Ally McCoist has now admitted that there could be something brilliant happening if Newcastle United do decide to change their manager this summer.
Eddie Howe is under a lot of pressure from the media at the minute, though the message from the board is that he has their full support despite rumours linking them with Jose Mourinho.
Speaking on talkSPORT, McCoist has claimed that Newcastle should be giving Howe more time, but that a Premier League return for Mourinho would be absolute ‘box office’.
McCoist says he would ‘love’ Newcastle to move for Mourinho
On a personal level from a neutral’s perspective it’s easy to see why the attraction of bringing Mourinho back would be there, he’s an iconic footballing figure who’s always good for a headline.
He also has a very good history of winning trophies, even at Roma where things didn’t work out for him n the end but he was adored for winning a piece of European silverware almost two years ago or so.
However, as McCoist also explains, it would also show a sense of panic from Newcastle’s side of things who have been steadily building with Howe as their manager since 2021.
They were way ahead of schedule last season and still have a chance of qualifying for Europe this year, so perhaps it’s just time for a little bit of perspective and understanding of where the football club actually is at the moment.
When asked if Mourinho would be right for Newcastle, McCoist said: “No, it wouldn’t actually. It would be box office, it would be brilliant and we would love it. We would be talking about it 24 hours a day.
“But can everyone just calm down here? We said it before, Newcastle are having a little bit of a struggle. I still say they have to take a couple of steps back to move forward, it depends, we don’t know what the owners are like. We don’t know if the owners are going to panic and press a button.
“But if you are asking me, and I would bet you anything you like, if you are asking the vast majority of the Newcastle fans, they will say ‘everybody just calm down a wee bit. Take our time and we get the season out’.”
Newcastle are sticking with Howe
Perhaps in six months time if things aren’t going their way Newcastle may consider a move for someone new, and Mourinho may be on that list, but at this moment in time they are all in on Howe.
Of course, he will need to see his side’s results on the pitch sooner rather than later to instil some confidence back into the board, but they have faith that the 46-year-old will be able to turn this around.
The defeat at Chelsea wasn’t a disastrous result, but it was the performance that was the most worrying thing with a number of players jogging back or looking disinterested at times.
That will have to change quickly if Howe is to avoid being replaced by a Champions League-winning manager any time soon.
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