ Park, for the first leg of a run of games that will define the immediate trajectory of this strangest of seasons.The hand of Howe had already been felt in this Newcastle squad. Even before the visit of Norwich City, a clash of the bottom two, there was talk of extra sessions, new tech, touchscreen to-do lists at training, a general stirring of the blood. Continue reading...
Liverpool stepping up their title charge, Manchester United old boys scuppering Solskjær and Brighton letting it slipIt is a footnote to the weekend’s biggest story, but the final nail in Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s coffin was partly hammered in by four players who were at various points deemed not good enough for Manchester United. Ben Foster, Craig Cathcart, Tom Cleverley and Joshua King all made vital contributions to a Watford performance that brimmed with energy, intent and endeavour. United’s class of 2021 lacked all those qualities, and plenty more. They were simply overrun and, while Solskjær’s departure was both inevitable and correct, they might wonder whether a better engagement with the basics might have helped their old manager’s cause. After the...
Eddie Howe missed his own welcome party and his team were far from perfect – but the apathy at St James’ Park is no longerIf this was Newcastle United’s Christmas Day come early, it was more Home Alone than the Queen’s speech – thrilling, dizzying and with a lot of collateral damage to pick through at the end. This day, intended as Eddie Howe’s coronation, did not go to script at all – but does it ever at St James’s Park? From the moment on Friday night it was announced that the new head coach had tested positive for Covid and would miss his own welcome party, one suspected this wasn’t going to be the straightforwardly triumphant start that was...
Arsenal might fancy their chances at Anfield and three new managers begin survival bidsThis will be the fourth meeting between Leicester and Chelsea this calendar year, clubs of differing resources whose fortunes nonetheless seem tangled together. Leicester went top after beating Chelsea 2-0 at home in January, James Maddison scoring the second goal before cheerfully claiming: “We knew they switched off at set pieces,” an observation that felt terminal to Frank Lampard’s employment. Having played some part in Thomas Tuchel’s arrival, Leicester won the FA Cup final against him in May, before league defeat at Stamford Bridge three days later helped to ensure the Foxes would narrowly miss out on the Champions League yet again. Chelsea are now European champions...
Manager’s Bournemouth stint raises questions about whether he can tighten defence and getting players’ buy-in will be trickyAnd after all that, it turned out it was Eddie Howe all along. When the Saudis took over Newcastle United on 7 October, Howe was immediately mooted as a realistic short-term appointment. He is young, likable, plays attacking football and has recent experience in the Premier League. Perhaps he wouldn’t be the ultimate long-term choice, the manager to take Newcastle to Champions League glory, but then perhaps he would. He is only 43, and there was plenty of promise in his time at Bournemouth. He would, at the very least, have been a viable short-term solution.And Howe may yet thrive. It’s absurd to...