Water’s wet, sky’s blue and Simon Jordan will have a hot take that is wide of the mark. These are just facts everyone knows and the TalkSPORT host has done it again where Newcastle United are concerned.
I’m going to start this off by saying something rather controversial: I actually quite like Simon Jordan. He’s said some absolutely ridiculous things about our beloved Newcastle over the years, sure, but I find, for the most part anyway, he talks sense.
Well, not sense, but you know. He sticks to his guns right up until he is proven wrong and he will then be the bigger man and admit his mistakes, and that’s what I like about him. He’s got conviction and he stands by those convictions.
Simon Jordan has often been wrong about Newcastle United
When it comes to his thoughts on Newcastle, however, he’s wrong more often than not and his recent Newcastle-based rant concerning one Mr Edward John Frank Howe, is once again wide of the mark.
Simon Jordan does admit that he hopes he’s wrong, and I’m sure there’s a 99% chance that he is wrong, however, Jordan recently compared Eddie Howe’s job at Newcastle to that of Mark Hughes when he took over at Manchester City in the early days of Sheikh Mansour’s tenure.
Speaking on TalkSPORT (via The Chronicle), Jordan said: “I worry for him (Howe) because I think there’s an evolution when a club changes direction and it pivots on a sixpence. Eddie Howe could not have got his timing any better.
“It feels a little bit like the Mark Hughes transition from when Sheikh Mansour takes over, Hughes starts to buy big players and starts to build a Man City side that’s really starting their engines.
“Then [Roberto] Mancini says ‘thank you very much I’ll take it from here’ and wins the league. That’s what I think might happen and I hope I’m wrong.”
First of all, Mark Hughes was already manager when the takeover of Manchester City went through, Eddie Howe was hired by the PIF, granted he wasn’t their first choice but he was high on the list and the results are there for everyone to see, it was the right move.
Secondly, look at the relationship that Howe has with Amanda Staveley et al, there’s a genuine connection there, and after everything he’s done for them, getting Newcastle into the Champions League years ahead of schedule, there’s no way they would wield the axe for anything less than a complete breakdown in how the team is performing.
I appreciate where Jordan is coming from. Historically takeovers by such wealthy benefactors who have seen instant success all their lives often means brief stints for managers until the perfect one comes along like Pep Guardiola.
However, I’d argue that we have our Pep and that the PIF nailed it with their first try.
Happy Canniversary to all who celebrate
Today marks two years since Amanda Staveley kicked the doors off its hinges at St James’ Park and threw Mike Ashley out into the street (metaphorically, unfortunately) and since then the positives have far outweighed the negatives.
But perhaps the biggest positive, for me at least, has been the appointment of Eddie Howe and the way he has transformed this football club we love so much. Making Joelinton a Brazilian international, having Sean Longstaff‘s name mentioned in the media for an England call up, turning Jacob Murphy into a Champions League quality winger.
We owe Eddie Howe so much, and so does the PIF and as long as Amanda Staveley has a say in things, Howe will be going nowhere for a long time yet.
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