Simon Jordan believes that Eddie Howe’s best route out of trouble with Newcastle United is to bring in a new coach to work alongside him next season.
Howe has been surrounded by his original AFC Bournemouth backroom team after working alongside Jason Tindall, Steve Purches and Simon Weatherstone for the majority of his career. Howe inherited ex-England and Belgium coach Graeme Jones from the old Steve Bruce regime.
And Martin Mark, the club’s set-play coach, was added in the summer with 14 goals scored from dead balls this season.
Ex-Palace chairman and Talksport pundit Jordan said today: “I have no desire to see Eddie Howe hounded out of a job. I’ve had my views on Eddie and I’ve corrected them because I think he’s done a fabulous job at Newcastle.
“There is a point when the voice that keeps on being heard isn’t being responded to. Now, whether that actually needs a change of personnel alongside him, which is what [Alex] Ferguson used to do, was change up the voices around him.
“I’m not suggesting Jason Tindall gets drop-kicked out the door onto the dole queue. That’s not what I’m saying.
“But there is a malaise in Newcastle this season that’s been there all year in different guises, whether they can’t win away from home or they got smashed the granny out of Barcelona or they’ve had a difficult season.”
Jordan had said last week that Newcastle’s roadmap to be one of the best teams in world football by 2030 was unrealistic. The aim, stressed by CEO David Hopkinson as part of PIF and Saudi Arabia’s wider vision, has put unnecessary pressure on the club management, says the pundit.
Jordan said: “The challenge is that the expectation of Newcastle is beyond the ability. When you’ve got people turning around consistently saying, ‘We’ve got a project for 2030, we want to win the Premier League by 2030’ and not telling you how they are going to do it.
“Out goes Isak, out goes Tonali, the best players are sold because they can’t be kept. Not because the club can’t keep them and can’t match their wages it is because the players themselves want to leave to join a bigger club that is ultimately achieving that success now.
“That’s why I’ve always said, not because of Eddie Howe, that he’ll be a gatekeeper. Unless there’s going to be a change of approach from Newcastle, unless there’s going to be a revenue generation model, like a stadium that’s going to give them the opportunity to bridge the £300million gap between those that have it already and the ones that they’re trying to emulate.
“How are they going to change it?”