Norwich City manager Dean Smith believes that Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe was the ‘trailblazer’ for young English managers after guiding Bournemouth into the Premier League.
Smith takes his Norwich side to St James’ Park tomorrow night after picking up four points from his opening two games in charge.
He replacing Daniel Farke at Norwich following his own sacking at Aston Villa.
Unlike Smith, Howe has taken just one point from his first two games in charge of the Magpies.
The 2-0 loss at Arsenal on Saturday was his first in the dugout after he missed the thrilling 3-3 home draw against Brentford after testing positive for Covid-19.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of the Canaries’ long trip to Tyneside, Smith gave a glowing endorsement of Howe and praised him for having a huge impact on young English managers.
Speaking via BBC Sport, Smith said: “Eddie’s a very good coach.
“He was the trailblazer for young English managers when he got Bournemouth into the Premier League.”
The 44-year-old guided Bournemouth to the top-flight in 2015 before they were relegated in 2020.
The former Cherries manager finds his winless Newcastle side rock bottom of the Premier League after 13 games, three points behind Smith’s team and six points off safety.
Speaking about the long trip Norwich supporters face on Tuesday night, Smith hopes his side can reward them with a crucial three points at Newcastle’s expense.
Smith joked: “It’s a long way up to Newcastle and a long way up to the top tier as well!
“Hopefully, we can have our fans singing, dancing and enjoying the performance.”
With back-to-back home games against Norwich and Burnley, Newcastle desperately need to secure their first win of the season, or face being cut adrift.
Especially considering our run of games in the run up to New Year’s Day are Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Everton.
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